CM Seminar: "Playful Design to Empower Climate Adaptation - What are we missing for real-life impact?"
2025-11-17 12:30 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | 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!

Western Regional Hub: Undergraduate Success Group Meeting
2025-11-18 12:00 - 13:00 | CA
Members of the hub’s working group focused on Undergraduate student success will meet to share ideas and strategize.
If you would like to be involved in the hub’s work, please contact Richard Raygoza at riraygoz@ucsc.edu

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

Road Trip! Light in the American West, from Baja to the Yukon
2025-11-18 12:00 - 17:00, 2025-11-19 12:00 - 17:00, 2025-11-20 12:00 - 17:00 | Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, 11 Cowell Service Rd, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
The photographs in this exhibition, made between 2004 and 2025, span across the American West from the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico to The Yukon territory in Canada. Paul Schoellhamer’s (Cowell ‘69) color photographs invite us to travel with him and reflect on our relationship to land, the light that shapes it, and the freedom – contested but essential – to move across it.
The exhibition draws on voices across time and perspective that frame the American landscape as more than a stage for beauty and awe. For Chief Satanta of the Kiowa Nation, to roam the land freely was life itself. For N. Scott Momaday, land must be “believed to be seen.” For Eliot Porter, light and reflection imparted magic to Glen Canyon’s waters. For Wallace Stegner, saving natural places meant saving fragments of our collective sanity. For Brook M. Thompson, the Klamath River is recognized with personhood. Alongside these perspectives, Paul’s images press us to see public land not as scenery to extract or aestheticize, but as sustenance and history. Land is alive and contested. To see closely is not to linger on a romanticized vision of the American landscape, but to reckon with responsibility: how we safeguard access, how we imagine “wildness,” and how we hold space for futures beyond our own. For Paul, this exhibition is a call for students to encounter land and light firsthand and let those encounters be their teachers.
Opening Reception
October 4, 2025
1-4pm
—–
Join us every Friday for Art Fridays.
No experience necessary. Supplies and snacks provided.

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

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

Macroeconomics & International Finance Seminar Series Presents: Yuriy Gorodnichenko
2025-11-18 13:40 - 15:00 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Macroeconomics and International Finance Seminar
Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Time: 1:40-3:00 p.m.
Location: E2-499

Speaker: Yuriy Gorodnichenko
Title: Quantedge Presidential Professor of Economics
Affiliation: UC Berkeley
Host: Pascal Michaillat

Seminar title: How costly are business cycle volatility and inflation? A Vox Populi approach

ABSTRACT: Using surveys of households across thirteen countries, we study how much individuals would be willing to pay to eliminate business cycles. These direct estimates are much higher than traditional measures following Lucas (2003): on average, households would be prepared to sacrifice around 5-6% of their lifetime consumption eliminate business cycle fluctuations. A similar result holds for inflation: to bring inflation to their desired rate, individuals would be willing to sacrifice around 5% of their consumption. Willingness to pay to eliminate business cycles and inflation is generally higher for those whose consumption is more pro-cyclical, those who are more uncertain about the economic outlook, and those who live in countries with greater historical volatility.

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.

Yoga as Healing Series
2025-11-18 17:30 - 19:15 | Health Center (Student Health Center), 525 McLaughlin Drive, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Yoga as Healing is an offering for students at UC Santa Cruz who identify as survivors of interpersonal violence. Together, we will practice gentle body movement, breathwork, meditation, and more—all from a trauma-informed lens.
This 7-week program is limited to 8–10 participants in each cohort and is intended to provide a safe and predictable environment for survivors to build community.
At the beginning of each session, participants will have time to share their progress and personal experiences with the class. This will be followed by asana practice (physical postures), and the class will close with journaling, art, and reflection.
CARE will provide yoga mats, blocks, and a blanket for each participant. You are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing and bring a water bottle for hydration.
Participants are welcome to join Yoga as Healing for any of the sessions; attendance at the orientation is not required. The sessions run from October 7 through November 25, with no session on November 11.
This event is open to all UC Santa Cruz students. Fill out an interest form to sign up.

Drop-In Figure Drawing
2025-11-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Elena Baskin Visual Arts Center, Baskin Service Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Drop-In Draw provides a live model and room monitor. There is no formal lesson and only dry media is allowed (no paints).
—
ADVISORIES
– These events contain mature content and nudity.
– Drop-In Draw is subject to the possibility of last-minute cancellation without notification, and sessions are not guaranteed.
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ADMISSION
– FREE and open to the public
– UCSC Art Department Room L-101
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SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
This series occurs weekly on Tuesday evenings during fall quarter, including the following:
– Tue., Sep. 30, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
– Tue., Oct. 7, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
– Tue., Oct. 14, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
– Tue., Oct. 21, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
– Tue., Oct. 28, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
– Tue., Nov. 4, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
– Tue., Nov. 18, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
– Tue., Nov. 25, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Additional dates to be announced for winter and spring quarter.
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PARKING
– Parking by permit or ParkMobile.
– Arts Lot #126 is the closest parking lot to the event.
– Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time.
– More information provided by UCSC Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS).
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This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

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.

College Night: Arts
2025-11-19 17:00 - 19:00 | Porter/Kresge Dining Hall, 411 Porter-Kresge Rd, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Porter College, in collaboration with UCSC Dining, present an Arts themed College Night. Join us Thursday, November 13, from 5–7 p.m. at the Porter/Kresge Dining Hall for a night of activities, fun, community, and a special themed menu. Standard dining hall entry pricing applies, and all students, faculty, and staff are invited.
Please note: The dining hall will be closed from 2–5 p.m. for event preparation.
Learn more about College Nights at dining.ucsc.edu/events.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.How to Use the Statement Across Communication Channels

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

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

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

Chinese Names Pronunciation Workshop
2025-11-20 12:00 - 13:00 | 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.
