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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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...

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