Issue: Winter 2022–23
From the Chancellor
Chancellor Cynthia Larive: Leading efforts to address the challenges of climate change
March 2023
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
Samantha Hamilton: First Amendment advocate
Award-winning journalist and civil rights lawyer Samantha Hamilton (Kresge ’16, economics) finds herself using skills learned at City on a Hill Press during her fellowship as a newsroom attorney for the New York Times.
By Kristen Garabedian, March 2023
Andrew Kramer: A witness to war
A Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter, war correspondent, and now Ukraine bureau chief for the New York Times, Andrew Kramer (Cowell ’94, history) shines a light on world events.
By Peggy Townsend, March 2023
Helen Tran: A term of firsts
Helen Tran (Rachel Carson ’04, American studies), a daughter of Vietnamese refugees, is the first Asian American mayor of San Bernardino and the first Vietnamese American woman to be elected mayor of a U.S. city.
By Dan White, March 2023
Aliyah Khan: Sharing the scare
Aliyah Khan (Ph.D. ’12, literature and feminist studies) dives into the world of Muslim horror films with the playfully named Halaloween film festival.
By Grace Stetson, March 2023
New traditions
UC Santa Cruz alumni Florence Nelson, Stephen Klein, and Nadene Thorne are at the forefront of volunteering at Cowell College, laying the groundwork for what an alumni relationship with the campus could look like.
By Haneen Zain (Rachel Carson ’21, politics), March 2023
A page at a time
The daughter of the late UCSC astrophysicist Bill Mathews has found a creative way to remember and pay tribute to her father—by weaving portraits of him into and over his handwritten notes.
By Haneen Zain (Rachel Carson ’21, politics), March 2023