Events

International Education Week 2025
2025-11-17 00:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
International Education Week (IEW) is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. Each year, the Division of Global Engagement partners with departments, colleges, and offices across campus to provide our community with a wide range of intercultural, international, and globally-themed events during IEW. This is an excellent opportunity to broaden your cultural perspective by sharing with and learning from others.

Click here to see the full IEW schedule.

If you are interested in partnering/promoting an international-themed event during IEW, please contact iprogramming@ucsc.edu.

Second Harvest Food Bank Holiday Donation Drive
2025-11-17 08:00 - 17:00 | CA
Take part in the campus-wide holiday drive by donating Slug Points, Banana Bucks, or Flexi Dollars to the Second Harvest Food Bank November 17 – December 11. 100% of your gift will provide food to Santa Cruz County residents.
WAYS TO DONATE
Students can donate up to 50 Slug Points, Banana Bucks, or Flexi Dollars in increments of 5.
ABOUT SECOND HARVEST
For every $1 raised, Second Harvest Food Bank provides 3 healthy meals thanks to their extensive relationships with farmers, retailers, food bank networks, and dedicated volunteers and donors. Second Harvest sources over 10 million pounds of food each year and distributes it to 150 food pantries, schools (including UCSC Slug Support, Student Union Assembly, Family Student Housing, and campus Basic Needs food pantries), soup kitchens, group homes, youth centers, and Second Harvest program sites. 1 in 3 residents are food insecure in Santa Cruz County. The food bank is actively reducing food insecurity by reaching 70,000 people each month through it’s work and from contributions from volunteers and donors. Learn more about Second Harvest at thefoodbank.org
DONATE at donatemeals.ucsc.edu Nov. 17–Dec 11!

ECE 290 Seminar: Low-Power and Miniaturized Medical Electronics for in vivo Localization and Tracking
2025-11-17 10:40 - 11:45 | CA
Presenter: Dr. Saransh Sharma, Postdoctoral Scholar, MIT
Description: Accurate in vivo localization of medical devices is central to applications ranging from ingestible pills in the GI tract to endovascular and minimally invasive procedures. However, current clinical methods rely on endoscopy or repeated ionizing imaging (CT/X-ray), and are poorly suited for continuous or out-of-hospital use. In this talk, I will present a radiation-free platform for high-precision localization of wireless miniaturized devices in vivo, using engineered magnetic field gradients. We design battery-less ingestible microdevices that measure and transmit their local magnetic field, while planar coils generate monotonically varying fields in X, Y, and Z. This architecture uniquely encodes spatial position and achieves <100 μm 3D accuracy—to our knowledge, the highest reported. We then translate this to in vivo large-animal studies to localize ingestible devices in the GI tract in real time with mm-scale resolution, without radiation or hospital-grade imaging. This enables continuous monitoring relevant to constipation, incontinence, motility disorders, medication adherence, and quantitative GI transit-time. Next, I will show how this platform generalizes to surgical navigation. By embedding the same localization architecture into catheters and guidewires, we can track device position without fluoroscopy, offering a pathway toward image-free vascular navigation and minimally invasive interventions. Finally, to further shrink devices and power, I developed a monolithic 3D magnetic sensor in 65 nm CMOS (4 mm², 14.8 μW, <10 μT_rms noise). This fully CMOS-compatible architecture enables high-sensitivity magnetic sensing at μW power, and can serve as the core for future miniaturized, radiation-free localization systems.
Bio: Dr. Saransh Sharma received the B.Tech. degree in Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, India, in 2017, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, CA, USA, in 2018 and 2023, respectively. He is currently a postdoctoral research scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA, working on low-power analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits and system design for bio-medical applications. Dr. Sharma was a recipient of the Wilts Prize and the Demetriades-Tsafka-Kokkalis Award for outstanding Ph.D. thesis in Electrical Engineering, Biotechnology and related fields at Caltech, Lewis Winner Award for outstanding paper at ISSCC 2024, Best Student Paper Award at CICC 2025, Charles Lee Powell Fellowship at Caltech, and Excellence in Mentorship Award at Caltech for mentoring undergraduate and graduate students.
Hosted by: Professor Soumya Bose, ECE Department
Zoom Link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/97975378707?pwd=[REDACTED]

Info Session: Global Seminar Mediterranean France in Marseille
2025-11-17 11:00 - 12:00 | CA
Learn more at our upcoming Information Session: Monday, November 17th, 2025 at 11:00 am-12:00 pm via Zoom.
Zoom link is listed here.
Earn 10 units on a summer program on the Global Seminar Mediterranean France in Marseille this summer. This program is taught by Muriam Davis, Associate Professor of History and Thomas Serres, Associate Professor of Politics.
Quick Facts:

Locations: Marseille, France
Courses:
His 170 C: France and its Empire in the 20th century (5 credits)
POLI 166: Politics of Migration (5 credits)
Led by: Muriam Davis and Thomas Serres
Eligibility: Good academic and disciplinary standing, Min Age: 18, Minimum GPA- 2.3 cumulative GPA or higher at the time of application and every quarter prior to departure, 45 units completed by the time of departure
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: Students will study French history and politics in Marseille, a port city that has a rich tradition of immigration, activism, and cultural production. By meeting with urbanists, musicians, activists, historians, and filmmakers, they will reflect on how the diverse communities have shaped French culture and politics. They will also study the lingering effects of French colonialism and immigration policy through visits to the many museums and archives located in and around Marseille. Read about Marseille here or watch this Anthony Bourdain clip here.

Global Learning Alumni Panel: Study Abroad & Away Experiences
2025-11-17 12:00 - 13:00 | CA
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to study abroad or participate in a domestic study away program?
Join us for a virtual alumni panel where past participants of global learning programs will share their unique experiences, personal stories, and advice for making the most of your journey. This is your chance to ask questions, get inspired, and connect with alumni who have been where you’re headed. Don’t miss out!
Register here for the Global Learning Alumni Panel
Date: Monday, November 17
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 globallearning@ucsc.edu.

CM Seminar: "Playful Design to Empower Climate Adaptation - What are we missing for real-life impact?"
2025-11-17 12:30 - 13:30 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presented by: Linda Hirsch

Description: “Games and playful interventions have been researched to increase awareness of climate change impacts and educate about mitigation and adaptation measures. However, besides increased awareness, what real-life impact and adapted behaviors can we actually observe from such interventions? In this talk, I will reflect on the differences between short-term and long-term community empowerment through playful interventions and discuss three outstanding research directions for designing real-life climate adaptation.”
Bio: Linda Hirsch is a postdoctoral researcher at Computational Media, UCSC, under the supervision of Katherine Isbister. She holds a magna cum laude doctoral degree in Media Informatics from LMU Munich, Germany. Her research focuses on exploring, conceptualizing, and creating meaningful human-environment interactions to strengthen communities toward increased climate resilience. Linda Hirsch has been an elected executive committee member of the German group “Be-greifbare Interaktion” since 2021, an expert research group within the German Society of Information Technology regarding topics for tangible and embedded interfaces.

Hosted by: Professor Katherine Isbister
When: Monday, November 17, 2025 from 12:30PM to 1:30PM
Location:
IN-PERSON @ UCSC Main Campus, E2-280.
Viewing room @ SVC 3212.
LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED AT BOTH LOCATIONS! Faculty and students are highly encouraged to attend.

Zoom info:
https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/97750591512?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 977 5059 1512
Passcode: [REDACTED]

AM Seminar: Dynamo Action Inside the Giant Planets
2025-11-17 16:00 - 17:00 | CA
Presenter: Dr. Paula Wulff, UCLA
Description: Our solar system hosts six unique planetary magnetic fields. Intrinsic magnetic fields are generated deep inside planets by dynamo action. This process requires regions of electrically conducting material and energy sources to maintain the dynamo. Thus, we can learn about the deep interiors of planets, including their structures and dynamics, by investigating their magnetic fields. In this talk, I’ll explore some of the interesting questions and possible answers about planetary interiors that have come from studies of planetary magnetism, in particular through 3-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations.
Bio: Paula Wulff completed her PhD with Uli Christensen at the Max-Planck-Institute for Solar System Science, in Goettingen, Germany, after her undergrad at Cambridge (UK). While working with Uli, she studied zonal flows on Gas Giants, in particular on Jupiter. She used the gravity measurements made by Juno to infer their depth, and numerical modelling to investigate their truncation mechanism at depth. After her PhD, she moved to California to work with Hao Cao and Jon Aurnou at UCLA’s EPSS department. During the postdoc she has continued to work on 3-D MHD modelling to study the dynamo mechanisms in the interiors of various planets in our solar system.
Hosted by: Professor Julie Simons

Statistics Seminar: Beyond the Average Treatment Effect: Causal Mediation Methods for Understanding Intervention Mechanisms
2025-11-17 16:00 - 17:00 | CA
Presenter: Hanna Kim, Assistant Professor, Psychology Department, UCSC
Description: Understanding how an intervention works is a central question in behavioral and social research, following the demonstration of its overall effect. Traditional mediation analysis techniques often assume a homogeneous mechanism of effects, overlooking both validity concerns and subgroup variation in causal pathways. In this talk, I present a series of developments in causal mediation methods aimed at identifying and estimating natural direct and indirect effects, addressing challenges such as unobserved confounding and heterogeneity across subpopulations. I illustrate these approaches using data from early childhood education programs and online course participation, showing how causal mediation analysis can reveal diverse mechanisms of change. The talk concludes with current directions for integrating mixture modeling and clustered data analysis with causal inference to enhance both robustness and interpretability at the interface of statistics and applied research.
Bio: Hanna Kim is an Assistant Professor of Quantitative Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her research centers on advancing causal inference and mediation methods to investigate how educational programs influence child development and how effects differ across subpopulations. She also integrates latent variable modeling with dyadic data analysis to study interpersonal dynamics. Her work bridges psychology and statistics to address methodological challenges in applied research, with publications in Psychological Methods, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, and the Asian Journal of Education.

Hosted by: Professor Paul Parker

IEW Kickoff Fair
2025-11-17 19:00 - 20:30 | Namaste Lounge, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
We are kicking off International Education Week with a bang. Come swing by the Namaste Lounge at C9/JRL to celebrate our campus’s global diversity with our fair. Win drinks from around the world, enjoy international treats, and enter to win raffle prizes.
This session is hosted in partnership with the College 9/John R. Lewis College Student Life team and is a part of International Education Week 2025. Learn more on the IEW website here.

Going Global at UCSC
2025-11-18 10:00 - 11:00 | Classroom Unit, Classroom Unit, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, Select a Country:
Come and learn about how to experience the world through enriching UCSC Global Learning programs. You have many options to engage in domestic and study abroad opportunities that can expand your understanding of new cultures, academic perspectives, languages, and global communities.
UCSC programs can offer the opportunity to fulfill degree requirements (major, minor, GE, and total units), participate in research or internships related to your major/minor, and financial aid is available. Highlights can include affordable living, unforgettable adventures, and the chance to make lifelong connections. Now is the time to begin planning your journey!

Info Session: Global Seminar Mokuhanga Printmaking in Japan
2025-11-18 12:00 - 13:00 | CA
Learn more at our upcoming Information Session: Tuesday, November 18th, 2025 at 12:00-1:00 pm in Seminar Room D101 in the Art Department.
Earn 6 units on a summer program on the Global Seminar Mokuhanga Printmaking in Japan this summer. This program is taught by Jimin Lee, Professor of Art.
Quick Facts:

Locations: Tokyo, Japan; Tokushima, Japan; Kyoto, Japan
Course:
ART 161J Mokuhanga: UCSC Printmaking in Japan (6 units)
Led by: Jimin Lee
Eligibility: Good academic and disciplinary standing, Min Age: 18, 45 units completed at time of departure. Minimum GPA- 2.3 cumulative GPA or higher at the time of application and every quarter prior to departure, Completion of Art 20G
Application requirement: Portfolio of 10 images
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: Immerse yourself in the world of Mokuhanga, the celebrated Japanese woodblock printmaking technique of Ukiyo-e, and journey from timeless tradition to cutting-edge creative exploration. Study how traditional relief printmaking techniques fuse with emerging technologies, book arts, and animation, while engaging with Japan’s vibrant cultural landscape through hands-on washi papermaking, museum and gallery visits, and exchanges with master printmakers and Tokyo Zokei University students. Through studio practice, cultural exploration, and creative collaboration, you’ll gain advanced artistic skill, deep cultural insight, and a fresh perspective on the possibilities of print media in today’s visual culture.

Faculty Community Network - Asian American / Pacific Islander
2025-11-18 12:00 - 13:30 | CA
The Faculty Community Networks program was created to provide structures for faculty community, development, and support. Originally created through a grant from the UC Office of the President, the program now continues with funding from the CP/EVC.
Each group is open to any interested faculty (including Senate faculty, lecturers, and other faculty titles), with a goal of engaging faculty across ranks and disciplines, to improve faculty retention and success. Groups meet roughly once per month and meetings vary between in-person, remote, and hybrid. Lunch is provided to groups meeting in person.
This program complies with federal and state non-discrimination laws, is applicable to living our values, and is open to all members of the faculty.
RSVP Form

The Role of Corporations in Adapting to or Avoiding a +3ºC World
2025-11-18 14:00 - 15:30 | Interdisciplinary Sciences Building, 7487 Red Hill Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
2-3:10 PM Tues Nov 18 in Interdisciplinary Sciences Building Room 102
THE ROLE OF CORPORATIONS IN ADAPTING TO OR AVOIDING A +3ºC WORLD
How will corporations act in our warming world? Can they help us slow warming and better adapt to it? Or will they only make things worse? Learn from (and interrogate) our panelists about crowdfunding solar, greenwashing, blue bonds, structured finance, market shaping, the Salton Sea lithium fight, and more, as we approach a +3ºC world.

Panelists

Moderator: Dan Friedman, UCSC Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics
Lily Hsueh, Arizona State University Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy, on tour for her new book, Corporations at Climate Crossroads, will discuss how corporations respond to climate threats and opportunities.

Galina Hale, UCSC Professor of Economics, will explain how structured finance and market shaping works for climate-related projects, e.g., Belize Blue Bonds.

Will Wiseman, 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 and CEO & Co-Founder at Climatize, a Santa-Cruz based NGO whose Funding Portal enables everyone to invest in community-based solar and energy efficiency projects, will explain crowdfunding for climate-related projects.

Chris Benner, UCSC Chair in Global Information and Social Entrepreneurship and Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology at UCSC, will present on a case study of the corporate/community dynamics surrounding lithium extraction in the Salton Sea Geothermal Resource Area, as an illustration of broader dynamics we see around the globe (e.g. https://leadthecharge.org/)

Sponsored by the Earth Futures Institute and UCSC Climate Action Now

The Role of Corporations in Adapting to or Avoiding a +3ºC World
2025-11-18 14:00 - 15:30 | Interdisciplinary Sciences Building, 7487 Red Hill Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
THE ROLE OF CORPORATIONS IN ADAPTING TO OR AVOIDING A +3ºC WORLD
PANEL DISCUSSION 2-3:10 pm Tues Nov 18 via ZOOM @ bit.ly/CorporationCrossroads
How will corporations act in our warming world? Can they help us slow warming and better adapt to it? Or will they only make things worse? Learn from (and interrogate) our panelists about crowdfunding solar, greenwashing, blue bonds, structured finance, market shaping, the Salton Sea lithium fight, and more, as we approach a +3ºC world.

Panelists

Moderator: Dan Friedman, UCSC Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics
Lily Hsueh, Arizona State University Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy, on tour for her new book, Corporations at Climate Crossroads, will discuss how corporations respond to climate threats and opportunities.

Galina Hale, UCSC Professor of Economics, will explain how structured finance and market shaping works for climate-related projects, e.g., Belize Blue Bonds.

Will Wiseman, 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 and CEO & Co-Founder at Climatize, a Santa-Cruz based NGO whose Funding Portal enables everyone to invest in community-based solar and energy efficiency projects, will explain crowdfunding for climate-related projects.

Chris Benner, UCSC Chair in Global Information and Social Entrepreneurship and Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology at UCSC, will present on a case study of the corporate/community dynamics surrounding lithium extraction in the Salton Sea Geothermal Resource Area, as an illustration of broader dynamics we see around the globe (e.g. https://leadthecharge.org/)

Sponsored by the Earth Futures Institute and UCSC Climate Action Now

Corporations at Climate Crossroads: Book Talk with Lily Hsueh
2025-11-18 17:00 - 18:30 | Interdisciplinary Sciences Building, 7487 Red Hill Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
With climate risks growing, climate action facing political headwinds in many countries, and international cooperation increasingly challenged, Lily Hsueh’s Corporations at Climate Crossroads illuminates how and under what conditions the world’s largest corporations have taken proactive action on climate change during the years leading up to and after the Paris Agreement.
Drawing on insights from economics, political science, and management, the author uncovers how corporations and their leaders are key players in a nested structure of climate change governance. Hsueh shows that corporate leaders’ climate actions are shaped by bottom-up and top-down institutions and incentives involving firm, regulatory, and global governance. To navigate uncertainty, corporate responses to the climate challenge are therefore an interplay of internal firm leadership, complementary capabilities in adjacent areas, and strategic and proactive engagement with regulatory process and global governance. Sophisticated large-N statistical analyses of global businesses’ climate mitigation and performance from 2011 to 2020 and illustrative company case studies substantiate the demand for, and supply of, global businesses’ climate mitigation, across sectors, and in developed and developing countries.
Please join us for this book talk in-person at the Interdisciplinary Sciences Building (ISB 102). Open to all.
Join online at: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/98816465544?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 1646 5544
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Preceded by a panel “The Role of Corporations in a+3ºC World” to be held on Zoom at 2 p.m. on November 18.
Meeting ID: 684 546 2150
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Sponsored by
Institute for Social Transformation and Earth Futures Institute
About the author: Dr. Lily Hsueh, PhD
Lily Hsueh is Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Arizona State University, where she is also a Senior Global Futures Scientist at the ASU Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory. She is an affiliate scholar at the Stanford Woods
Institute for the Environment. She is the author of Corporations at Climate Crossroads: Multilevel Governance, Public Policy, and Global Climate Action (MIT Press, 2025), and numerous scholarly articles on business and public policy, environmental economics, policy, and governance, and political economy. Her work has been featured in the Financial Times, Fortune, PBS NewsHour, among other media outlets. Before academia, she was a Senior Analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco where she was part of the team that prepared briefings for the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee meetings. She holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, a master’s degree from University College London, and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington
Book discount codes

Use code MITP30 on PenguinRandomHouse.com on September 2 (publication day) to receive 30% off Corporations at Climate Crossroads.
Use code READMIT20 on PenguinRandomHouse.com anytime after publication to receive 20% off Corporations at Climate Crossroads.

Crown/Merrill Peer Advising: Drop-in Zoom
2025-11-18 19:30 - 21:00 | https://events.ucsc.edu/event/crown-merrill-peer-advising-presents-drop-in-zoom/2025-11-18/
Questions about Winter enrollment? Drop into the Peer Advisors’ Zoom to get some Minty Cool advise!

November Coffee With Merrill College Provost Aims McGuinness
2025-11-19 09:00 - 11:00 | Merrill College Office, 641 Merrill Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Grab a free cup of locally owned coffee and chat with Merrill College Provost AimsNovember Coffee w Provost! Most Wednesdays through the quarter from 9–11 a.m.
Meet us for coffee, tea, breakfast snacks and good conversation outside the Merrill College Office, across from the mailroom.

CSE Colloquium - Flux: Refinement Types for Verified Rust Systems
2025-11-19 11:00 - 12:15 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Ranjit Jhala, UCSD

Abstract: Rust has risen as a language of choice for new systems code — from OS kernels to hypervisors, firmware and run-times — as it is memory safe and provides the sort of abstractions needed for efficient low-level systems implementation. We present Flux, a refinement type checker for Rust that shows how logical refinements can work in tandem with Rust’s ownership mechanisms to yield ergonomic type-based verification of low-level systems code. We then present a case study showing how Flux was used to formally verify process isolation in Tock: a microcontroller OS used in security-critical systems like the Google Security Chip (GSC) and Microsoft’s Pluton security processor. Our verification effort unearthed multiple subtle bugs that broke isolation, allowing malicious applications to compromise the OS to potentially steal sensitive data or brick or take control of the OS. We describe how Flux helped design and implement a new granular process abstraction that is both simpler, more efficient, and yields formally verified security guarantees.

Bio:
Ranjit Jhala is a professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. He works on algorithms and tools that help engineer reliable computer systems. His work draws from and contributes to the areas of Model Checking, Program Analysis, and Automated Deduction, and Type Systems. He helped create several influential and award winning systems including the BLAST software model checker and Liquid Types, received ACM SIGPLAN’s Robin Milner Young Researcher Award, and is a Fellow of the ACM.

Hosted by: Professor Mohsen Lesani

Location: Engineering 2, Room E2-180
*Refreshments such as coffee and pastries will be provided.

Zoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/93445911992?pwd=[REDACTED]

Info Session: Global Seminar Eco-Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands
2025-11-19 12:00 - 13:00 | CA
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.

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 | CA
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.

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 | CA
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 | CA
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 | CA
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.
