Society and Culture

Photo of a river bed running through a mountain range, with an arrow pointing to site.

Humans Migrated to Mongolia Much Earlier Than Previously Believed

Posted by Kathleen Holder on August 16, 2019
Stone tools uncovered in Mongolia by an international team of archaeologists indicate that modern humans traveled across the Eurasian steppe about 45,000 years ago, according to a new University of California, Davis, study. The date is about 10,000 years earlier than archaeologists previously believed.
Society and Culture
Women, one holding a colorful wrap, and another carrying a baby on her back, line up at a health clinic in Tanzania.

In Difficult Times, Having Multiple Husbands Can Be an Advantage

August 15, 2019
It is well known that men benefit reproductively from having multiple spouses, but the reasons why women might benefit from multiple marriages are not as clear. Women, as a result of pregnancy and lactation, can’t reproduce as fast as males. But new research by UC Davis challenges evolutionary-derived sexual stereotypes about men and women, finding that multiple spouses can be good for women too.
Society and Culture
Illustration of woman balancing on a tilting tower of furniture while cleaning house.

Women Gain More Political and Economic Power, but Gender Gap Persists

Posted by Kathleen Holder on August 09, 2019
While women have made great strides in entering the workforce, running companies and getting elected to Congress, there remains a persistent gender gap in attitudes about equality between men and women, suggests a UC Davis study. Although the last half of the 1900s saw much progress, the trajectory of attitudes about gender equality slowed in recent decades as men began to work longer hours and take on increased responsibilities to get ahead at work, nudging their wives into more traditional roles at home.
Society and Culture
Illustration of gears inside a head, letters around head and names of institute faculty

Linguistics Department Hosts Prestigious Summer Institute

Posted by Kathleen Holder on June 14, 2019
Close to 400 noted and emerging linguists from around the world will converge at UC Davis on June 24 for a month of intensive instruction, professional development and informal networking that will help shape the future of their field. The theme of the 2019 Linguistic Society of America institute is Linguistics in the Digital Era.
Society and Culture
Photo of Sunaina Maira, a professor of Asian American studies who has been awarded a Mellon Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies fellowship

Fellowship for Professor to Study Arab Immigrant Community in SF Bay Area

Posted by Jeffrey Day on April 22, 2019
Sunaina Maira, a professor of Asian American studies in the UC Davis College of Letters and Science, has been awarded a Mellon Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies fellowship to explore how the Arab community in the San Francisco Bay Area is dealing with the fallout from those travel ban restrictions.
Society and Culture

Faculty in History and English Named Guggenheim Fellows

Posted by Jeffrey Day on April 10, 2019
Two UC Davis College of Letters and Science faculty members have been awarded 2019 Guggenheim Fellowships. History professor Ari Kelman and English professor Elizbeth Carolyn Miller will receive the prestigious awards. They are among 173 winners in the U.S. and Canada selected from 3,000 applicants.
Society and Culture
Two Muslim women holding posters of woman wearing stars and stripes hijab

Some US Muslims identify less as Americans due to negative media coverage

Posted by Kathleen Holder on March 22, 2019
Negative media portrayals of Muslim Americans can have adverse effects on how they view themselves as citizens and their trust in the U.S. government. In fact, these effects may be stronger than the impact caused by personal discrimination, according to a new study co-authored by Magdalena Wojcieszak, a UC Davis associate professor of communication who researches the effects of media on tolerance, perceptions and polarization.
Society and Culture
Portrait photo of John Crowley

Novelist John Crowley to Give Lunn Lecture on History in Fiction

Posted by Kathleen Holder on March 08, 2019
John Crowley, award-winning author of Little, Big, the four-book Aegypt series and other novels, will give a talk on Thursday, April 11, at UC Davis on “Transformations of History in Fiction.” Crowley will deliver this year’s Department of History Lunn Lecture at 4:10 p.m. in the Buehler Alumni Center’s AGR Hall.
Society and Culture
Photo of UC Davis professor and students looking over Florence, Italy

Faculty Celebrated for Global Approach to Research, Teaching

Posted by Kathleen Holder on March 08, 2019
Two faculty in the UC Davis College of Letters and Science were honored Thursday for their efforts to create new global learning opportunities for students — both on campus and abroad. Rachel Jean-Baptiste, an associate professor of history, received a Chancellor’s Award for International Engagement. Margherita Heyer-Cáput, a professor of Italian, received an inaugural Excellence in Teaching in Study Abroad Award.
Society and Culture

A Medal for Keith David Watenpaugh

Posted by Jeffrey Day on February 19, 2019

The Institute of International Education today awarded a Centennial Medal to Keith David Watenpaugh, director of Human Rights Studies at UC Davis. The presentation took place at the institute’s Centennial Summit in New York City.

Society and Culture
Image of retired UC Davis English professor Peter Hays

Professor Promotes Good Writing With Class, Philanthropy and Scholarship

Posted by Jeffrey Day on February 08, 2019

Peter Hays, English professor emeritus, retired nearly 15 years ago, but the Hemingway scholar is anything but retiring. During the last few years he has written several books and many articles, and each fall teaches a freshman seminar on Ernest Hemingway’s short stories.

“The actual subject of the seminar is reading and writing,” Hays said. “So often students don’t really read, they skim, and they can’t do that with Hemingway. They need to read beyond the surface. Whether they remember anything about Hemingway is inconsequential — it’s all about reading and writing.”

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