Category: Features

State of the art

UCSC’s Institute of the Arts and Sciences has just opened a new climate-controlled gallery on Santa Cruz’s Westside—the first dedicated space for the institute, and a bridge between the university’s arts community and the greater Santa Cruz arts scene.

By Grace Stetson, March 2023

Monsters among us

The Center for Monster Studies at UC Santa Cruz may have a fanciful name—but its leaders say serious study of these frightful fictional beings shows how much they have to teach us.

By Lisa Renner, March 2023

A journey through Egypt’s past and present

Two UCSC professors took a group of history students to Egypt on a first-of-its-kind trip in December, making classroom lessons come alive in a life-changing experience

By Dan White, March 2023

Waves of resilience

UCSC’s emerging Center for Coastal Climate Resilience is applying scientific research to develop policy around climate change and coastal sustainability, while incorporating the campus’s ideals of social justice and collaboration.

By Liza Monroy, March 2023

Raising the bars

UC Santa Cruz’s Gateways Project provides tech-training programs in Santa Cruz jails and San Quentin State Prison, supporting incarcerated voices and aiming to reduce recidivism

By Grace Stetson, March 2023

Flight pattern

Robotics student Liam Asayag had never even thought of making a drone before—until he witnessed the war zone in Ukraine and made a low-cost prototype in a lab on campus for use by aid groups on the front lines

By Lisa Renner, November 2022

Humanizing the metaverse

A Humanities Institute fellowship brings trained humanists into high-tech companies, providing firms with creative and fluid thinkers while also giving scholars a view into how their expertise can be used in different positions.

By Dan White, November 2022

Open minds

As the Baskin School of Engineering celebrates its 25th anniversary, its successes reflect the uncommon value of open science that forms the foundation of the school’s ethos

By Emily Cerf, November 2022

The quiet quest for quantum

Scientists at UC Santa Cruz are modeling, creating, and testing new materials that could one day be used to build powerful, energy-efficient quantum computers.

By Sarah C. P. Williams (SciCom ’07), November 2022

Opening the black box

One scientist's vision to reveal the secrets of our ‘junk’ DNA launches a worldwide effort to complete a human genome

By Sarah C. P. Williams (SciCom ’07), August 2022

Transforming arts

Sir Isaac Julien, distinguished arts professor, acclaimed filmmaker, and artist, is having a blockbuster summer—he received a knighthood, opened a new exhibition, and was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, highlighting the importance of the...

By Dan White, August 2022

Serious wordplay

Professors in UC Santa Cruz's creative writing concentration encourage risk and responsibility, leading a program that's experimental, playful, smart, and fresh

By Dan White, May 2022