Elizabeth Arakelian

The University of California announced today that it is planning for a return to primarily in-person instruction systemwide starting in fall 2021. The announcement is intended to provide prospective and current students and their families time to understand the University’s goals and plans amid the uncertainties of the pandemic.

With robust research and COVID-19 vaccines soon becoming available to students, staff and faculty, the UC continues to prioritize the health and well-being of the University community and to remain vigilant in all critical prevention efforts.

UC Merced will host its second virtual ceremony for the Fall 2020 Commencement on Dec. 19, with a host of changes meant to confer upon students the distinct importance of the achievement.

Global Arts Studies Professor Yehuda Sharim has released his latest project, a short film titled “Red Line Lullaby” or “Cancion de Cuna Colorada,” which examines the varied struggles of Latinx women in America today.

In the 1960s, Ernest Lowe took his camera into the rural towns of California’s Central Valley, documenting the lives and struggles of farm-working communities. Sixty years later, these photos are available to the public through UC Merced, showing the raw reality of farm laborers and their families during these tumultuous times.

Two female faculty members of UC Merced’s School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) have been named the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation chairs, making four prestigious chairs in the campus’ 15-year history.

Professors Nancy Burke and Whitney Pirtle have been recognized as the two newest MacArthur Foundation chairs for their work in public health and sociology, respectively.

Global arts Professor Yehuda Sharim’s 2019 documentary “Songs That Never End” will continue to be screened at several international venues over the course of the coming weeks.

The documentary examines the displacement refugees grapple with upon relocating. The film follows the Dayans, an Iranian family who fled their home and relocated in Houston where they are met with new struggles, including hurricanes and a contentious presidential election.

The coronavirus has impacted everyone in different ways and three public health professors are examining specifically how rural, Latinx communities in California have been affected in a new study funded by the University of California Office of the President.

How does socioeconomic inequality affect people?

Seeing expensive items such as cars, which function as signs of social class, can potentially influence people’s political behavior according to a new study by political science professors Melissa Sands and Daniel de Kadt in the journal Nature.

Imagine pouring farm-fresh milk down the drain or crushing perfectly good eggs that could feed families. This has been the reality for farmers during the COVID-19 epidemic.

It has been two years since UC Merced received the $280,000 Henry Luce Foundation grant, but its community engaged research endeavors are far from over.

This fall, UC Merced Interdisciplinary Humanities graduate students and faculty will have the benefit of two additional years of funding to find new opportunities to grow intersections of humanities research and community engagement in Merced.