Info Session: Global Seminar Eco-Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands
2025-11-19 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Learn more at our upcoming Information Session: Wednesday, November 19th, 2025 at 12:00-1:00 pm via Zoom.
Zoom link is listed here.
Earn 10 units on a summer program on the Global Seminar Eco-Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands in Amsterdam this summer. This program is taught by Nada Miljkovic, Entrepreneurship Instructor and Program Manager for UCSC’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurial Development.
Quick Facts:

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Courses: Crown 92G: Social and Creative Entrepreneurship, GE: PE-H (5 units) and Crown 194: Eco Entrepreneurship, GE: PR-S (5 units)
Led by: Crown Lecturer, Nada Miljkovic
Eligibility: Open to students from any major who have completed 90 units by time of departure and have a minimum of a 2.3 GPA
Dates: Summer Session 2 (Exact dates to be announced)
Finances: Financial aid applies, and scholarships are available! Budget will be posted on the website when it is available.
How to apply: Visit here for instructions. Applications open on December 1 and close on March 2.
Get in touch: Email your questions to globallearning@ucsc.edu.

Program Description:
Discover how entrepreneurship can bridge the gap between the Netherlands’ thriving economy and its commitment to environmental sustainability! Based in Amsterdam, this immersive program includes exciting site visits to Rotterdam, Utrecht, and beyond. You will collaborate with local sustainability-focused entrepreneurs, exploring how innovative business models can tackle the challenges of conservation and development. Through hands-on experience and seminars in entrepreneurship and sustainability, you will gain valuable insights into creating businesses that prioritize environmental well-being. Join us to reimagine what it means to value and protect life in a modern, holistic way. Discover more here.

Field School Workshop: Why and how to get your first fieldwork exposure
2025-11-19 12:00 - 13:00 | Social Sciences 1, Social Sciences 1, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Please join Anthropology’s Field School Workshop: Why and how to get your first fieldwork exposure on Wednesday, November 19th, from 12-1pm in 261, Social Sciences 1, hosted by Prof. Vicky Oelze and Anthropology majors Annie Bleveans, Lina Pesso, and Jamie Sorensen.
The main purpose of attending a field school in archaeology, biological anthropology, paleoanthropology or primatology is to gain hands-on experience in the basic field methods of these disciplines, such as survey and excavation techniques, observational data and sample collection and data analysis, and usually involves several weeks of institutionally organized field work under the guidance of faculty and other experts.
Are you wondering:
How do I pick the right school and how do I apply?
What is field school like and is it really the right thing for me?
Then please join our conversation, in which we will provide rich resources on how to find and select field schools and also field volunteering opportunities. We will share our very own field school experiences and what we learned. Finally, there will be plenty of time to address questions from the student audience.
Refreshments (pizza) will be served.

Road Trip! Light in the American West, from Baja to the Yukon
2025-11-19 12:00 - 17:00, 2025-11-20 12:00 - 17:00, 2025-11-21 12:00 - 17:00, 2025-11-22 12:00 - 17:00 | Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, 11 Cowell Service Rd, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
The photographs in this exhibition, made between 2004 and 2025, span across the American West from the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico to The Yukon territory in Canada. Paul Schoellhamer’s (Cowell ‘69) color photographs invite us to travel with him and reflect on our relationship to land, the light that shapes it, and the freedom – contested but essential – to move across it.
The exhibition draws on voices across time and perspective that frame the American landscape as more than a stage for beauty and awe. For Chief Satanta of the Kiowa Nation, to roam the land freely was life itself. For N. Scott Momaday, land must be “believed to be seen.” For Eliot Porter, light and reflection imparted magic to Glen Canyon’s waters. For Wallace Stegner, saving natural places meant saving fragments of our collective sanity. For Brook M. Thompson, the Klamath River is recognized with personhood. Alongside these perspectives, Paul’s images press us to see public land not as scenery to extract or aestheticize, but as sustenance and history. Land is alive and contested. To see closely is not to linger on a romanticized vision of the American landscape, but to reckon with responsibility: how we safeguard access, how we imagine “wildness,” and how we hold space for futures beyond our own. For Paul, this exhibition is a call for students to encounter land and light firsthand and let those encounters be their teachers.
Opening Reception
October 4, 2025
1-4pm
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Join us every Friday for Art Fridays.
No experience necessary. Supplies and snacks provided.

Sep 26 Snail Mail/Postcards
Oct 3 Souvenir Keychains
Oct 10 Stamp Magnets
Oct 17 Cyanotype Totebags/Pouches/Pencil cases
Oct 24 Candy Around The World Linocuts
Oct 31 Abstract Felt Collages
Nov 7 Phone Photos/Buttons
Nov 14 Travel Related Patches With Upcycled Materials
Nov 21 Thanksgiving Break! No Art Friday
Nov 28 Unexpected Landscape Surrealist Collage

Please note that the date and the project is subject to change.

Humanities at Work: Informational Interviewing
2025-11-19 12:30 - 13:30 | https://events.ucsc.edu/event/humanities-at-work-informational-interviewing/
Are you curious about your career options as a humanities student? Wondering how the professionals around you got to where they are? Join this interactive workshop to learn about informational interviewing*, a way you can use your curiosity to explore career possibilities and make meaningful professional connections. You’ll leave ready to reach out, learn from your role models, and build your network.
Attendees will enter a raffle for a Humanities tumbler!
Register on Handshake here
*informational interview: a conversation with a professional you want to learn from about what they do and how they came to do it

Open House: Oakes Collaborations
2025-11-19 15:00 - 17:00
Explore Our New Collaborative Spaces in Oakes College!
We’re excited to welcome you to the newly expanded spaces in the Oakes Academic Building, now home to a vibrant community of Social Sciences research centers and programs. Connect with colleagues from the Institute for Social Transformation, the Center for Labor and Community, the Right Livelihood Center, Campus + Community, the Center for Economic Justice & Action, and the Science & Justice Research Center. You’ll also have the chance to learn more about Oakes College and the CARA program (Community-based Action, Research, and Advocacy).

Stop by to meet the teams, discover their work, and tour our new conference rooms and collaborative spaces.

Oakes College Mission: Since its founding in 1972, Oakes College has been committed to intellectual, academic and personal inquiry rooted in the possibility of effecting positive social and political change. As a multi-ethnic community, we provoke the exchange of cross-cultural perspectives. Our efforts to understand, accept and celebrate human diversity are a source of exceptional strength. Through this committed inquiry, we raise often unaddressed issues that the university community must examine.
Parking: There should be plenty of parking available in lots 160, 161, 162, or the West Remote parking lot (permits required).

Hosted by: Institute for Social Transformation, Center for Economic Justice and Action, Center for Labor and Community, Right Livelihood Center, Oakes CARA Program, and Oakes College.

College Night: Arts
2025-11-19 17:00 - 19:00 | Porter/Kresge Dining Hall, 411 Porter-Kresge Rd, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Porter College, in collaboration with UCSC Dining, present an Arts themed College Night. Join us Thursday, November 13, from 5–7 p.m. at the Porter/Kresge Dining Hall for a night of activities, fun, community, and a special themed menu. Standard dining hall entry pricing applies, and all students, faculty, and staff are invited.
Please note: The dining hall will be closed from 2–5 p.m. for event preparation.
Learn more about College Nights at dining.ucsc.edu/events.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.How to Use the Statement Across Communication Channels

International Trivia Night
2025-11-19 18:00 - 19:30 | Namaste Lounge, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join us for an evening of international-themed trivia with your fellow UCSC community members. There will be refreshments and prizes. Sign up, show up, and see if you have what it takes to be the ultimate UCSC international trivia master.
Register here for International Trivia Night
Date: Wednesday, November 19
Time: 18:00 – 19:30
Location: Namaste Lounge at C9/JRL
This event is part of UCSC’s International Education Week. If you have any questions, please contact us at iprogramming@ucsc.edu.

Jorquera, Z. (CSE) - Quantum Entanglement Bounds and the Approximation Algorithms That Use Them
2025-11-20 09:00 - 10:00 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
One of the central challenges in quantum computing is finding or approximating the ground-state energy of a local Hamiltonian, a quantum analogue of classical constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs). Among these, the Quantum Max-Cut problem serves as a canonical example, paralleling the classical Max-Cut problem. Despite its foundational importance in both theoretical computer science and condensed matter physics, our understanding of approximation algorithms for Quantum Max-Cut and related local Hamiltonian problems remains limited, primarily due to the difficulty of representing and optimizing over entangled quantum states.
In this advancement talk, we introduce the quantum information background needed to contextualize the results and the significance of the proposed future work by drawing an analogy to classical optimization. We then investigate approximation algorithms for 2-local Hamiltonians beyond qubit systems, focusing on higher-dimensional qudit analogues, such as Quantum Max-d-Cut and a new problem we introduce: the Maximal Entanglement problem. We establish new entanglement upper bounds for these problems based on the star bound, a key tool for analyzing entanglement monogamy in Hamiltonian optimization. For the Maximal Entanglement problem, we show that these bounds can be efficiently certified via semidefinite programs (SDPs) and that they directly admit a (1/d + O(1/D))-approximation algorithm (where D is the degree of the interaction graph), which beats random assignment. For Quantum Max-d-Cut, the star bound gives a more complicated notion of entanglement, for which we show that the basic SDP can verify this bound for all reduced marginals on up to five vertices when d=3, but likely fails for larger subgraphs. We further propose that b-matchings, with b = d-1, capture the appropriate notion of entanglement for these higher-dimensional Quantum Max-d-Cut systems, analogous to matchings in the qubit/Quantum Max-Cut case. Leveraging this insight, we design a novel 2-matching-based algorithm that outperforms existing approaches for Quantum Max-3-Cut, giving an approximation ratio of 0.555.
The present work advances the theoretical framework for understanding approximations in qudit Hamiltonians and highlights open directions for certifying quantum upper bounds as well as finding lower bounds via approximation algorithms.

Event Host: Zack Jorquera, Ph.D. Student, Computer Science and Engineering
Advisor: Alexandra Kolla
Zoom- https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/98034235739?pwd=[REDACTED]

Chinese Names Pronunciation Workshop
2025-11-20 12:00 - 13:00
Learn the fundamentals of reading Chinese pinyin names and practice with native speaking staff members and students from Global Engagement. Hosted by Chunling Hu (International Student Advisor) and Global Leaders.
Register here for the Chinese Names Pronunciation Workshop
Date: Thursday, November 20
Time: 12:00 – 13:00
Location: Zoom
This event is part of UCSC’s International Education Week. If you have any questions, please contact us at iprogramming@ucsc.edu.

Small Steps, Big Impact: Starting Your Fitness Journey Workshop
2025-11-20 12:00 - 13:00
The Faculty & Staff Health and Well-being Program presents its newest workshop!
Thursday, November 20, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Ready to feel stronger, boost your mood, and improve your health—but not sure where to start? You likely know that moving your body can help you feel healthier and more energized, so join us in discovering how to get started. This beginner-friendly session will break down the fundamentals of fitness, including goal setting, different types of exercise, and how to level up your routine. We’ll also talk about strategies for overcoming barriers and staying motivated. Even if you’re just looking to discover small ways to move more each day, this workshop will help you build a routine that fits movement into your life.
Register here for the Zoom link. The workshop will be recorded, and a link to the recording will be sent out after the session.

GradWiC Womxn's Lunch - Lunch & Learn
2025-11-20 13:00 - 14:00
Join Graduate Womxn in Computing (GradWiC) for our Womxn’s Luncheon this Thursday, from 1-2 pm in E2-599.
This week, we are having a Lunch & Learn session featuring Kat Kosolapova from CSE.

Job search strategies in a competitive market
2025-11-20 18:00 - 19:00 | Silicon Valley Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, 95054, United States
Join Dean PK Agarwal for this free, in-person and online event as he provides actionable tips on navigating today’s dynamic job market — from leveraging LinkedIn and digital portfolios to networking effectively and positioning yourself as a must-hire candidate. Ideal for career changers, recent grads, and mid-career professionals.
In this session you’ll:

Learn proven strategies for standing out to recruiters and hiring managers
Build a compelling digital presence, including LinkedIn and online portfolios
Apply smart networking to open doors and build lasting connections

This session is part of Pathways to Professional Success, a new conversation series hosted by Dean P.K. Agarwal.

Claim your seat!

Ellen Bass: Morton Marcus Poetry Reading
2025-11-20 18:00 - 19:30 | Merrill Cultural Center, 200 McLaughlin Dr, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join us for the 15th annual Morton Marcus Poetry Reading, featuring honored guest Ellen Bass. Poet Gary Young will host the program, and the evening will include an announcement of the winner of the Morton Marcus Poetry Contest (recipient receives a $1,000 prize).
Ellen Bass’s most recent collection, Indigo, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2020. Among her other books are Like a Beggar, The Human Line, and Mules of Love. Her poems appear frequently in The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, and many other journals. Among her awards are Fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, The NEA, and The California Arts Council, The Lambda Literary Award, and four Pushcart Prizes. She co-edited with Florence Howe the first major anthology of women’s poetry, No More Masks!, and her nonfiction books include the groundbreaking The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse and Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth. A chancellor emerita of the Academy of American Poets, Bass founded poetry workshops at Salinas Valley State Prison and the Santa Cruz, California jails, and teaches in the MFA writing program at Pacific University
Gary Young is the author of several collections of poetry. His most recent books are That’s What I Thought, winner of the Lexi Rudnitsky Editor’s Choice Award from Persea Books, and Precious Mirror, translations from the Japanese. His other books include Even So: New and Selected Poems; Pleasure; No Other Life, winner of the William Carlos Williams Award; Braver Deeds, winner of the Peregrine Smith Poetry Prize; Days; The Dream of a Moral Life, which won the James D. Phelan Award; and Hands. He has received a Pushcart Prize, and grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, and the Vogelstein Foundation, among others. In 2009 he received the Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America. Young was the first Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz County, and in 2012 he was named Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year. Since 1975 he has designed, illustrated, and printed limited edition letterpress books and broadsides at his Greenhouse Review Press. His fine print work is represented in numerous collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Getty Museum, and special collection libraries throughout the U.S. and Europe. He teaches creative writing and directs the Cowell Press at UC Santa Cruz.
This event is a part of the Fall UCSC Living Writers course, which features poets, novelists, academics, curators, and artists in conversation with one another, in person, across genre and media.
Purchase both poets’ works at: www.bookshopsantacruz.com

Parking Information
The Merrill Cultural Center is located in Merrill College, in the northeast corner of the campus core. Those walking or arriving by Metro bus or campus shuttle can take the steep path heading northeast from the Crown/Merrill bus stop.
For those driving from the Main Entrance, stay on Coolidge Drive. Shortly after Coolidge turns left and becomes McLaughlin Drive, turn right at the sign for Merrill College. At the top of the hill, veer right. There are ParkMobile parking spaces along the left side of the lot, and parking for “A,” “B,” and “C” permits along the right. There are two accessible parking spaces if you turn left at the top of the hill and two more if you turn right. Parking attendants will be on site to sell parking permits to event attendees.

The Morton Marcus Poetry Reading honors poet, teacher, and film critic Morton Marcus (1936–2009). Marcus was the 1999 Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year and a recipient of the 2007 Gail Rich Award. Among his published works are eleven volumes of poetry, including The Santa Cruz Mountain Poems, Pages from a Scrapbook of Immigrants, Moments Without Names, Shouting Down the Silence, Pursuing the Dream Bone and The Dark Figure In The Doorway; a novel, The Brezhnev Memo; and a literary memoir, Striking Through the Masks. He taught English and Film at Cabrillo College for thirty years, was the co-host of the radio program, The Poetry Show, and was the co-host of the television film review show, Cinema Scene. Learn more at: www.mortonmarcus.com
The Morton Marcus Poetry Archive can be found at UCSC Special Collections. Mort’s personal papers, manuscripts, and recordings reflect his legacy as a poet and educator, and his collection of poetry books, broadsides, literary magazines and correspondence with other poets and writers illuminate his deep involvement in, and passion for, the literary art of poetry.
Organizing Committee: Danusha Laméris, Donna Mekis, Mark Ong, Maggie Paul, Farnaz Fatemi, David Sullivan, Irena Polić, Teresa Mora, and Gary Young.
Morton Marcus Memorial Poetry Contest: Every year, the annual reading coincides with the The Morton Marcus Memorial Poetry Prize, a national poetry contest which honors Morton Marcus, “whose life and work inspired the writing of many students, friends, and emerging poets.” The contest is hosted by The Hive Poetry Collective. The Hive is a group of Santa Cruz poets creating a weekly radio show and live poetry events featuring a diverse roster of poets and seeks to bring a diverse community together in appreciation of all kinds of poetry by all kinds of people. This year’s contest will be judged by Nancy Miller Gomez. For more information visit: https://hivepoetry.org/morton-marcus-prize/
Support Poetry in Santa Cruz: The Annual Morton Marcus Poetry Reading is made possible due to campus and community co-sponsorships and generous contributions from members of our community, like you. To ensure we can continue to offer this poetry reading free and open to the public in honor and memory of Morton Marcus, and to have our lives deeply enriched by exceptional poetry, please consider making a gift to The Morton Marcus Poetry Reading Fund: thi.ucsc.edu/projects/morton-marcus-poetry-reading.
This community event is presented by the The Humanities Institute and co-sponsored by:
Bookshop Santa Cruz
Cabrillo College English Department
Cowell College
Donna F. Mekis
The Hive Poetry Collective
Living Writers Series
Ow Family Properties
Merrill College
Poetry Santa Cruz
Porter Hitchcock Modern Poetry Fund
Porter College
Santa Cruz Writes
Side By Side Press
Special Collections & Archives
If you have disability-related needs, please contact us at thi@ucsc.edu or call 831-459-1274 by October 31.
Photo by: Irene Young

Indigethanx 2025: Honoring the Elders Dinner
2025-11-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Hay Barn, 94 Ranch View Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, United States
Indigethanx is an American Indian Resource Center annual event, and our alternative to Thanksgiving dinner. We host dinner with traditional Native foods, and invite guest speakers. This year we are hosting a dinner in conjunction with the Cowell Coffee Shop, who will be preparing the dinner for the event.
Indigethanx is a time honored tradition for the Native and Indigenous Students, and offers an alternative celebration to the Thanksgiving holiday. It will include delicious Indigenous food, Indigenous music, expert Indigenous speakers, and much more.

Dress code: Dress to express! Semi-formal attire is encouraged, but not required. Have some fancy earrings you’ve been waiting to debut? Now is the time!
Menu: The staff at the Cowell Coffee Shop are putting together a very special meal for us to enjoy with an indigenous guest chef joining to help prepare the food & teach about its significance.
Please register for Indigethanx here.
NOTE: You must fill out the registration form, as space is limited. Should more people sign up than we can accommodate, there will be a waitlist.
We look forward to seeing you on November 20th! If you have any additional questions, feel free to email us at airc@ucsc.edu.

Info Session: Global Seminar Travel Writing and Podcasting in Ireland
2025-11-20 19:00 - 20:00
Learn more at our upcoming Information Session: Thursday, November 20, 2025, at 7:15-8:15 pm in Social Sciences 2, Room 167 Register Here
Earn 11 units on a summer program on the Global Seminar Travel Writing and Podcasting in Dingle, Ireland this summer. This program is taught by Steve Coulter, Writing Program Continuing Lecturer, and Rachel Anne Goodman, Community Studies Lecturer.
Quick Facts:

Location: Dingle, Ireland
Courses:
Writing 2 GS: Rhetoric and Inquiry: Research and Travel Writing in Ireland (6 units)- satisfies GE composition requirement
Crown 98B: Podcasting: Digital Storytelling (5 units) – satisfies the Interpreting Arts and Media (IM) requirement
Led by: Steve Coulter and Rachel Goodman
Eligibility: Open to students from any major who have completed 45 units by time of departure, have a minimum of a 2.3 GPA and have completed College 1 or Entry Level Writing Requirement
Dates: Summer Session 1 (Exact dates to be announced)
Finances: Financial aid applies, and scholarships are available! Budget will be posted on the website when it is available.
How to apply: Visit here for instructions. Applications open on December 1 and close on March 2.
Get in touch: Email your questions to globallearning@ucsc.edu.

Program Description:
Complete two of your GE requirements this summer in the lively town of Dingle, County Kerry!
Writing 2 satisfies your Composition requirement, and Podcasting: Digital Storytelling satisfies your Interpreting Arts and Media (IM) requirement. Located in the far southwest corner of Ireland, Dingle retains its traditional, rural culture and offers a glimpse into life from another time. Here, prehistoric stone circles stand beside state-of-the-art tech centers, and there’s always something going on. Whether you’re fascinated by prehistoric megaliths, love the sound of fiddles and bagpipes, or are eager to climb the highest mountains in Ireland, Dingle has it all!
Check out this student produced video from 2022 alum Amanda Knox and Click Here to hear more about the experiences of other UCSC students who have completed this incredible program in the last couple of years.

Barnstorm Presents—1972: The Future of Sex
2025-11-20 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-11-21 19:30 - 21:30 | Theater Arts Center, 453 Kerr Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
It is 1972: an era of possibility and polyester and pubic hair. While Ziggy Stardust is on Top of the Pops, Penny is writing an essay on Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Christine is watching Deep Throat and Brian is confused. Devised by The Wardrobe Ensemble, 1972: The Future of Sex incorporates the company’s trademark theatricality, irreverent humour and ensemble ingenuity to tell the story of three couples having sex for the first time—and a country on the brink of a sexual awakening. Commissioned by Shoreditch Town Hall, the play was first seen there in 2014, before a UK tour in 2015, including performances at Bristol Old Vic and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It was revived at the Bristol Old Vic in 2019.
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ADMISSION
– General admission “Pay What You Like” options $5–20
– Free for UCSC undergraduate students (ticket required).
– Tickets issued through Eventbrite; Follow the Dept. of Performance, Play & Design on Eventbrite for notifications and updates.
– Doors are scheduled to open 30 minutes prior to event start time.
– Ticket holders not seated at least 10 minutes before the advertised start time may forfeit their ticket/seat and no refund will be issued.
– A limited number of tickets/seats may be available at the door, even after online ticket sales end or reach full capacity.
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FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
This production runs for two weekends and includes six performances:
Fri. Nov. 14: 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 15: 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 16: 3:00 p.m.
Thu. Nov. 20: 7:30 p.m.
Fri. Nov. 21: 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 22: 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 23: 3:00 p.m.
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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)
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This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

The SpongeBob Musical
2025-11-20 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-11-21 19:30 - 21:30 | Theater Arts Mainstage, 411 Kerr Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
The SpongeBob Musical is a Broadway production based on the popular animated series, SpongeBob SquarePants. It premiered in Chicago in 2016 and then debuted on Broadway in 2017, receiving 12 Tony Award nominations. The musical tells the story of SpongeBob and his friends in Bikini Bottom as they face the potential destruction of their town by a volcano, with songs written by David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, The Flaming Lips, and more.
Directed by Rebecca Wear, assistant professor
Musical Direction by Luke Shepherd, lecturer
Choreography by Cid Pearlman, lecturer
Read more about this production on Lookout Santa Cruz.
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AUDIENCE ADVISORIES
– Ticket holders not seated at least 5 minutes before the advertised start time may forfeit their ticket/seat and no refund will be issued.
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ADMISSION
– Free for UCSC undergrads (ticket required).
– General admission “Pay What You Like” tickets $5–25
– Tickets issued online through Eventbrite only.
– Follow the Dept. of Performance, Play & Design on Eventbrite for notifications and updates.
– Doors are scheduled to open 30 minutes prior to event start time.
—
FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
This is a two-week production with nine performances, including :
Fri. Nov. 14: 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 15: 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 16: 2:00 p.m.
Thu. Nov. 20: 7:30 p.m.
Fri. Nov. 21: 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 22: 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 23: 2:00 p.m.
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PARKING
– Parking by permit, ParkMobile, or $5 cash/credit via the on-site parking attendant
– 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)
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DONATIONS welcome!
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Operation Unplug! Pledge to Leave Campus Sustainability this Winter Break
2025-11-21 00:00 - 2025-12-20 23:59, 2025-11-22 00:00 - 2025-12-21 23:59
UCSC Energy Management and the Sustainability Office are leading the first annual “Operation Unplug” campaign to conserve energy (and reduce greenhouse gas emissions) during winter break. Before leaving your residence hall, apartment, or office, please unplug any fridges or minifridges, computers and/or monitors, power strips, and all other energy intensive appliances or equipment! Take the pledge and/or upload a photo of what you unplugged to the campaign’s google form for raffle entries to win one of two $50 gift certificates. Recruit your friends and coworkers for an additional entry each and try to be the winning building (the building with the most participants is guaranteed one raffle winner)! Operation Unplug is open to all students, staff, and faculty. Be the slug that pulls the plug!

Ramollari, H. (ECE) - An Optofluidic Spectrometer and Applications in Biosensing
2025-11-21 12:30 - 14:00 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Miniaturized spectrometers have the potential to replace bulky and expensive benchtop models. We have previously demonstrated a multimode interference (MMI) waveguide-based spectrometer that achieves high performance while minimizing its footprint.
In this talk, the integration of the MMI spectrometer into an optofluidic device is proposed. This integration opens up applications such as the detection of single particle fluorescence spectra and absorption spectra.
Moreover, adding a metasurface to the spectrometer waveguide is expected to enhance the sensitivity of single particle detection and simplify the analysis methods.
Finally, to improve the MMI waveguide spectrometer a new nanophotonic platform is proposed.
Event Host: Helio Ramollari, Ph.D. Student, Electrical Engineering
Advisor: Holger Schmidt
Zoom- https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/99623652977?pwd=[REDACTED]
Passcode- 576057

Torres, S. (ECE) - An Integrated Platform for Real-time Monitoring and Support of 3D Tissue Growth
2025-11-21 14:00 - 16:00
Organoids are three-dimensional tissue cultures that model real organs and serve as valuable tools for studying development, disease, and treatment response. Traditional methods, which rely on manual handling and incubators, limit consistency and real-time monitoring. To address these issues, we developed a modular microfluidic platform that integrates automated feeding, live fluorescence imaging, and environmental control without the need for a standard incubator. The core of the system is a vertically oriented PDMS-glass chip that enables precise media delivery and continuous imaging of small 3D structures such as organoids. Using fluorescent dyes to mimic molecules, such as nutrients or drugs, we tracked their movement through tissue in real time without invasive sensors. This setup maintains metabolic stability and provides detailed insight into molecular transport, which improves applications in disease modeling, drug testing, and personalized medicine.

Event Host- Sebastián Torres, Ph.D. Candidate, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Advisor: Mircea Teodorescu

Zoom- https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/2333595627?pwd=[REDACTED]
Passcode- 579836

Fall Academic Senate Meeting
2025-11-21 14:30 - 17:00 | Stevenson Event Center, Stevenson Service Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Agenda and information coming soon.

Trans Day of Remembrance Vigil: The Sound of Holding On
2025-11-21 17:30 - 20:30 | Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz, CA
A healing evening featuring trans/nonbinary artists, dancers, and musicians to honor the trans and nonbinary lives lost to violence in the last 12 months—short reception to follow. Allies welcome. Attendees encouraged to contribute to the altar dedicated to trans lives.
RSVP in advance.
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.

UCSC Wind Ensemble
2025-11-21 19:30 - 21:30 | Music Center Recital Hall, 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join the UC Santa Cruz Wind Ensemble for a fall concert.
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ADMISSION
– General admission.
– Free for UCSC students (ticket required).
– Tickets available here online through Eventbrite only.
– Follow the Music Dept on Eventbrite for notices and updates.
– Doors are scheduled to open 30 minutes prior to event start time.
– Ticket holders not seated at least 5 minutes before the advertised start time may forfeit their ticket/seat and no refund will be issued.
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PARKING
– Parking by permit, ParkMobile, or $5 cash/credit via the on-site parking attendant
– 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)
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This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

Holiday Gift & Wreath Sale Fundraiser
2025-11-22 10:00 - 16:00 | Arboretum, 122 Arboretum Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Holiday Gift & Wreath Sale Fundraiser
at the UCSC Arboretum and Botanic Garden

Saturday, November 22, 10am – 4pm
Early entrance for Arboretum members: 9am-10am
Staff will be available to sign up new members at 8:45am
The Arboretum is located at
120 Arboretum Rd., Santa Cruz, CA 95064
midway between the entrances to the UCSC Campus
Featuring handmade holiday gifts and decorations unlike anything you’ve seen!
Arboretum artists have been busy for months creating stunning succulent and dried flower wreaths and works of art for this enchanting Arboretum fundraiser. This is the only collection you will find that draws from the Arboretum’s rare and extraordinary collection of amazing plants!
These items make the perfect gifts and decorations that will last throughout the holidays. In addition to beautiful wreaths and fantastic centerpieces made from Arboretum blossoms and foliage, offerings will include succulent and tillandsia driftwood pieces and terrariums; stunning items created by local artisan woodworkers, dish gardens of all sizes, and more!
The UC Santa Cruz Arboretum is a 60-year-old treasure and beloved destination for the central coast and local community that seeks to inspire stewardship of the world’s biodiversity through research, education, and the conservation of rare, endangered, and extraordinary plants.
arboretum.ucsc.edu
