Uncharted Territory

The culmination of two or more years and a lifetime of experience and exploration by UC Davis students, “The Arts & Humanities Graduate Exhibition” offers new ways to understand the world, ourselves and the issues we face. We spent time with three students from art studio, music and design to learn about their journeys of creating works that are in the exhibition.

7 Letters and Science Faculty Join Society of Hellman Fellows

Seven faculty members in the College of Letters and Science have been named to the newest class of the UC Davis Society of Hellman Fellows.  They are among 15 assistant professors across UC Davis awarded 2021-22 Hellman Fellowships, which provide research funding to faculty members when they need it the most: early in their careers.

Faculty Member Examining Art on Borders as Part of Multicampus Latinx Project

As part of a $1.8 million award from the UC Office of the President, Assistant Professor of Chicana/o Studies Ofelia Ortiz Cuevas will examine how artists around the world have created public protest art. She plans to bring artists from Cuba, Vietnam, the Middle East, Africa and other places together for a symposium, create a graphic publication and organize an exhibition of their work.

Faculty Honored by Campus Peers for Research, Teaching Excellence

Seven College of Letters and Science faculty are among 16 UC Davis scholars honored by the Academic Senate and Academic Federation this year. The Academic Senate’s highest honor, the Faculty Distinguished Research Award, goes to Gail Goodman, distinguished professor of psychology.

Mural of Remembrance

Just days after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police in May, alumna and artist Greta McLain, with Cadex Herrera and Xena Goldman, created a mural at the intersection where he died. In the weeks following his death, the mural went viral online as Black Lives Matter protests erupted worldwide.

Undergraduate Research Conference Goes Virtual

Undergraduate research provides students with skills that employers value, including critical thinking, collaboration and communication. One way students practice those skills is participating in the annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference.

Chancellor's Fellows Honors Go to Four College Faculty

Four associate professors in the College of Letters and Science recently were named Chancellor’s Fellows for excellence in their research, creative work, teaching and service. The college's newest Chancellor's Fellows include an expert on immigrant family well-being, an artist/author, a political theorist and an archaeologist.

Tina Curiel-Allen: Ethnic Studies Gave Me an Intellectual, Political and Personal Home

Coming to UC Davis in 2016, I was initially interested in sociological theory and its practical applications. I quickly found out the kind of theory I loved was experiential and unapologetically subjective, and the place where those kinds of learning opportunities and experiences were being offered was in ethnic studies classes.

As an older student—34 when I arrived—I expected to feel out of place in most classrooms. What I didn’t expect was to be so affected and inspired by the power of representation alongside critical thinking in an institutional setting.

Ethnic Studies Programs in the College of Letters and Science

The African American and African, Asian American, Chicana and Chicano, and Native American studies programs at UC Davis were all conceived in 1969, although full implementation took decades of struggle and sacrifice. Today, they lie at the heart of the college's mission to make a better world. African American and African Studies

In 1969, 50 African American students, accompanied by the sole African American faculty member on campus, marched to the chancellor's office to demand an African American studies program.