Lorena Anderson

Archaeologists have been asking where high-elevation populations came from for decades; how they are going about answering the question, however, is new.

“Fifty years ago, I would have consulted other archaeologists,” UC Merced Professor Mark Aldenderfer said. “It used to be the one archeologist who led a dig with assistants. It was much more insulated. Now, you can’t answer interesting questions about the past without a team of scientists.”

Considering that the United States spends about $3.3 billion on United Nations-related activity each year, including peacekeeping — and President Donald Trump has proposed a 40 percent cut in that spending — this seems like a good time for U.S. policy makers to have a clear understanding of how the U.N. works and how to navigate its politics to get desired outcomes.

Starting this semester, students in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) will have a new major option: Critical Race and Ethnic Studies (CRES).

Two UC Merced cognitive scientists spent part of their summer in India this year, teaching neuroscience to a group of exiled Tibetan Buddhist monks.

“Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact.” — William S. Burroughs

The economic and educational advantages of having a University of California campus in the San Joaquin Valley are easy to measure — just look at the thousands of alumni contributing to the region, hundreds of staff members boosting the local economy, and professors conducting research that directly and indirectly benefits society.

Examining the power of gender seems like a topic built for today.

But UC Merced history Professor Susan Dwyer Amussen’s new book, “Gender, Culture and Politics in England, 1560-1640: Turning the World Upside Down” examines the cultural, social and political history of England and the ways the image of an upside-down world was used to convey the “proper” roles for men and women during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Dyslexia is a neurobiological condition that about 5 percent to 7 percent of people struggle with, yet it remains under-diagnosed and under-treated.

The UC Merced Alliance for Child and Family Health and Development and the grassroots organization Decoding Dyslexia of California are sponsoring a symposium on dyslexia and new state law, AB 1369, which is designed to help schools identify students with dyslexia sooner and enable implementation of interventions.

Everyone is invited to a special event featuring UCLA Professor Jemima Pierre, speaking on “Africa and the Project of Black Studies” as part of a workshop entitled “The Critical Politics of Diversity in the Multiversity: Towards Africana Studies in the UC System.”