Issue: Spring 2020

Fiction forward
Students, alumni, and community members are participating in a "Deep Read" on the bleak dystopian futures of Margaret Atwood in advance of the Booker Prize–winning author's on-stage discussion during Alumni Weekend

Beating crime by a hair
Biomolecular engineer Ed Green's new technique to extract DNA from hair samples to help identify killers and victims could help solve thousands of cold cases

Instituting change
UC Santa Cruz’s Institute for Social Transformation incubates, funds, and helps amplify important social sciences research, aiming for wide audiences and maximum impact

A growing movement
An 18-month project around art and incarceration—including the striking participatory landscape art piece called “Solitary Garden"—is a comment on mass incarceration and racial injustice in the prison system

Alumni Weekend 2020 is postponed
Important news: Alumni Weekend 2020 is postponed to a future date for coronavirus safety. However, the Margaret Atwood appearance on April 5 and The Deep Read are still on!

Mark Zemelman: A mission-driven career
Crown '78, history

Joaquin Sapien: Holding power accountable
Cowell ’06, environmental studies and politics


Sherrice Mojgani: Lighting up the stage
Merrill '07, theater arts