Goal Setting
2026-04-16 12:00 - 12:45 (America/Los_Angeles) | https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/7372922776?pwd=[REDACTED]
In this workshop, you will: Set SMART goals to help you get organized & on track for success.
The Successful Slug Workshop series, hosted by Learning Support Services Peer Coaches, are open to all UCSC undergraduate students and focus on academic skills and tools to support your success as a student. At each workshop, you will be introduced to a topic, engage in active learning, be given resources to begin implementing the same day, and have an opportunity to learn more if you are interested.
You 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.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

LGBTQIA+ Abroad Series: LGBTQIA+ Identities Abroad Student Alumni Panel
2026-04-16 12:00 - 13:00 | CA
Come join Lionel Cantú Queer Resource Center and Global Learning for a pre-departure series on navigating your LGBTQIA+ identities abroad during your upcoming Global Learning program.
Register Here
Session 2: LGBTQIA+ Identities Abroad Student Alumni Panel
Date: April 16, 2026
Time: 12:00-12:50 p.m.
Modality: Hybrid (Cantú Cabin or Zoom)
Description: Learn from a panel discussion from LGBTQIA+ Global Learning alumni. This panel will explore student experiences related to navigating identities abroad, finding community abroad, travel tips and tricks, exploring identity in general, and much more!

Find Your Path! 2026
2026-04-16 12:00 - 14:00, 2026-04-17 12:00 - 16:30 | Digital Arts Research Center, 407 McHenry Rd, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
“Find Your Path!” is a two-day professional development event for UC Santa Cruz Arts Division students who are interested in careers in arts and entertainment. Students are invited to network with UC Santa Cruz colleagues, alumni, and creative professionals to find their path to success. Learn more about the speakers here.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Day One
Thurs. April 16, noon–2:00 p.m, UCSC Digital Arts Research Center (DARC) 108 and online (hybrid event)
– Keynote address: Sarah Sanford, UC Santa Cruz Teaching Professor, On Building Careers in Arts Education
– UCSC Career Success presentation: developing a stand-out resume, cover letter, portfolio, and more
– Light refreshments served
Day Two
Fri. April 17, noon–4:30 p.m, UCSC Digital Arts Research Center (DARC) 108 and online (hybrid event)
– Lunch and introduction begin at noon.
– Career panel discussions with creative industry professionals
– Join any or all four panel sessions:
1. Working in the Entertainment Industry: 12:10 PM- 1:05 PM
2. Careers in Museums and Performance Spaces: 1:10 PM-2:05 PM
3. Careers in Games, Design, and Digital Media: 2:20 PM-3:15 PM
4. Arts, Organizing, and Social Impact: 3:20 PM- 4:15 PM
—
ADMISSION
– UC Santa Cruz Arts Division students only
– Register here to attend in person or online (hybrid event)
—
PARKING
– Parking by permit or ParkMobile
– Arts Lot #126 is the closest parking lot to the event
– Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time.
– More information provided by UCSC Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS)

Spring Exhibitions at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences
2026-04-16 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-04-17 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-04-18 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-04-19 12:00 - 17:00 | Institute of the Arts and Sciences, 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States
Visit the IAS, UCSC’s premier art galleries, for our spring exhibitions. On view April 10–August 16, 2026 are three diverse and interdisciplinary shows: Libia Posada: Everything is Going Right, the first US solo exhibition by the Colombia-based artist and medical doctor; Gina Athena Ulysse: A Redwoods Rasanblaj, a site-specific and immersive exploration of the Haitian kreyol conception of rasanblaj; and Ronaldo V. Wilson: There Are No Words, But Melodies, a mixed-media exhibition emerging at the intersections of Black poetics, performance, and visual art.
The IAS Galleries are open Wednesday-Sunday, 12 pm – 5 pm. Admission is free to the public.
Libia Posada: Everything is Going Right
Libia Posada’s first solo exhibition in the United States features installations, sculptures, and drawings meticulously constructed from surgical instruments, gauze bandages, crutches, used books, and domestic picture frames. The new and existing works in the exhibition powerfully stitch together the personal, social, and political disorders and afflictions that currently trouble the world, from the wars that resonate across the globe to the violences of aging in US prisons.
Gina Athena Ulysse: A Redwoods Rasanblaj: Origins & Disentanglements
The internationally-lauded work of humanities professor Gina Athena Ulysse is on view as a premier Faculty Spotlight Exhibition. The site-specific installation, produced in community from things collected, found, purchased and donated, centers on the Haitian concept of rasanblaj, a form of assembly and collage that transcends the formal use of materials to draw together people, spirits, and ideas.
Ronaldo V. Wilson: There Are No Words, But Melodies
Collage is both a material practice and a structural interrogation in the Faculty Spotlight Exhibition artworks by literature professor Ronaldo V. Wilson. In video, painting, and installation, layers and folds conceal and reveal, delving into the experience, both bodily and emotive, of living in times of violence.

Visualizing Abolition Screening Series: Beyond Access
2026-04-16 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-04-18 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-04-19 12:00 - 17:00 | Institute of the Arts and Sciences, 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States
On view in the IAS Screening Room is a selection of short films curated by Visualizing Abolition Visiting Faculty Fellow Dr. Pooja Rangan.
Prisons deny and censor the access of those trapped inside them—to information, to intimacy, to community, to meaningful work, to nourishment of all kinds, and perhaps most cruelly, to care. This program assembles a series of films, including works by filmmakers incarcerated in California as well as others without that lived experience. Together, these works confront the debilitating impacts of these restrictions and reveal how the disabling logic of the prison is extended to other institutional spaces (the hospital, the university), turning access into a scarce commodity by enclosing what should be held in common. Questioning the carceral and state-sponsored productions of disability and accessibility, the short films together reveal the courage of people working despite limitations to produce collective access for one another, described simply and beautifully by disability justice activist Leah-Lakshmi Piepzna Samarasinha as “revolutionary love without charity.”
Thanh Tran
Dying in Prison, 2022
HD Video (color, sound), 3 minutes
Courtesy of the artist
Carolyn Lazard
Pre-Existing Condition, 2019
HD video (color, sound), 6 minutes
Courtesy of the artist and Trautwein Herleth3
Anthony Alejandrez
Another Rainy Day, 2023
Phone video (color, sound), 3 minutes
Courtesy of the artist
Jordan Lord
After…After… (Access), 2018
HD Video (color, sound), 16 minutes
Courtesy of the artist
Rahsaan “New York” Thomas
Friendly Signs, 2023
Video (color, sound) 21 minutes
Courtesy of Tommy Wickerd, Empowerment Ave & System Impact Media

Black on the Block
2026-04-16 13:00 - 14:00 | Crown Provost House, 660 Crown Service Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join the African American Resource & Cultural Center every Thursday from 1–2 p.m., at the front of the Ethnic Resource Center for Black on the Block, a weekly tabling and engagement space.
Stop by to learn about campus resources, upcoming programs, and ways to get involved. It’s a casual, welcoming space to ask questions, make connections, and build community. All are welcome.
You 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.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

SWANA Movie Night
2026-04-16 18:00 - 20:00 | Namaste Lounge, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
The Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center is celebrating SWANA Heritage Month with a series of events! Join us for a movie night with snacks on Thursday, April 16th from 6-8pm at Namaste Lounge.
You 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.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

Info Session: Humanities Summer Professional Opportunities
2026-04-17 10:00 - 11:00 | https://events.ucsc.edu/event/humanities-summer-opportunities-info-session/2026-04-17/
Are you looking for paid summer opportunities to explore career possibilities and put your humanities skills into practice? Join this info session to learn about two new summer programs offered by the Humanities Division in Summer 2026:

Summer Humanities EXCEL: Los Angeles offers 10-week project-based internships across Los Angeles County. Participants will enroll in a tuition-free 10-unit course and receive a $4,000 scholarship.

HumLaunch is a mentorship program offering job shadowing and short-term project placements with UCSC Humanities alumni ranging from 1 day to 3 weeks and available in locations around California and online. Participants will receive a scholarship of $100 per day.

Both programs are open only to students with a major or minor in the Humanities Division and who are continuing through Fall 2026.
We’re offering two info sessions where you’ll learn how the programs work, what opportunities are available, and how to apply. We’ll share tips for a successful application and answer your questions. Attend whichever session suits your schedule!
Session 1: Friday 4/17, 10-11am. Register for 4/17 here.
Session 2: Thursday 4/23, 2-3pm. Register for 4/23 here.
Contact Humanities Career Engagement Specialist Meredith Pelrine at hum-career-engagement@ucsc.edu with questions about the info sessions or the programs.

Understanding & Using Your Syllabus
2026-04-17 13:00 - 13:45 | https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/7372922776?pwd=[REDACTED]
In this workshop, you will: Break down, understand, and use your syllabus as a tool for success.
The Successful Slug Workshop series, hosted by Learning Support Services Peer Coaches, are open to all UCSC undergraduate students and focus on academic skills and tools to support your success as a student. At each workshop, you will be introduced to a topic, engage in active learning, be given resources to begin implementing the same day, and have an opportunity to learn more if you are interested.
You 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.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

Virtual Town Hall: Public/Open Scholarship / Open Science - MA3 Challenge
2026-04-17 15:00 - 15:45 | https://events.ucsc.edu/event/online-town-hall-public-open-scholarship-open-science-ma3-challenge/
As part of an ORCA MA3 Challenge grant, UCSC faculty, researchers, staff, and graduate students are invited to join Christina Ravelo, Sikina Jinnah, Kendra Dority, and other members of the research team for a virtual town hall to learn more about working together to develop merit review guidelines for recognizing (1) public/open scholarship, and/or (2) equity-centered graduate mentoring.
Register for the online Town Hall here.
For additional background, please visit our campus announcement https://news.ucsc.edu/2026/03/uc-santa-cruz-awarded-grant-to-promote-and-support-open-scholarship-engaged-mentoring/

The Power of One: A Celebration of Earth Day at UC Santa Cruz
2026-04-17 17:00 - 19:00 | Merrill Cultural Center, 200 McLaughlin Dr, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
In honor of Earth Day, The Power of One brings together the campus and the community for a unique blend of film, dialogue, and environmental stewardship.
The program begins Friday evening with a special campus screening of The Power of One documentary and a panel discussion featuring filmmakers Alex Valdez and Pablo De la Fuente. They will explore how storytelling and individual agency can inspire meaningful social and environmental change, with a focus on ecological justice and sustainability.
The experience continues Saturday morning with a habitat enhancement project along the San Lorenzo River in partnership with the Coastal Watershed Council, followed by the option to participate in Earth Day festivities in downtown Santa Cruz. Together, these activities are designed to turn inspiration into action – demonstrating how the power of one can become the power of many in caring for our planet.
This event is free and open to the public. UCSC students are especially encouraged to attend. Light refreshments will be served. RSVP today!
The Power of One Film Screening and Panel Discussion

Friday, April 17
5–7 p.m.
Merrill Cultural Center

Habitat Enhancement with the Coastal Watershed Council

Saturday, April 18
9:30–11:30 a.m.
Lower San Lorenzo River, Santa Cruz

Night of Ideas 2026
2026-04-17 17:00 - 21:00 | Institute of the Arts and Sciences, 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States
Enlightenment, Now!
Join us for a nocturnal celebration of art, philosophy, and activism!
Enlightenment, Now!
As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of its independence, the 2026 Santa Cruz Night of Ideas invites us not to celebrate the Enlightenment, but to interrogate it. Long associated with democracy, progress, and universal reason, the Enlightenment’s legacy remains deeply ambivalent – coexisting with enduring forms of exclusion, colonial violence, and economic exploitation. These unresolved tensions, strikingly visible today, demand renewed scrutiny.
Rather than treating the Enlightenment as a closed chapter or shared inheritance, this edition centers young local voices and civil society to ask urgent questions: whose reason matters, whose freedoms are secured, and whose futures are denied?
Through conversations, workshops, performances, and visionary talks, Enlightenment, Now! becomes a space for lived experience and collective experimentation. Featuring contributions from local performers Crista Berryessa and Beati Quorum, Alex Olwal’s audiovisual collaborations with AL-EK, and Juan Ospina, flautist and composer with Olemano, our event will also bring together Thomas Sage Pedersen, Ronaldo V. Wilson, Gina Athena Ulysse, and many other guests. The aim is not consensus, but momentum: rethinking progress and imagining new political, ethical, and cultural possibilities under radically changed conditions.
Join us on Friday, April 17 at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences to explore what remains of the Enlightenment, and what it might become!
This event is brought to you by the Center for Public Philosophy, with support from the Institute of the Arts and Sciences, The Humanities Institute, the Marc Sanders Foundation, Villa Albertine, and the Institut Français.
Learn more and sign up for updates at nightofideas.org.
Night of Ideas 2026 Schedule:
MAIN HALL
5:00pm: Crista Berryessa and Beati Quorum + introductory remarks by Jeanne Proust
5:30pm: Thomas Sage Pedersen, Staying with Discomfort. Why Our Capacity for Uncertainty Shapes the Systems We Create
6:00pm: Community Soundscape with Beati Quorum and Sarah Cruse
6:30pm: Gina Athena Ulysse, Ronaldo V. Wilson & Libia Posada, artist performances and remarks
7:30: Juan Ospina & Olemano live performance
8:30: Alex Olwal & AL-EK live performance + participatory dance with Brigitte Wittmer
CONFERENCE ROOM (Room 1)
6pm: Kyle Robertson, Contesting the Rule of Law
7pm: Adela Najarro, From Body to Word: Finding Enlightenment Through Poetry
8pm: Iris Oved, Mind the Gap: Masks, Goggles, and the Search for Authenticity
WEST ROOM (Room 2)
6pm: Jean-Paul Gazzaneo-Duarte, Identity Under Oppression: Lessons from Latin American Philosophy
7pm: Sam Kahn, Moving Beyond the Standard Story of the ‘Attention Crisis’
8pm: Ethics Slam! Workshop for collective debate
ONGOING
Philo-booth: “Ask a philosopher a question!”

4th Annual Mother Earth Drag Extravaganza
2026-04-17 19:00 - 22:00 | Seymour Marine Discovery Center, 100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060
Get ready to slay and celebrate nature’s fierce beauty at the Mother Earth Drag Extravaganza!

A student drag show and queer prom! You won’t want to miss the 4th Annual Mother Earth Drag Extravaganza.
ABOUT
Mother Earth is inherently queer. Come celebrate nature with performances from student drag artists, tabling from queer groups as well as scientific groups, food, and dance! Doors open at 6:00 PM, show starts at 7:00 PM.
This year’s theme is Take it to Heart! We encourage you to come dressed for date night, but this is not required for attendance. Wear what makes you comfortable!
ACCESIBILITY
The Seymour Marine Discovery Center, Cantu Queer Center, C9/JRL CoCo, and our volunteers care about accesibility for all at this event. As such, equitable access and seating will be provided to those that request it.
Furthermore, if anything should arise on the day of the event, staff members and volunteers will be available to assist with any and all accesibility-related needs.
SAFETY GUIDELINES
We understand that due to the recent political actions taken against LGBTQ and BIPOC communities, there is an increasing concern about safety for events like this.
To address this, we have partnered with the Rainbow Defense Coalition whose volunteers will provide community safety during the event. Alongside staff and volunteers in blue Seymour Center Vests, you may look for people with rainbow umbrellas for security concerns.
We reserve the right to refuse service to guests that disrupt the enjoyment and comfort of others. We will not tolerate hate speech, harassment, or any form of abuse towards guests or staff/volunteers.
Furthermore, there is a list of restricted items that may not be brought to the event:

Knives, weapons of any kind
Cigarettes, e-vapes
Alcohol

We reserve the right to confiscate any of the aforementioned items.

Raíces Y Futuros: Food Justice and Abolition
2026-04-18 09:00 - 16:30 | Hay Barn, 94 Ranch View Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, United States
Join us at the UCSC Farm for an all-day conference on Food Justice and Abolition. We envision this conference as a grounds for cultivating hope and action towards food justice praxis. This includes building connections between disciplines and across communities so that we can engage in dialogue, build and strengthen coalitions, and ultimately work towards abolition and alternative institutions. Find out more on our webpage: https://sites.google.com/ucsc.edu/food-justice-and-abolition/home

RSVP as Participant: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScANq7YtIdvGk2Fyb8XzLCS7QSIN0Q92HuFBhlP3JSU0ojgjA/viewform
Submit a Workshop Proposal: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSezJDSYHnNUorLdT1VIr0v9RAARcPlT3zB3Fuba1f2ROzf2mA/viewform

Noir Faire
2026-04-18 13:00 - 17:00 | Oakes Lower Lawn, Oakes College, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
The African American Resource & Cultural Center (AARCC) invites you to the Noir Faire. Come join us for an afternoon of fun and connection in a medieval style!
Saturday, April 18th | 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Oakes Lower Lawn
For questions or accommodation requests, please contact Mcossio@ucsc.edu.
You 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.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

Native Star Stories Night
2026-04-18 16:00 - 20:30, 2026-04-18 17:00 - 21:00 | Lick Observatory, 7281 Mount Hamilton Road, Mount Hamilton, CA, 95140
Join us for the 5th annual Native Star Stories Night, a free immersive cultural-astronomy night for high school and college students and their families at Lick Observatory, on Mount Hamilton, east of San Jose. The night includes a private tour, free dinner, sunset ceremony, telescope observing, and sharing of traditional star stories from participants’ communities and countries.
Register here.
UCSC students are welcome to register as volunteers (same link) and will be able to participate in all events, but may be asked to facilitate the small-group story sharing.
General public and university staff are welcome to register as participant, but priority will be given to high school and community college students.
This event is made possible by the support of UCO/Lick Observatory, the American Indian Resource Center, and the Osterbrock Leadership Program.

This event is consistent with state and federal law, the UC Nondiscrimination Statement and the Nondiscrimination Policy Statement for University of California Publications Regarding Student-Related Matters.

DRAIN - Quarry Amphitheater (April 18th)
2026-04-18 18:00 - 22:00 | Upper Quarry Amphitheater, 15 McLaughlin Drive, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Tickets are on sale at quarryamphitheater.com, starting at $55.96 for general admission
DRAIN came together in the sleepy, oceanside NorCal climes of Santa Cruz in 2014 when Ciaramitaro met up with guitarist Cody Chavez and drummer Tim Flegal while attending college. “We had no idea or gameplan of what we were trying to do,” says Sammy. “It was more like, ‘Hey, you have a metal band T-shirt, and I got a Downpresser shirt on, and someone likes Municipal Waste. We should all play together.’” While nearby scenes like San Jose and Oakland (known for the legendary Gilman Street venue) had local heat, Drain had to pull up their bootstraps to ignite their own. “We made our own scene in Santa Cruz,” reveals the DIY vocalist proudly; he began booking shows at Café Pergolesi, a local coffee shop that became the town’s hardcore hub.

OLLI at UCSC Sunday Speaker Meeting
2026-04-19 10:00 - 12:00 | Colleges Nine and John R. Lewis College Multi-purpose Room, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
OLLI Hosts Natalie Batalha, UC Santa Cruz Professor, Astronomy
and Astrophysics
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UC Santa Cruz invites the public to an in-person presentation from 10:00 to noon on Sunday, April 19th, in the Colleges Nine/Lewis Multipurpose Room at UCSC.
Join us for a social hour and a presentation titled, Are We Alone? Thirty Years of Exoplanet Discovery.
Named among the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2017 and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Batalha is an eminent planetary astronomer. She served many leadership roles for NASA’s Kepler mission, when she identified planets potentially able to sustain life and led the analysis that confirmed the first rocky planet outside our solar system.
OLLI at UCSC is a community of adults from diverse educational, occupational, and geographic backgrounds who are devoted to the pursuit of learning. This event is free and open to the public. Bring a friend. Coffee and nibbles will be served.
For directions and free parking information, visit: https://olli.ucsc.edu/monthly-gatherings/location-directions-and-parking/
Free and open to the public

Presented by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UC Santa Cruz.

Building Soil with Microbes: Compost as Biological Infrastructure
2026-04-20 10:00 - 11:00 | CA
Keisha Ernst from the Catalyst Bio-Amendments and Compost Academy
In Person Location: ISB 221
Zoom Link
In this talk, Keisha will explore how biologically focused compost production differs from conventional composting systems designed primarily for waste diversion. She will discuss how microbial communities influence soil structure, nutrient cycling, plant resilience, and water dynamics—and how managing compost as a living biological input can shift the way we approach soil fertility. The presentation will also highlight findings from a two-year field trial evaluating microbial applications in landscape and turf systems, including results showing measurable reductions in irrigation needs alongside improvements in soil performance. Designed for growers, land managers, researchers, and soil enthusiasts alike, this talk offers a practical look at how working with soil microbiology can reshape the future of agriculture and land stewardship. Keisha will also give a live demonstration showing different known types of microbiology!

Waste and Cataclysm, Waste as Catalyst: The Politics of Disposability in New Orleans
2026-04-20 13:25 - 14:30 | CA
Christopher Lang from the UCSC Environmental Studies Department
In Person Location: ISB 221
Zoom Link
Lang explores the politics of disposability in New Orleans, Louisiana, revealing how pollution intersects with Black community health, waste workers’ lives and livelihoods, and the city’s overall resilience in the face of increasing flood risk. Using a combination of methods – from semi-structured interviews to formalized employment in city government to catch basin content analyses, and more – Lang demonstrates that waste and its management in New Orleans is far from neutral, neither in impact nor procedure; rather, pollution that continually overwhelms the city stems from long-running political choices that reinscribe cultural norms and infrastructures around disposability, which underpins the local and regional economy. Lang examines these consequences of mismanaged and excessive waste at different scales within the city, noting several tensions that exist and impede structural improvements in sustainability and equity pertaining to solid waste: tensions between community and industry, “cleanliness” and job security, economy and the environment, and tradition and adaptation. In a city that simultaneously experiences gentrification, austerity, and population loss (for myriad reasons: quality of life issues, homeowner insurance costs, climate change forecasting etc.), Lang unpacks the stakes of sustainability, or lack thereof, highlighting the power dynamics laden in New Orleans’ throwaway economy as well as those in efforts to “green” a whitening city.

AM Seminar: Variational Inference and Density Estimation with Non-Negative Tensor Train
2026-04-20 16:00 - 17:00 | CA
Presenter: Dr. Xun Tang, Stanford University
Description: This talk covers an efficient numerical approach for compressing a high-dimensional discrete distribution function into a non-negative tensor train (NTT) format. The two settings we consider are variational inference and density estimation, whereby one has access to either the unnormalized analytic formula of the distribution or the samples generated from the distribution. In particular, the compression is done through a two-stage approach. In the first stage, we use existing subroutines to encode the distribution function in a tensor train format. In the second stage, we use an NTT ansatz to fit the obtained tensor train. For the NTT fitting procedure, we use a log barrier term to ensure the positivity of each tensor component, and then utilize a second-order alternating minimization scheme to accelerate convergence. In practice, we observe that the proposed NTT fitting procedure exhibits drastically faster convergence than an alternative multiplicative update method that has been previously proposed. Through challenging numerical experiments, we show that our approach can accurately compress target distribution functions.
Bio: Xun Tang is a postdoc in Stanford University, department of mathematics, hosted by Prof. Lexing Ying. Xun works on tensor network methods for scientific computing and data science, and Xun also works on optimal transport algorithms. Xun will join HKUST department of mathematics in August 2026 as an incoming assistant professor.
Hosted by: Applied Mathematics Department

Statistics Seminar: Hierarchical Clustering with Confidence
2026-04-20 16:00 - 17:00 | CA
Presenter: Snigdha Panigrahi, Associate Professor, Department of Statistics, University of Michigan
Description:Agglomerative hierarchical clustering is one of the most widely used approaches for exploring how observations in a dataset relate to each other. However, its greedy nature makes it highly sensitive to small perturbations in the data, often producing different clustering results and making it difficult to separate genuine structure from spurious patterns. In this talk, I will show how randomizing hierarchical clustering can be useful not just for measuring stability but also for designing valid hypothesis testing procedures based on the clustering results. We propose a simple randomization scheme to construct valid p-values at each node of a hierarchical clustering dendrogram, quantifying evidence against greedy merges while controlling the Type I error rate. Our method applies to any linkage without case-specific derivations, is substantially more powerful than existing selective inference approaches, and provides an estimate of the number of clusters with a probabilistic guarantee on overestimation.
Bio:Snigdha Panigrahi is an Associate Professor of Statistics at the University of Michigan, where she also holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Biostatistics. She received her PhD in Statistics from Stanford University in 2018 and has been a faculty member at Michigan since then. Her research focuses on converting purely predictive machine learning algorithms into principled inferential methods. She is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute, and her work has been recognized with an NSF CAREER Award and the Bernoulli New Researcher’s Award. Her editorial service, past and present, includes Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics, Bernoulli, and Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B.
Hosted by: Statistics Department

Aziz Abu Sarah & Maoz Inon – The Future is Peace
2026-04-20 19:00 - 20:00 | Temple Beth El, 3055 Porter Gulch Road, Aptos, 95003, United States
Two lifelong peace activists and guides to Israel/Palestine, both of whom have lost family in the conflict, take readers on a revealing life-changing journey across this holy, bloodstained land and discover the mythic, political, and personal history that divides but also binds them and their peoples.
In The Future Is Peace, Sarah and Inon take readers on a transformative weeklong journey across a sacred and bloodstained land. Facing competing narratives, they explore how compassion and unity can pull humanity back from the precipice of blind hatred. Throughout their travels, they have been constantly asked: In the face of so much loss, how can we ever find hope? Their answer is always the same. One cannot find hope. We must create it.

Aziz Abu Sarah is Co-CEO of InterAct International, a nonprofit dedicated to Middle East Peace. He is a peacebuilder, entrepreneur, National Geographic Explorer, TED Fellow, and renowned speaker and trainer on conflict resolution and responsible travel. Aziz is the co-founder of MEJDI Tours, a travel company on a mission to transform tourism into a global force of citizen diplomacy. He has won numerous awards, including from the United Nations, Institute of International Education, and The Explorers Club. Aziz is consistently named one of the world’s 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Jordan. He has written opinion pieces for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Al-Quds, and Haaretz.
Maoz Inon is Co-CEO of InterAct International, a nonprofit dedicated to Middle East Peace. He is an Israeli peace activist and entrepreneur. He was honored with the prestigious Franco-German Human Rights Prize and the Shared Living Award from Abraham Initiatives. He has spoken on Capitol Hill, at U.S. universities, and the European Parliament. He has written pieces for The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Haaretz, and more. He has founded several peace-focused initiatives within Israel and the Middle East, including the Jesus Trail, Fauzi Azar Inn, and Abraham Hostel & Tour brands.
Douglas Abrams is a multiple New York Times-bestselling author, as well as an editor, literary agent, and film producer. He is the founder and president of Idea Architects, a creative book and media agency helping visionaries create a wiser, healthier, and more just world. He co-wrote The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World with the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu which inspired the film MISSION: JOY. Doug served as the interviewer in the film as well as an Executive Producer. As an editor and literary agent, he has also worked with other Nobel Laureates including Nelson Mandela, Jody Williams, and Elizabeth Blackburn and worked with many visionary scientists including Stephen Hawking.
