Society and Culture

UC Davis professor emeritus, sitting with hands folded, in front of shelves filled with books

Grant Awarded for Ongoing Muslim Women and Media Project

  • by Karen Nikos-Rose
  • June 02, 2022
Suad Joseph, Distinguished Research Professor of Anthropology and Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, is among a cohort of three interdisciplinary teams awarded $45,000 each from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) to advance public understanding of global religions. The new award builds on an ongoing UC Davis project on Muslim women and the media, as well as a New York Times media project, both led by Joseph. “Decolonizing the Representation of Muslim Women in the Media: Training Next Generation Journalists” is an extension of Joseph's 25 years as general editor of "Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures."
Portrait photo of bearded man over background with words "The Backdrop: A Podcast by UC Davis"

Podcast Features Clifford Saron on Neuroscience of Meditation

  • by Soterios Johnson
  • May 02, 2022
People have practiced various forms of meditation for thousands of years, usually in a religious context.  But only recently has meditation been the subject of scientific study. In the latest episode of The Backdrop podcast, Clifford Saron, a neuroscientist at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain who directs the Shamatha Project meditation study, discusses how mindfulness can affect our physical, mental and emotional health.
Portrait photo of UC Davis historian with ocean waves on a beach in background

Asiatic Society Honors UC Davis India Scholar

  • by Kathleen Holder
  • April 29, 2022
Sudipta Sen, a professor of history and Middle East/South Asian studies, was recently awarded a Sir Williams Jones Memorial Medal from the Asiatic Society of India for his influential work on the history of South Asia. Sen is a historian of the late Mughal and early British India and the British Empire, and of the environment. 
Woman dressed in heavy clothing, crouching down and smiling, in background and below river and forest

Native American Studies Professor Wins Carnegie Fellowship

  • by Jeffrey Day
  • April 25, 2022
Beth Rose Middleton Manning recalls being elated watching the Eklutna River in Alaska flowing freely after a dam was removed. The UC Davis Department of Native American studies professor had a similar feeling upon learning she received a 2022 Andrew Carnegie Fellowship for her research on dam removal and land restoration. She is one of 28 scholars, journalists and authors awarded the fellowship, which carries a $200,000 stipend.
Many researchers are interested in the genetic history of the Khoe-San. Dana Al-Hindi, CC BY-NC-ND

How a South African Community’s Request for Its Genetic Data Raises Questions About Ethical and Equitable Research

  • by Dana Al-Hindi, Brenna Henn
  • April 22, 2022
For the past decade, genetic researchers from the Henn Lab have worked among the Khoe-San and self-identified “Coloured” communities in South Africa, requesting DNA and generating genetic data to help unravel the history and prehistory of southern Africans and their relationship to populations around the world. However, the researchers have been unable to fulfill a common request: providing them their individual genetic ancestry results. What they found is that there is no easy answer.
Portrait photo of Maya Phillips with a futuristic, multiple-image filter

Critic Maya Phillips to Give Talk on Stories of Alternate Realities

  • by Kathleen Holder
  • April 20, 2022
The multiverse, long a topic of science fiction and fantasy, seems to be popping up in narratives everywhere, notes Maya Phillips, cultural critic for The New York Times. Phillips will explore “Storytelling in the Multiverse of Madness” in a talk on May 5 at 4:10 p.m. at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis — one day before “Dr. Strange” opens in theaters nationwide.
A review of research literature shows that high self-esteem has long-term psychological benefits and is distinct from the negative effects of narcissism. (Getty Images)

Research Review Shows Self-Esteem Has Long-Term Benefits

  • by Melissa Blouin
  • April 18, 2022
In recent years, self-esteem has fallen out of favor in the scientific literature and in the popular media as an important factor for life outcomes. But a new large research review conducted by psychologists at UC Davis and the University of Bern suggests that high self-esteem can have a positive influence in many areas of people’s lives. 
Professor Ari Kelman, faculty advisor to the chancellor and provost, gives remarks in the Native American Contemplative Garden, March 4.

A Tree Reborn, a Commitment Renewed

  • by Dave Jones
  • April 13, 2022
A 40-foot-tall buckeye — among the first trees to be planted in the UC Davis Arboretum 85 years ago — broke apart. Juan Ávila Hernandez, a member of the Committee to Honor the Patwin and Native Americans, noticed and set in motion a replacement project culminating in a tree-planting ceremony on March 4, 2022. Three saplings will vie to be the buckeye that takes over the spot overlooking the Native American Contemplative Garden.
Buring grass in the foreground, then several people stacked front to back. From front man in plaid shirt and green stocking cap bent over working, woman with long dark hair holding buring sticks, behind her man with black hair reaching down. Several more people in the background.

How the Indigenous Practice of 'Good Fire' Can Help Our Forests Thrive

  • by Robyn Schelenz
  • April 07, 2022

In the past several years, California has endured the most extreme fires in its recorded history.

2018’s Camp Fire grew into the state’s deadliest and most destructive fire on record, devastating the towns of Paradise and Concow. Last year the state suffered the Dixie Fire, raging for months through five Northern California counties on its way to becoming the single-largest blaze in state history.

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