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Play the Knave classroom projects Shakespeare

Students Take Shakespeare Video Game Into Area Classrooms

Posted by Jeffrey Day on June 13, 2018

A dozen UC Davis English majors recently played a video game with area elementary, middle and high school students. While the students had fun, the goal was to see how “Play the Knave” might improve their reading and writing skills and make the works of William Shakespeare more accessible.

Arts
Professor Keith Watenpaugh with students

Article 26 Backpack Helps Refugees Continue Education

Posted by Jeffrey Day on June 13, 2018

Many college-age refugees around the world have been denied access to higher education, often because they have no way to document their academic background. Article 26 Backpack, which uses face-to-face counseling and cloud-based technology to help refugees document and share their educational accomplishments, has been created to assist them. The international consortium behind the project is led by Keith David Watenpaugh, a professor and director of Human Rights Studies in the College of Letters and Science.

Society and Culture
Working on Outpatient Radio at Center for Design in the Public Interest, Design Dept

Design Center “Wild Card” Winner at San Francisco Design Week Awards

Posted by Jeffrey Day on June 13, 2018
The Center for Design in the Public Interest was honored at the first annual San Francisco Design Week Awards for a project on chronic pain. The Center, part of the Department of Design in the College of Letters and Science, won in the Wild Card category for Outpatient Radio.
Society and Culture
Mellon Public Scholar Loren Michael Mortimer mapped indigenous life on the U.S.-Canada border

Mellon Foundation Renews Support for Public Scholars Program

Posted by Jeffrey Day on June 12, 2018

The trustees of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation have approved a grant of $600,000 to the UC Davis Humanities Institute to continue support for the UC Davis College of Letters and Science public scholars program for the next three years.

Society and Culture
rainbow-colored cell

Psychedelic Drugs Change Structure of Neurons

Posted by Becky Oskin on June 12, 2018
A team of scientists at the University of California, Davis, is exploring how hallucinogenic drugs impact the structure and function of neurons — research that could lead to new treatments for depression, anxiety and related disorders.
Science
Alexandra Greb

College of Letters and Science Undergraduate Publishes Cutting-Edge Research

Posted by Becky Oskin on June 12, 2018
Alexandra Greb, a UC Davis senior in pharmaceutical chemistry from Danville, California, is a co-author on a new study exploring how hallucinogenic drugs affect the structure and function of neurons. The research could lead to new treatments for depression, anxiety and related disorders.
Science
Photo of 13 Reasons Why character Hannah Baker, played by Katherine Langford.

Study of Netflix Show about Suicide Leads to Additional Resources

Posted by Kathleen Holder on June 11, 2018
Each episode of the newly released second season of "13 Reasons Why" starts with a warning from the actors that the show tackles tough topics like sexual assault, substance abuse and suicide. The warnings, and a downloadable discussion guide provided by Netflix, come out of research recently conducted by Drew Cingel, a assistant professor of communication at the University of California, Davis, with colleagues at Northwestern University.
Society and Culture
Curiosity Rover

Curiosity Rover Finds Organic Matter on Mars

Posted by Becky Oskin on June 07, 2018
The Mars Curiosity rover team announced today (June 7) finding organic matter – carbon-based compounds – in three billion year old mudstone sediments from Gale Crater. Dawn Sumner, professor of earth and planetary sciences, is a member of the Mars Curiosity team and coauthor on the first paper.
Science
Mathew Magno and Charles Chen of Japa

Student Entrepreneurs Win Campus Innovation Awards

Posted by Becky Oskin on June 01, 2018
Two UC Davis undergraduates won the $10,000 first prize in the 18th annual UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition on May 24, 2018. Their venture, Japa Inc., takes the pain out of finding parking with a mobile app that employs smart data and advanced analytics to provide drivers with real-time parking availability.
Student News
UC Davis project scientist Gong Chen (right) and coauthor Andres Schmid of Lawrence Berkeley Lab

Graphene Layered with Magnetic Materials Could Drive Ultrathin Spintronics

Posted by Becky Oskin on May 30, 2018
Tiny swirling textures in the magnetic fields within layered materials could be a key to replacing disk drives and flash memory in computing devices. Physicists at UC Davis and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are exploring how these patterns form in materials layered with graphene, an ultrathin form of carbon.
Science
sci fi book from african wrter

What Sets African Sci-Fi Apart

Posted by Jeffrey Day on May 23, 2018
In recent years, Africa has developed a rich culture of science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative fiction with several internationally prominent writers, online journals, blogs, and even creation of the African Speculative Fiction Society. Moradewun Adejunmobi, a UC Davis professor in the College of Letters and Science’s Department of African and African American Studies, will speak on the topic at the International House.
Arts

Guns and America: From Mental Illness to Racial Motivation

May 23, 2018
“Why does it seem as though so many these days are so quick to shoot?” asked Chancellor Gary May, opening “The Campus Conversation: Guns and America after Parkland” on April 26. The discussions — led by a panel of distinguished faculty members from a wide diversity of disciplines — rose out of a desire to address recent incidents of gun violence and the overall issue of guns in America. 
Society and Culture
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