Events

SWANA Movie Night
2026-04-16 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 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.

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.

AM Seminar: Variational Inference and Density Estimation with Non-Negative Tensor Train
2026-04-20 16:00 - 17:00 | Jack Baskin Engineering Building, 372
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 | Jack Baskin Engineering Building, 156
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.

The Tallest Dwarf—film screening and talk with Julie Wyman
2026-04-20 19:00 - 21:30 | Communications Building, 7487 Red Hill Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
UC Santa Cruz affiliates are invited to a screening and discussion with filmmaker Julie Forrest Wyman. The Tallest Dwarf charts the filmmaker’s quest to find her place within the little people (LP) community at a moment when dwarf identity is poised to radically change. Wyman’s work engages issues of embodiment, body image, and the possibilities and problematics of media spectatorship—all informed by her experience of living with hypochondroplasia dwarfism. Julie Wyman will be in conversation after the screening with Pooja Rangan (Professor of English and Film and Media Studies at Amherst College and Visiting Scholar of Visualizing Abolition) and Cynthia Ling Lee (Associate Professor of Performance, Play & Design, UC Santa Cruz).
Co-organized/co-sponsored by the Arts Division’s Film & Digital Media Department, “Abolition Medicine and Disability Justice“—a collaborative initiative of five UC campuses, including Riverside, Irvine, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco, to addresses health disparities in institutions and policy—and The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz.
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ADMISSION
– Free and open to UC Santa Cruz affiliates only
– Attend in person at Communications Studio C
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PARKING
– Parking via UCSC permit or ParkMobile
– Core West is the lot closest to the event
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ABOUT THE FILM
As Wyman unpacks the rumors of “partial dwarfism” in her family, she finds that hers is the last of a body type she has inherited. She joins forces with a group of dwarf artists to confront the legacy of being fetishized and put on display. Together they create films that reclaim a complicated history and speak back to the echoes of eugenics in the newly emerging pharmaceutical interventions that make little people taller. Through its personal and expanding perspective, the film invites audiences to a new way of seeing.
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ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Julie Forrest Wyman’s 2012 documentary STRONG! premiered at AFI Silverdocs and was broadcast nationally on PBS’s Emmy award-winning series, Independent Lens, where it won the series’ Audience Award. Wyman’s work has been awarded support from Sundance, Sandbox, IDA, SF Film Society, Points North, ITVS, the Creative Capital Foundation, The Princess Grace Foundation, California Humanities, and NEH. She has been a fellow at the UC Davis Feminist Research Institute and a resident of SF Film Society’s Filmhouse, Siena Art Institute, Logan Nonfiction and Points North. Her films, including FatMob (2016), Buoyant (2005), and A Boy Named Sue (2000), have aired on Showtime, MTV’s LOGO-TV, and have been exhibited on five continents. She serves as Associate Professor of Cinema and Digital Media at UC Davis.
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Download and share the event flyer here.
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photographer credit: Gabriella Garcia-Pardo; image description: A group of six LP (little people) performers regard their paper body cut outs on the wall.

Field Trip to ALBA
2026-04-21 08:00 - 14:00 | MJ Organic Farms, 1700 Old Stage Rd, Salinas, California, 93908
Join us for an opportunity to visit the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) in Salinas!
ALBA is a non-profit whose mission is to create economic opportunity for aspiring organic farmers and ag professionals — many of whom are local field workers and first-generation college students — through land-based education in the heart of the Salinas Valley. On this field trip we will learn about their programs which cover: organic farm production, nutrient management and irrigation, farm business, and marketing. If time allows there may also be a harvesting activity.
Lunch will be provided after the tour (please see food order section to place your order)

OVERVIEW:
We will meet at the Hay Barn parking lot at 8:00am, departing at 8:10am. We’ll arrive at ALBA in Salinas at 9am. After our tour we will have lunch at 12pm (provided). At 1pm we’ll get back on the road and be back on campus by 2/2:30pm (depending on traffic)
DRIVING/TRANSPORTATION: (Two options)

Group ride in rental van
Driving yourself to ALBA (If you prefer to drive yourself to Salinas, please arrive at 1700 Old Stage Rd, Salinas, California 93908, by 9am; Google Map)

WHAT TO BRING:

Water/Snacks
Layers (the tour will be mostly outdoors)

Please contact Ximena Moura with any questions: xmoura@ucsc.edu.
Looking forward to exploring ALBA with you all!
We will provide captions for the presentation. If you have disability-related needs, please contact the Career Success office at csuccess@ucsc.edu or (831) 459-4420 as soon as possible.

YOU BELONG HERE
Programs and services 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.

BE Climate & Cookies Student Pop-Up!
2026-04-21 10:00 - 11:30 | Jack Baskin Engineering, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Come get excited about Baskin Engineering Climate Week at our student pop-up! 🌎
Climate Week is a chance to explore how Baskin Engineering is addressing climate challenges through innovative research, teaching, and hands-on projects.
Discover the events happening throughout the week and find ways to get involved!
Swing by for FREE BE swag, coffee, cookies, Climate Week stickers, and more—first come, first served!
Where: BE Courtyard
When: Tuesday, April 21, 10:00-11:30 a.m.
We hope to see you there!

Campus to Career: Job Talk with Communications Manager David Coy
2026-04-21 12:00 - 13:00 | https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/2614256373?pwd=[REDACTED]
Are you curious about the communications field, but not quite sure what it entails? Join our job talk with UCSC alumnus David Coy, a mission-driven communications professional. David will tell us about his journey into communications work and how he discovered his passion for helping impactful organizations craft compelling content. If you’re interested in careers in communications, development, marketing, or social impact, this event is for you!

All students are welcome. The interview will last approximately 30 minutes, followed by a 15-minute Q&A.
We will provide captions for the presentation. If you have disability-related needs, please contact the Career Success office at mpelrine@ucsc.edu as soon as possible.

Learn more about David:
David Coy is a communications professional with a focus on the non-profit, social enterprise, and philanthropy sectors. He is currently Communications Manager for The Bar Association of San Francisco, where he leads communication strategy and supports fundraising efforts. Prior to joining BASF, David worked with mission-driven organizations in investment and philanthropy, conservation, and education. David graduated from UCSC in 2008 with a BA in History.
YOU BELONG HERE
Programs and services 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.

Economics Field Study Info Session
2026-04-21 13:30 - 14:30 | https://ucsc.zoom.us/meeting/register/UXaYoB1VQzSm2M03scZ3ag#/registration
The Economics Field Study program is back!
Attend 1 of 2 information sessions on the Economics field study program:
Tuesday, April 21, 2026: 1:30-2:30pm
Wednesday, April 22, 2026: 4-5pm
Both sessions will be conducted by zoom (only). Registration is required to attend. Please register here.
The Economics field study program offers eligible economics majors an opportunity to earn academic credit while gaining valuable on-the-job experience with a local business or non-profit, or an on-campus administrative office. These internship opportunities allow students to experience how what they’ve learned in the classroom can be applied in real-life situations. You will work with an economics faculty member on an academic project to earn academic credit.
The information sessions will explain eligibility requirements and what is needed to obtain an internship and enroll in the field study program. The program is available summer term and each quarter of the academic year. Now is the time to be thinking about doing a field study in summer ‘26 or fall ‘26.
The information sessions will be conducted by Professor Lori Kletzer, economics field study program director.
See you on zoom on April 21 or 22!

A Sacred Place: Film Screening and Conversation with Dr. Dolly Kikon
2026-04-21 17:30 - 19:30 | Communications Building, 7487 Red Hill Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Please join us for the American premiere of A Sacred Place (2026), by Professor Dolly Kikon (Anthropology). The film tells the story of stones, spirits, and salt springs in Makhel. The film focuses on intergenerational storytellers and their relationship with the land. It integrates visual ethnography, oral tradition, and geological features of Makhel to center Indigenous pedagogy, community history, and ecology. After the screening, Professor Clementine Bordeaux (HAVC) will provide comments and facilitate a conversation with Kikon and audience member participants.
Makhel in Mao Naga language means a sacred place. Can sacredness exist amid ecocide in our times? Seeking an answer, the film follows life as it unfolds in the mountains of Makhel, a Naga village in northern Manipur. These mountains are composed of sandstones, shales, and siltstones. The sandstone monoliths across the landscape are symbols of ancient alliance and kinship between spirits and humans. The story of the land is also stored in the salt springs, ancient seawater retained in shale soil, a geological feature of these mountains. Geographically part of the Eastern Himalayas, the salt springs of Makhel were formed through sedimentation under an ancient equatorial ocean around 50 million years ago. Naga ancestors regarded these geological features as abodes for spirit custodians and cared for them. A Sacred Place is the story of land narrated by Naga storytellers, as humans prioritize relentless development forgetting their relationship with human and other beings.
Learn more about A Sacred Place.

This screening is a hybrid event. Remote participants will receive a link to the film before the event to watch on their own. They may join the conversation via Zoom.
Please RSVP to register for this event. Register here. Any questions can be directed to seacoast@ucsc.edu
This event is graciously co-sponsored by UCSC’s Center for Southeast Asian Coastal Interactions, Center for South Asian Studies, Indigenous Faculty Network, The Humanities Institute and the Film and Digital Media Department.

Arts & Ecology Festival: Creative Resistance
2026-04-22 10:00 - 22:00 | Digital Arts Research Center, 407 McHenry Rd, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
On Earth Day, UC Santa Cruz launches the inaugural Arts & Ecology Festival: Creative Resistance, a campus-wide gathering that refuses to treat climate change as a problem of carbon alone. Instead, it brings together artists, scientists, students, and community partners to engage the deeper conditions of the crisis, and to open space for cultural, political, and imaginative transformations grounded in repair, reciprocity, and collective futures.
Taking place at the Digital Arts Research Center (DARC), the festival unfolds as a full day of exhibitions, film screenings, performances, workshops, talks, and public engagement. Developed through an open call that drew an overwhelming response across disciplines, the program reflects a growing field of practitioners working across environmental research, land-based knowledge, climate resistance, and practices of repair that move beyond dominant institutional and economic frameworks. Tacos Los Reyes food truck will be on site during the festival.
The UC Santa Cruz Arts & Ecology Festival is sponsored by UCSC Art Department, OpenLab Collaborative Research Center, and UC Climate Action Arts Network, with support from the University of California, Office of the President’s Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives grant program.
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ADMISSION
– Free and open to the public
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FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Earth Day Festival
Wed., April 22, 10:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.
various locations throughout the Digital Arts Research Center (DARC)
Earth Week Film Screenings
Mon.. April 20–Fri., April 24, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Light Lab Gallery at the Digital Arts Research Center (DARC)
More information here at the festival website.
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PARKING
– Parking by UCSC 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.

CSE Colloquium - Robust Machine Learning for Biomedical Data: Efficiency, Reliability, and Generalizability
2026-04-22 11:00 - 12:15 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter
Chenyu You, Stony Brook University
Abstract
In the rapidly growing area of machine learning, there is profound promise in crafting intelligent, data-driven methods for diverse real-world applications. Yet, in safety-critical domains like healthcare, some fundamental challenges remain: (1) The insufficiency of raw biomedical data emphasizes the need for data-efficient and robust learning approaches. (2) The imperative of safety and stability necessitates a cohesive framework that unifies learning with theoretical guarantees. (3) The inherent heterogeneity and distribution shifts in real-world clinical data call for robust and generalizable learning methods. To address these challenges, there are several major directions I have explored: (i) (Robust) Machine Learning for Imperfect Medical Data: The development of machine learning models, particularly in the context of label scarcity, increasingly necessitates the collection of substantial annotated medical data. Moreover, medical data often display a long-tailed class distribution, which consequently results in notable imbalance issues. To this end, there are several growing interests in training machine learning models jointly across imbalanced class distributions and limited annotations. I have developed novel, efficient, statistically consistent algorithms to improve empirical performance for biomedical image analysis. (ii) Learning with Theoretical Guarantees: As machine learning methods have become ubiquitous in clinical decision-making, their reliability and interpretability have become important. This is particularly crucial in the field of biomedical image analysis, where decision outcomes can have profound implications. I have developed novel machine learning algorithms that enable provably accurate anatomical modeling with theoretical guarantees. (iii) Generalize across Diverse Biomedical Data: The development of medical foundation models often requires massive and diverse biomedical data. To this end, I have developed various foundation models for biomedical imaging data and explored novel applications of these models. I have also developed novel medical AI Agents that lead to the scalable and accurate predictive modeling, particularly for distribution shift problems.
Speaker Bio
Chenyu You is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics & Statistics and Department of Computer Science at Stony Brook University. He is also the core faculty member of the CVLab, AI institute, and affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Computational Science. His research focuses on both fundamental and applied problems in computer vision and machine learning, often with a focus on generalization, and making machine learning more reliable. Our applied research includes applications to healthcare, biomedical imaging, and cognitive neuroscience. He received his Ph.D. in 2024 from Yale University under the advisement of James S. Duncan, his M.S. in 2019 from Stanford University under the advisement of Daniel Rubin, and his B.S. in 2017 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute under the advisement of Ge Wang, all in electrical engineering. He has also spent wonderful time at Facebook AI Research (FAIR), as well as Google Research. He serves on the Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention Society (MICCAI), and the SUNY AI Symposium Planning Committee, and as associate editors for IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, Medical Image Analysis, IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, Pattern Recognition, and Transactions on Machine Learning Research. He has received AAAI’26 New Faculty Highlights, CPAL’26 Rising Stars Award, Tinker Research Grant Award, Lambda Research Grant Award, ICML’25 Oral Presentation Award, EMBC’25 Top Paper Award, MICCAI’25 NIH Registration Grant Award, IEEE TMI’25 Distinguished Associate Editor Certificate of Excellence Award, and Yale George P. O’Leary Graduate Fellowship, and has been ranked as the World’s Top 2% most-cited scientists by Stanford University since 2024, is a member of the Sigma Xi scientific research society, and received the Excellence in Teaching Award for Spring and Fall 2025. For more information, please check his website: https://chenyuyou.me/.
Hosted by: Professor Yuyin Zhou
Location: Engineering 2, Room E2-180 (Refreshments such as fruit, pastries, coffee, and tea will be provided.)
Zoom Option: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/93445911992?pwd=[REDACTED]

HireNew York Multi-University Alumni Career Fair
2026-04-22 11:00 - 14:00 | Prince George Ballroom, 15 E 27th Street, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Calling University of California Alumni in the tri-state area!
Are you ready for your next career move? Join fellow alumni and professionals at the HireNew York Multi-University Alumni Career Fair, a unique opportunity to connect directly with top employers hiring across a wide range of industries.
This expo-style career event brings together alumni, graduate students, and doctoral candidates from multiple universities to meet 60+ employers actively recruiting talented professionals in the tri-state area.
Event Details
HireNew York Multi-University Alumni Career Fair
📅 Wednesday, April 22, 2026
⏰ 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
📍 Prince George Ballroom, 15 E 27th St., NYC
Why Attend

Meet 60+ companies actively hiring
Build meaningful connections with recruiters and hiring managers
Explore opportunities across industries and career levels
Free to attend for alumni

Whether you’re exploring a career transition, returning to the workforce, or seeking your next leadership role, the HireNew York Career Fair offers a powerful opportunity to expand your network and discover new possibilities.
REGISTER HERE

UCSC Dining Tasting Fair
2026-04-22 11:30 - 14:30 | Colleges Nine and John R. Lewis College Multi-purpose Room, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
UCSC Dining Tasting Fair
Get your taste buds ready! Join us for a fun afternoon of delicious discoveries at the 12th annual UCSC Dining Tasting Fair. This is your chance to sample a wide variety of food and drinks from our premium quality suppliers and our very own talented culinary team.

Event Details
When: Wednesday, April 22
Time: 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Where: College Nine/John R. Lewis Dining Hall Multipurpose Room
Cost: FREE!

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.

Navigating SWANA Grief and Joy
2026-04-22 14:00 - 16:00 | Cardiff House, 114 Carriage House Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
The Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center is celebrating SWANA Heritage Month with a series of events! Join us on Wednesday, April 22nd at the Cardiff House for a community space to process, unpack, and discuss struggles within respective SWANA communities — facilitated by the Khalil Center. The Khalil Center is a wellness center that integrates Islamic spiritual approaches into professional psychology to help achieve optimal, holistic health by providing a wide variety of mental health services. 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.

Policing Belonging: The Politics of Immigration Enforcement
2026-04-22 15:30 - 17:00 | Hay Barn, 94 Ranch View Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, United States
The Legal Studies Program presents: Policing Belonging: The Politics of Immigration Enforcement. This year, we will be hosting Professor Amada Armenta, UCLA Director of Latino Policy and Politics Institute. In this talk, Amada Armenta traces the policy and practice of immigration enforcement in the United States. Drawing on years of qualitative research with police officers, bureaucrats, and undocumented immigrants, she examines how the politics of enforcement are enacted in everyday life—through discretionary decisions, local collaborations, and moral reasoning. Armenta shows how immigration enforcement generates moral tensions for those who carry it out and existential dilemmas for those forced to live within its reach, revealing a system that exposes the uneven burdens of power and belonging.

2026 Distinguished Lecture (1)

Convivir y Comunidad: A Transfer Student Mixer
2026-04-22 17:00 - 19:00 | Porter I-Lounge
Join El Centro and STARRS for an evening of conversation and interactive activities with transfer students, and learn about resources available on and off campus!
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.

Women of Color Environmentalists panel 2026
2026-04-22 18:00 - 21:00 | Cultural Center – Merrill College, 641 Merrill Rd, Santa Cruz, 95064, United States
Join the UCSC People of Color Sustainability Collective for a panel that celebrates the efforts, voices, and visions of women of color environmentalists. These panelists have worked in various fields, from irrigation systems, marine research, agroecology, and more!

Come learn about opportunities you can take part in as an undergrad, graduate opportunities and programs, and community-building.

For questions/accommodations, email: pocsc@ucsc.edu

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.

¿Qué Pasa? - MEChA & CARE Workshop
2026-04-22 19:30 - 21:00 | Redwood Lounge, Student Union/Redwood Building, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Somos como las monarcas: resistimos y transformamos culturas. As part of Sexual Assault Awareness & Action Month (SAAM), join CARE & MEChA for a conversation on consent, boundary setting and gender-based violence within the lens of community and family. Activities include vision board and CD cover cases making as part of the Identifying Boundaries portion. Food, snacks, and drinks will be provided. This workshop is free & open to everyone! RSVP at tinyurl.com/mechaxcare. For questions or accommodations, please reach out to care_pec@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.
