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SUMMARY:Maram\, S. (CM) - Scripture To Console: The Nexus between Religion and Digital Play
DESCRIPTION:Religion has historically been a profound force for global mobilization\, shaping geopolitics\, economies\, and geography. Similarly\, contemporary interactive media\, with video games at the forefront\, has moved beyond mere entertainment to become a powerful vehicle for communication\, narrative\, and inspiration\, reaching millions worldwide. This dissertation investigates the intersection of these two influential forces: religion and video games\, demonstrating the influence of religion on video games\, the influence of video games on religion\, and finally\, how these two powerful mobilization forces can come together to solve global challenges. \nFirst\, I examine the current landscape of religious representation in commercial video games (e.g.\, Assassin’s Creed\, SMITE). I analyze how key stakeholders i.e. players\, game designers\, and development studios\, interpret and engage with embedded religious elements\, drawing on existing critical reception and player discourse. This analysis identifies common narrative pitfalls and successful strategies for incorporating complex religious themes in digital spaces\, culminating in proposed design frameworks for sensitive and effective representation. \nBuilding on this foundational work\, the thesis culminates in defining and validating a new interaction paradigm where learning meets religion through play. This paradigm focuses on intentionally leveraging religious content i.e. specifically its rituals and narratives as mechanics in serious games to drive motivation and learning toward collective action. I validate this paradigm through a comprehensive case study focused on climate change\, arguably the most pressing issue of the modern era. This involves the design and empirical discussion of a serious game that incorporates specific religious mechanics\, ethics\, and narratives (e.g.\, stewardship\, ritual) to effectively communicate the severity of the climate crisis and motivate stakeholders toward a collective solution. \n  \nEvent Host: Sai Siddartha Maram\, Ph.D. Candidate\, Computational Media \nAdvisor: Magy Seif El-Nasr \nZoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/91946426300?pwd=wxe1x3YCRsXrtcvOSy2kmfC9dZ3inW.1 \nPasscode: 558570
URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/maram-s-cm-scripture-to-console-the-nexus-between-religion-and-digital-play/
LOCATION:
CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T110000
DTSTAMP:20260509T061927
CREATED:20260507T160500Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260507T160500Z
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SUMMARY:Lucas\, J. (BMEB) - Enabling Population-Scale Analysis of Human Centromere Diversity
DESCRIPTION:Centromeric DNA is critical for accurate chromosome segregation and genome stability\, but due to its repetitive nature\, it was only recently fully included in a human reference. Rapid evolution and sequence diversity in these regions limit the utility of one reference sequence\, however. Integrating centromeric and pericentromeric satellite DNA – which together constitute over 5% of the human genome – into genetic research requires access to diverse sequences and the variation between them. The HPRC’s Release 2 dataset\, together with recent advancements in long-read assembly algorithms and new tools for sequence alignment and annotation\, now make characterization of centromeric variation possible. In this proposal\, I outline my work as part of the Human Pangenome Reference Consortium (HPRC) to create a diverse set of reference assemblies that accurately represent centromeric variation (aim 1)\, use novel tooling to characterize variation in centromeric regions (aim 2)\, and define the mutational processes that drive centromere evolution (aim 3). Completion of these aims will create a resource to enable the analysis and interpretation of centromeric variation data\, bringing these historically inaccessible regions into mainstream studies of human genetics\, evolution\, and disease. \nEvent Host: Julian Lucas\, Ph.D. Student\, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics \nAdvisor: Karen Miga \nZoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/94129246296?pwd=QAs2hW8QZRNgpfaGJXvmaVfo52tIh7.1 \nPasscode: 669318
URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/lucas-j-bmeb-enabling-population-scale-analysis-of-human-centromere-diversity/
LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064
CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T161500
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SUMMARY:It Takes an Ecosystem: Staff and Faculty Perspectives on Collaboration at UC Santa Cruz
DESCRIPTION:Funded through a Department of Education Title V grant\, a team at UC Santa Cruz launched CULTURA (Centering Undergraduate Latine Thriving with University Racial-Equity Action) in 2024 as a bold\, campus-wide effort to reimagine how we can collectively advance student success and equity. At its core\, CULTURA asks: What becomes possible when we intentionally invest in and connect the people\, relationships\, and infrastructures already engaged in transformative work? \nDifferent from past Title V HSI grants\, which have rigorously tested and sustained single interventions\, CULTURA embraces an ecosystem approach. This approach recognizes that meaningful\, sustained change depends on the investment in and coordination of those leading equity work every day: campus staff and faculty. The HSI Equity Talk centers their voices. \nIn June 2025\, we launched the HSI CULTURA Staff and Faculty Survey\, a collaborative effort* designed to surface insights from staff and faculty respondents. The survey explored key dimensions of the ecosystem: coordination among campus units\, support (or lack thereof) available to equity-focused leaders\, and collective and institutional capacity to collaborate\, adapt\, and transform campus culture. \nIn this interactive session\, facilitators will share key survey findings as an invitation to collective sense-making. Together\, we will discuss: What resonates? What is missing? How do these findings reflect or challenge your own experiences? How can we mobilize this collective knowledge to strengthen and coordinate our shared efforts toward student success and equity\, especially amid severe financial constraints? Join us as we aim to deepen our coordination\, elevate the voices of those leading change\, and build a more connected ecosystem for student success and equity. \nPlease register to receive a calendar invitation and Zoom details. \n  \nYou Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all\, consistent with state and federal law\, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service\, faculty program\, or community event—is designed to be accessible\, inclusive\, and respectful of all identities. \nTo learn more\, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.
URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/it-takes-an-ecosystem-staff-and-faculty-perspectives-on-collaboration-at-uc-santa-cruz/
LOCATION:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/it-takes-an-ecosystem-staff-and-faculty-perspectives-on-collaboration-at-uc-santa-cruz/
CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T190000
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SUMMARY:The Helene Moglen Lecture in Feminism and Humanities: Donna Haraway
DESCRIPTION:Donna Haraway\, “Staying with the Trouble for Still Possible Times” \nWednesday May 20\, 2026\, 5:30 p.m. \nThere will be refreshments from 5– 5:30 p.m.\, the talk at 5:30 – 7 p.m.\, and a reception at the very end. \nMerrill Cultural Center \nIn-person only \nThe sky has not fallen – yet. In troubled times\, this lecture joins human and more-than-human companion species to ask how to think\, really think\, without either the apocalyptic violence or salvific comfort of human exceptionalism. Revisiting themes\, images\, arguments and collaborations from a lifetime of feminist work and play in science studies\, biology\, cultural studies\, and arts\, Haraway asks how to tell evidence-laden\, effective stories for earthly flourishing in exterminationist times. Is it still possible to make powerful oddkin in opposition to techbro anti-immigrant pronatalism and extraterrestrial settler nationalism in order to partially heal devastated worlds together? If oddkin hold up the sky\, we have a chance. \nDonna Haraway is Distinguished Professor Emerita in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California Santa Cruz. She writes and speaks in science and technology studies\, feminist theory\, and multispecies studies. She is an active participant in the Science and Justice Research Center and Center for Cultural Studies. Attending to the intersections of biology with culture and politics\, Haraway’s work explores the string figures composed by science fact\, science fiction\, speculative feminism\, speculative fabulation\, science and technology studies\, and more-than-human worlding. Haraway’s renowned essay “A Cyborg Manifesto” (1985) is considered a foundational text in multiple scholarly fields. Some of her books include Staying with the Trouble: \nThis lecture is presented by the Center for Cultural Studies and made possible by the Helene Moglen Lecture in Feminism and Humanities for the Center for Cultural Studies Endowment\, The Humanities Institute\, and the Department of Polities.
URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/the-helene-moglen-lecture-in-feminism-and-humanities-donna-haraway/
LOCATION:Merrill Cultural Center\, 200 McLaughlin Dr\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064
CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T190000
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SUMMARY:VMCC Talk with Salar Mameni—Blood of Tulips
DESCRIPTION:What counts as life in the midst of war\, genocide\, and planetary destruction? What is death and how do ideas around martyrdom and sacrifice contribute to our understanding of sacred ecologies? In this talk\, Mameni engages these questions based on research for his second book project focusing on ecologies of war and martyrdom in the SWANA region. \nABOUT THE SERIES\nThe Visual & Media Cultures Colloquium (VMCC) is an annual lecture series that brings cutting-edge scholars to speak on a broad range of subjects related to visual and media culture. The series is co-sponsored with the graduate programs in the History of Art & Visual Culture (HAVC) and the Arts Division.\n—\nADMISSION\n– Attend in person.\n– Porter College D245\n– FREE and open to the public.\n—\nThis program is open to the public consistent with state and federal law.\n—\nSave\, download\, and share the event flyer here: \nimage: blood of tulips by salar\n 
URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/vmcc-mameni/
LOCATION:Porter College\, D-Building\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064
CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations
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