Events

CM Seminar: Edward Wang, "Inventing a New Blood Pressure Monitor"
2026-04-27 12:30 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Silicon Valley Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, 95054, United States
Presented by: Edward Wang
Description: “What does it actually look like to invent something? In this talk, I trace the decade-long journey of turning a smartphone into a blood pressure monitor, from Seismo, which used smartphone accelerometers to measure pulse transit time, to BPClip, a dollar clip that brought calibration-free oscillometry to the fingertip, to VibroBP, which eliminated the attachment entirely using the phone’s vibration motor. Each project was born from the limitations of the last. And each time we thought we’d solved the problem, new layers of unknowns appeared around usability, manufacturing, and FDA classification. This is a talk about what inventing looks like when you zoom in past the papers and patents. Less about creating something new, and more about finding the unknowns between a need and its solution, and creatively working through them, one by one.”
Bio: Dr. Edward J. Wang is the Jacobs Faculty Chair in Entrepreneurship Associate Professor of Design and Electrical & Computer Engineering at UC San Diego, where he directs the Digital Health Technologies Lab. His research explores practical solutions to address real-world medical needs drawn from collaborations with clinicians and world health organizations, but solved using new and creative insights that leverage state-of-the-art applied machine learning, embedded systems, and mobile sensors. He has been named an NAI Senior Member, NIH Trailblazer, Norman Design Laureate, and Google Research Scholar. He publishes in premier computer science and health science venues including ACM IMWUT, CHI, UIST, Nature Publishing, Frontiers in Digital Health, and JMIR, having been awarded 9 best paper awards. He actively engages in the translation of research through faculty entrepreneurship. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Washington and his B.S. from Harvey Mudd College.
Hosted by: Professor Christina Chung
When: Monday, April 27, 2026 from 12:30PM to 1:30PM
Location:
IN-PERSON @ SVC 3212.
Viewing room @ UCSC Main Campus, E2-280.
LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED AT BOTH LOCATIONS! Faculty and students are highly encouraged to attend.
Zoom info:
https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/91516487260?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 915 1648 7260
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Socio-Ecological Complexity in Coffee Agroecosystems
2026-04-27 13:25 - 14:30 | CA
Sanya Cowal from the UCSC Environmental Studies Department
In Person Location: ISB 221
Zoom Link
One of the most pressing global challenges considers how to combine sustainable agricultural land use with biodiversity conservation. Agricultural systems have been dramatically transformed and intensified, leading to the simplification of agricultural landscapes through increased agrochemical use, landscape homogeneity, decreased crop diversity, and mechanization. All of these activities restructure the physical and social environment in which food systems are embedded. Market motivations overlook ecological costs, including the loss of habitat complexity, functional biodiversity, and related ecosystem services, such as biological pest control, as well as socio-cultural costs, such as the erasure of traditional agroecosystems. The coffee agroecosystem is one system in which management intensification negatively impacts functional biodiversity and ecosystem services. In this talk, I explore how socio-ecological complexity informs coffee farm management, habitat complexity, and subsequent outcomes for biodiversity, ecosystem services, and equitable supply chain governance.

This has a name: Witchcraft, suspicion, and circumlocution in Central Angola
2026-04-27 15:30 - 17:00 | Social Sciences 1, Social Sciences 1, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Anthropology Colloquium with Iracema Dulley
Monday, 4/27/2026 @ 3:30
Social Sciences 1, Rm. 261 or Zoom
About the talk: The literature on witchcraft has focused predominantly on the accusation of witches, the procedures for establishing guilt, and the effects thereof. However, during my fieldwork in Central Angola, I did not encounter processes of accusation but rather a prevailing mood of unresolved suspicion. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted between 2014 and 2019, this paper theorizes the relationship between witchcraft and suspicion by examining the micro level of social interactions in which witchcraft narratives emerge. It explores how suspicion operates through circumlocution and tautology, arguing that it thrives on indeterminacy, doubt, and suspended indication—elements that structure the dialectic between the general and the particular in witchcraft. This tension allows the relationship between witchcraft and witches to remain open, conditioned not only by social conventions of plausibility and hierarchical relations that position witches and sorcerers but also by the contingencies of how these conventions are enacted in specific interactions
About the speaker: Iracema Dulley is an anthropologist, psychoanalyst, and creative writer whose work explores how subjects are formed through the entanglement between language, power, and the body. She is the author of monographs On the Emic Gesture (Routledge, 2019), Os nomes dos outros (Humanitas, 2015), and Deus é feiticeiro (Annablume, 2010), and her essays have appeared in HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, Social Analysis, Comparative Studies in Society and History, European Journal of Psychoanalysis, and Africa. She is currently based at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon.

Statistics Seminar: Active Learning for Fair and Stable Allocations
2026-04-27 16:00 - 17:00 | Jack Baskin Engineering, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Riddhiman Bhattacharya, Postdoc, UCSC
Description: We propose an active learning approach for dynamic fair resource allocation problems. In contrast to prior work that assumes full feedback from all agents on their allocations, we focus on scenarios where feedback is available only from a carefully select subset of agents at each epoch of the online resource allocation process. Despite this limitation, our algorithms achieve sub-linear regret in the number of time-periods for multiple fairness metrics commonly used in resource allocation problems and stability constraints inherent to matching mechanisms. The core innovation of our approach lies in the adaptive identification of the most informative feedback through dueling upper and lower confidence bounds. This strategy enables efficient decision-making with limited feedback, achieving favorable outcomes across various problem classes.
About the speaker: I am Riddhiman Bhattacharya, currently a postdoc at UCSC, Statistics Department, working with Justin (Sangwon Hyun). I have previously been a postdoc at Purdue and have obtained my PhD from the University of Minnesota in Statistics. I am interested in methodological development in statistics with varied applications including oceanography, biology and economics. I am also interested in theoretical development of statistics particularly in the fields of Markov Chain Monte Carlo, Optimization and Fast Sampling.

AM Seminar: Machine Learning in Molecular Simulations: From Free Energy to Vibrational Spectroscopy
2026-04-27 16:00 - 17:00 | Jack Baskin Engineering, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Marcos Calegari Andrade, Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, UC Santa Cruz
Description: In this talk, I will demonstrate how neural networks can represent the high-dimensional potential energy surfaces of many-body systems. By achieving the accuracy of first-principles quantum calculations at a fraction of the computational cost, these models enable atomistic simulations of condensed matter at unprecedented scales. I will discuss how this approach provides a detailed lens into chemical reaction dynamics under experimentally relevant conditions and facilitates the direct calculation of observables, such as vibrational spectra, effectively bridging the gap between theoretical simulation and experimental observation.
About the speaker: Marcos Calegari Andrade is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He earned his PhD from Princeton University, where he developed machine learning models to simulate the chemistry and vibrational spectroscopy of condensed-phase systems. He later joined the Quantum Simulations Group at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, applying deep neural network models to fundamental challenges in climate and energy security. His current research at UCSC focuses on the application of machine learning to molecular simulations, with a particular emphasis on chemical reaction mechanisms, vibrational spectroscopy, and the development of automated simulation frameworks.
This seminar is hosted by Applied Mathematics

Coffee with Provost Aims
2026-04-28 09:00 - 11:00 | Merrill College Office, 641 Merrill Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Warm greetings and hot coffee are served by Provost Aims and Poppy the Merrill Chihuahua each Tuesday in April. Breakfast snacks, tea, and cocoa too.
Stop by and say “hi”
Outside of the Merrill Mailroom, Merrill College

LinkedIn 101: Create A Great Profile That Gets Noticed!
2026-04-28 14:00 - 15:00 | Hahn Student Services, Hahn Student Services, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
“Do I really need a LinkedIn profile to get hired?” The answer is YES! Employers and recruiters absolutely use LinkedIn to look for and research candidates. Come to this fast-paced and practical workshop to learn more about the basics of creating a LinkedIn profile that gets noticed and just might help you land your dream job!

All students are welcome. The presentation will last about 45 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 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.

Taming Two Scorpions: Climate Science Tipping Points Meet Finance Tail Risks
2026-04-28 15:30 - 17:00 | Center for Adaptive Optics, 7487 Red Hill Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
When two quite different disciplines make eerily similar predictions about the future of the planet and human societies, they deserve notice. Climate scientists warn that we may be heading toward a Hothouse Earth “inhospitable to … human societies,” with “increasingly catastrophic impacts” possibly “worldwide societal breakdown.” Finance and actuarial science emphasize the importance of tail risk (rare adverse events). Planning and preparing for them is essential to the survival of insurance companies, pension funds, banks, and the entire financial system. In Climate Salon 6, Economist Dan Friedman and Environmental Sociologist Andy Szasz team up to show how these disciplinary perspectives interconnect and what they say about the path forward.
Tues Apr 28 3:30-5 pm, Center for Adaptive Optics Atrium or via zoom (free and open to the public!)
Dan Friedman is Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus at UCSC. The author of 6 books, over 100 research articles and the recipient of 14 National Science Foundation grants, Dan has begun to apply his expertise in finance and evolutionary game theory to issues in environmental economics.
Andrew Szasz is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies. At UCSC he taught courses on Classical and Contemporary Social Theory, Environmental Sociology and Environmental Justice. He has written books and articles on environmental regulation, the grassroots toxics movement, green consuming, environmental justice and climate change.
CO-SPONSORED by UCSC Climate Action Now, the Earth Futures Institute, and Baskin Engineering.

Yoga as Healing Series
2026-04-28 18:00 - 19:30 | CA
Yoga as Healing is a 7-session trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness program hosted by UCSC’s CARE office. Spring Quarter classes will be held Tuesdays, 6:00–7:30 p.m. from March 31–May 12. Classes are free for students.
Each class facilitated by CARE Advocate Abbey Wise (she/ella), includes gentle, trauma-informed movement, breathwork, meditation and reflective journaling to support survivors in reconnecting with their bodies, building confidence and being present. Mats, blocks, blankets and journals are provided. Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing and bring a water bottle.
CARE aims to build a consistent group of 8-10 survivors who can attend all 7 classes to foster the community, predictability and safety core to the trauma-informed structure of the program.
If you are interested in participating submit an application and a CARE Advocate will get back to you with further information. Location will be provided upon approval to participate.
Check out our schedule for the series:
3/31 — Orientation and Intention
4/7 — Safety & Grounding
4/14 —Self-Care as Daily Practice
4/21 — Embodied Boundaries
4/28 — Self-Compassion
5/5 — Inner Strength & Trust
5/12 — Cultivating Community
If you have previously attended Yoga as Healing, we would love to hear from you. Please complete our short, anonymous survey —your feedback helps us grow and improve our programming.
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.

Landesman Lecture
2026-04-28 18:00 - 20:00 | Music Center Recital Hall, 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Landesman Lecture: Integrating Mathematical and Scientific Research with Excellence in Teaching
Ancestral Matter, Shared Humanity, Beyond Borders and Labels
This evening blends science, poetry, and storytelling to explore our deepest origins and shared humanity. Tracing the cosmic formation of the elements that make our bodies, we reflect on an ancestry older than nations, borders, and labels. Through verse and story, we connect stellar history with lived experience, inviting us to see how our many identities arise from the same ancestral matter. Together, we explore how storytelling can soften divisions, cross boundaries, and remind us that we are forged from one common origin.
Register to attend in-person or virtual
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for guests attending in person
Lecture: 6 p.m.
Followed by a reception for in-person guests
Free and open to the public
Parking is $11
Presented by the UC Santa Cruz Emeriti Association

Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz studies some of the most powerful explosions since the birth of the universe by looking not at the heavens but at computer models. Eager to understand our origins, he uses simulations to explore the cataclysmic death of stars that give rise to many of the elements of the periodic table. His work tests ideas at the edge of human experience, challenging how we imagine the universe and our place within it.

Jasmine Schlafke, better known by her stage name Queen Jasmeen, is a poet, slam coach, diversity trainer, and a doula from Santa Cruz, CA. Her first book, Crowned, published in 2019 by Bay Company Books, is a widely respected expression of the complexity of compounded identities, reflecting on mental health, race, teen parenting, womanhood, ministry, and so much more. Currently, she works as a privately contracted poetry and performance coach and is a proud single mother of two grown children.

Karen Tei Yamashita – Questions 27 & 28
2026-04-28 19:00 - 20:00 | Bookshop Santa Cruz
Bookshop Santa Cruz welcomes acclaimed author Karen Tei Yamashita (I Hotel) to celebrate the launch of her new novel Questions 27 & 28—a masterful polyvocal history of Japanese Americans before, during, and after World War II. Yamashita will be in conversation with Alice Yang, Professor of History and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at UC Santa Cruz.
In February 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order authorizing the secretary of war to remove 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes on the West Coast and corral them into inland concentration camps.

Questions 27 & 28 reaches backward and forward from the time of the questionnaire, chronicling the individuals who arrived in the US from Japan at the turn of the century, their children who came of age during war and incarceration, and their descendants who lived in its aftermath. Yamashita mixes fact with fiction and layers genres from James Bond movies to haiku to oral history, transfiguring an enormity of archival research into a chorus of stories. With her signature wit and aplomb, she gives voice to laborers, artists, scholars, informants, and activists who, over three generations, defined an immigrant community.
Karen Tei Yamashita is the author of nine books, including I Hotel, finalist for the National Book Award. Recipient of the National Book Foundation’s 2021 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, she is Professor Emerita of literature and creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In 2024 Yamashita was inducted as a Literature Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Alice Yang is Professor of History and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She received her Ph.D. in history from Stanford University and currently co-directs the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories. She specializes in memories of the Pacific War, Asian American history, race, gender, oral history, historical memory, and twentieth-century America. Her publications include Historical Memories of the Japanese American Internment and the Struggle for Redress (2007), Major Problems in Asian American History (2003, 2017) and What Did the Internment of Japanese Americans Mean? (2000). Her exhibit, Never Again is Now: Japanese American Women Activists and the Legacy of Mass Incarceration, appeared at UC Santa Cruz, the Watsonville Public Library and the Japanese American Museum of San Jose. She also has served as chair of the UCSC History Department and provost of Stevenson College at UCSC.
More information at: Bookshop Santa Cruz – Karen Tei Yamashita

Co-sponsored by The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz.

FINS: Fisheries Insights Narratives and Stories seminar series featuring Dr. Steve Lindley
2026-04-29 10:30 - 12:00 | Ocean Health Building, McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Please join us for the third talk in the FINS: Fisheries Insights Narratives and Stories seminar series featuring Dr. Steve Lindley.
Steve Lindley worked at NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center for 29 years, retiring in 2025 as director of the Santa Cruz Laboratory and Fisheries Ecology Division, where he led the SWFSC’s salmon and groundfish research programs. A graduate of Duke University and UC Santa Barbara, Steve has broad interests in aquatic ecology, and is currently a member of the Delta Stewardship Council’s Delta Independent Science Board, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Independent Scientific Advisory Board and Independent Scientific Review Group, and researcher at UC Santa Cruz.
FINS: Fisheries Insights Narratives and Stories Seminar Series
Dr. Steve Lindley, UCSC IMS researcher, former director of NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Title: Science in support of salmon conservation in California
When: Wednesday, April 29th from 11am-12pm
Where: Ocean Health Building Rm 118, 115 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 and on Zoom
Agenda:

10:30 am – 11:00 am – Professional Networking Session (in person only – light snacks and refreshments provided)
11 am to 12 pm – presentation followed by Q & A
12 pm – 1pm – student lunch with the speaker in OHB courtyard → sign up here

Zoom Meeting Registration: https://ucsc.zoom.us/meeting/register/NwH0_qUbSeuIm3A76DY-Dg

CSE Colloquium - Towards Safe and Resilient Large-scale Distributed Programming
2026-04-29 11:00 - 12:15 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Philipp Haller, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Abstract:
Distributed programming is notoriously difficult. Not only are distributed systems concurrent, they pose additional challenges including data consistency and fault tolerance. At the same time, the share of software systems that are necessarily distributed systems is growing rapidly. As a result, too many software developers are asked to become distributed systems experts. Thus, tools and techniques for ensuring the correctness of distributed systems are urgently needed in order to leave this unsustainable trajectory. This talk presents research results towards the design and implementation of programming systems that support emerging applications and workloads; provide reliability and trust; and embrace simplicity and accessibility. Concretely, the presented work focuses on two directions.
The first direction explores a distributed programming model that provides consistency while enabling high availability for workloads operating on join-semilattices without sacrificing partition tolerance. We propose a new consistency protocol, called observable atomic consistency protocol (OACP), which leverages on-demand coordination to support both coordination-free operations as well as totally-ordered operations on replicated data types. We present a formal, mechanized model of OACP in rewriting logic and verify key correctness properties using the model checking tool Maude. Furthermore, we present the evaluation of a prototype implementation of OACP based on Akka, a widely-used actor-based middleware. The second direction explores a programming system that aims to reconcile the scalability and fault tolerance of stream processing systems with the flexibility of the actor concurrency model. The programming system ensures a failure-transparency property, effectively masking failures through transparent recovery. Our work is the first to formalize failure transparency using a small-step operational semantics, and to provide proofs of failure transparency for stateful dataflow streaming and a fault-tolerant actor-based programming model.
Bio:
Philipp Haller is an Associate Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. His main research interests are in the design and implementation of programming languages, type systems, concurrency, and distributed programming. He was part of the team that received the 2019 ACM SIGPLAN Programming Languages Software Award for the development of the Scala programming language. Prior to KTH, he was an early employee at Akka (previously Lightbend, Inc.), a start-up company developing and supporting Scala as well as frameworks for large-scale distributed programming. Prior to Akka, he was a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University, USA, and at EPFL, Switzerland. In 2010 he received his PhD in computer science from EPFL, including a nomination for the 2010 EPFL Doctorate Award. In 2006 he received his Dipl.-Inform. degree from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (previously University of Karlsruhe), Germany.
Hosted by: Professor Mohsen Lesani
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]

Engineering Teaching Community (Faculty)
2026-04-29 12:00 - 13:00 | Jack Baskin Engineering, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
During the chaos of a quarter, is it hard to find time to reflect and improve as an instructor? Would you like to be a part of an inclusive, supportive group of engineering instructors who do this in community? ETC is for sharing teaching experiences, classroom ideas, research on learning, and methods that support instructors and students. All are welcome, and lunch is provided. Please reach out to Jenny Quynn with questions.

A Mouthful of Archaeology: Oral Health Disparities During the Early Bronze Age in Anatolia
2026-04-29 12:00 - 13:00 | Social Sciences 1, Social Sciences 1, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Archaeology and Biological Anthropology Lunch Talk with Dr. Emily Smith — April 29th at 12 noon in Rm 261, Social Sciences 1.
About the Talk: The Early Bronze Age in Anatolia is recognized as a transformative period of increased social stratification, urbanization, and socioeconomic shifts. While substantial archaeological evidence traces these characteristics of the Early Bronze Age, there remains a deficit in bioarchaeological evidence supporting this discussion. Emily’s research seeks to fill the gap in the biocultural evidence by investigating oral health. Her research demonstrates how dental anthropology is vital in understanding the relationships between diet, social structure, and complex cultural and economic changes during the Early Bronze Age in Anatolia.

About the Speaker: Emily Smith is the new Laboratory Operations and Facilities Manager for the Anthropology Department. She recently earned her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Nevada, Reno. Her research interests focus on oral health disparities, where the majority of her research has looked at health disparities during the rise of city-states in Anatolia during the Early Bronze Age.

Office of Research Faculty Town Hall
2026-04-29 12:00 - 13:00 | https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/97860241141
Please join us for an Office of Research Faculty Town Hall with VCR John MacMillan.
The Town Hall will be held via zoom on Wednesday, April 29th from 12-1pm.
In this Town Hall, the VCR and OR leadership will provide updates on the federal landscape, the centralization of research accounting, and compliance and PI responsibilities. There will also be some time for Q&A.
In addition to questions taken during the session, you may also choose to submit your questions in advance. Please send questions to Kelly at kgraham2@ucsc.edu by Monday, April 27 at noon.
No registration required. Use UCSC email to access the zoom link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/97860241141

Spring Exhibitions at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences
2026-04-29 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-04-30 12:00 - 17:00 | Institute of the Arts and Sciences, 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States
Visit the IAS, UCSC’s premier art galleries, for our spring exhibitions. On view April 10–August 16, 2026 are three diverse and interdisciplinary shows: Libia Posada: Everything is Going Right, the first US solo exhibition by the Colombia-based artist and medical doctor; Gina Athena Ulysse: A Redwoods Rasanblaj, a site-specific and immersive exploration of the Haitian kreyol conception of rasanblaj; and Ronaldo V. Wilson: There Are No Words, But Melodies, a mixed-media exhibition emerging at the intersections of Black poetics, performance, and visual art.
The IAS Galleries are open Wednesday-Sunday, 12 pm – 5 pm. Admission is free to the public.
Libia Posada: Everything is Going Right
Libia Posada’s first solo exhibition in the United States features installations, sculptures, and drawings meticulously constructed from surgical instruments, gauze bandages, crutches, used books, and domestic picture frames. The new and existing works in the exhibition powerfully stitch together the personal, social, and political disorders and afflictions that currently trouble the world, from the wars that resonate across the globe to the violences of aging in US prisons.
Gina Athena Ulysse: A Redwoods Rasanblaj: Origins & Disentanglements
The internationally-lauded work of humanities professor Gina Athena Ulysse is on view as a premier Faculty Spotlight Exhibition. The site-specific installation, produced in community from things collected, found, purchased and donated, centers on the Haitian concept of rasanblaj, a form of assembly and collage that transcends the formal use of materials to draw together people, spirits, and ideas.
Ronaldo V. Wilson: There Are No Words, But Melodies
Collage is both a material practice and a structural interrogation in the Faculty Spotlight Exhibition artworks by literature professor Ronaldo V. Wilson. In video, painting, and installation, layers and folds conceal and reveal, delving into the experience, both bodily and emotive, of living in times of violence.

Visualizing Abolition Screening Series: Beyond Access
2026-04-29 12:00 - 17:00 | Institute of the Arts and Sciences, 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States
On view in the IAS Screening Room is a selection of short films curated by Visualizing Abolition Visiting Faculty Fellow Dr. Pooja Rangan.
Prisons deny and censor the access of those trapped inside them—to information, to intimacy, to community, to meaningful work, to nourishment of all kinds, and perhaps most cruelly, to care. This program assembles a series of films, including works by filmmakers incarcerated in California as well as others without that lived experience. Together, these works confront the debilitating impacts of these restrictions and reveal how the disabling logic of the prison is extended to other institutional spaces (the hospital, the university), turning access into a scarce commodity by enclosing what should be held in common. Questioning the carceral and state-sponsored productions of disability and accessibility, the short films together reveal the courage of people working despite limitations to produce collective access for one another, described simply and beautifully by disability justice activist Leah-Lakshmi Piepzna Samarasinha as “revolutionary love without charity.”
Thanh Tran
Dying in Prison, 2022
HD Video (color, sound), 3 minutes
Courtesy of the artist
Carolyn Lazard
Pre-Existing Condition, 2019
HD video (color, sound), 6 minutes
Courtesy of the artist and Trautwein Herleth3
Anthony Alejandrez
Another Rainy Day, 2023
Phone video (color, sound), 3 minutes
Courtesy of the artist
Jordan Lord
After…After… (Access), 2018
HD Video (color, sound), 16 minutes
Courtesy of the artist
Rahsaan “New York” Thomas
Friendly Signs, 2023
Video (color, sound) 21 minutes
Courtesy of Tommy Wickerd, Empowerment Ave & System Impact Media

Career Success Drop-Ins at the Ethnic Resource Centers - Week 5
2026-04-29 13:00 - 14:30 | Crown Provost House, 660 Crown Service Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Group Appointment
Drop-in at the Ethnic Resource Centers with Career Coach & Engagement Specialist Bridge Kennedy to discuss career exploration, job search strategy, interview prep, grad school prep, or whatever’s on your mind related to your career success!
If you need accommodations please email bridgekk@ucsc.edu

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.

Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed
2026-04-29 15:30 - 17:30 | Merrill Cultural Center, 200 McLaughlin Dr, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Please join us as Quinn Slobodian & Ben Tarnoff discuss their new book, Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed (April, 2026).

A Financial Times Most Anticipated Nonfiction Book of the Year • A Kirkus Most Anticipated Nonfiction Book of Spring 2026• A Literary Hub Most Anticipated Book of the Year

A pyrotechnic examination of Elon Musk as a symptom and avatar of our postliberal age
Everyone’s got an Elon take. He’s a messiah. A menace; a genius; a clown. The verdicts differ, but they share one theme: they treat him as an individual. Muskism argues otherwise. Elon Musk isn’t a glitch in the system—he is the system. His worldview promises sovereignty through technology: plug in, power up, and become self-reliant. But the more you connect, the more he owns you.
If Fordism defined the capitalism of the twentieth century, Muskism may define the twenty-first. Fordism helped build the welfare state. Musk undoes it. He thrives on dependence while preaching freedom. His cars run on subsidies; his satellites run the battlefield; his social networks train the AI that trains us. Muskism sells itself as the future but entrenches age-old hierarchies. It offers autonomy for some and exclusion for others. It’s pro-natalist but anti-immigrant, futurist but reactionary. It speaks of humanity but warns against empathy. Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff cut through the hype and the hate to reveal what Musk really represents: a new political economy, where to be “free” means to serve a Technoking. Muskism isn’t about the man. It’s about the machine that made him—and the world he’s making next.
Quinn Slobodian is professor of international history at Boston University, and the author or editor of seven books translated into ten languages including, Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ and the Capitalism of the Far Right, Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World without Democracy, and Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism.
Ben Tarnoff is a writer and technologist based in Massachusetts and is the author of Internet for the People and the co-author of Voices from the Valley: Tech Workers Talk About What They Do—And How They Do It. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books, and has also written for the New York Times, The New Yorker, and the New Republic, among other publications.

Denim Day Open Mic & Survivor Share-Out
2026-04-29 17:30 - 19:30 | Namaste Lounge, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join CARE in closing out Sexual Assault Awareness Month 2026, during Denim Day, for a space where we’ll connect as a community, hand out copies of the new volume of the CARE Art Zine, and hold an open mic and survivor share-out, open to all UCSC survivors, their supporters, and allies! Food and refreshments provided, no RSVP required! For questions or accommodations, please email the CARE team.
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.

Stamp it Out: Pasifika Patterns
2026-04-29 18:00 - 20:00 | Terry Freitas Commons, 600 McLaughlin Dr. College Nine, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join AA/PIRC and Mauna Kea Protectors on Wednesday, April 29th from 6-8pm at Terry Freitas Commons to learn about the cultural significance of different Pasifika patterns and how to respectfully use the designs, before creating your own linocut stamps. The ink will work for both paper and cloth, so bring any old clothes you may want to upcycle!
Register at bit.ly/aapirc-stamp
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.

Drop-in Figure Drawing
2026-04-29 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).
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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 M-101
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FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
This series occurs weekly on Wednesday evenings during spring quarter, including the following:
Wednesday April 1, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Wednesday April 8, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Wednesday April 15, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Wednesday April 22, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Wednesday April 29, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Wednesday May 6, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Wednesday May 13, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Wednesday May 20, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Wednesday May 27, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
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PARKING
– Parking by permit or ParkMobile.
– Arts Lot #126 is the closest parking lot to the event.
– Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time.
– More information provided by UCSC Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS).
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This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

TLC Convocation 2026
2026-04-30 05:00 - 19:30 | Colleges Nine and John R. Lewis College Multi-purpose Room, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
The Opposite of Cheating: Rethinking Instruction in the Age of AI
David Rettinger, Applied Professor and Undergraduate Program Director at the University of Tulsa
Higher education stands at a crossroads. Generative AI is a powerful and flawed tool that may render traditional assessments obsolete and call fundamental pedagogical assumptions into question across all disciplines. Yet this moment of disruption also presents an opportunity to refocus on what truly matters: student learning and growth. In this session, David Rettinger will outline a positive, evidence-based approach to academic integrity in the age of AI, encouraging all of us to move beyond policing to authentic learning. Together, we will take an evidence-based approach toward change, by rethinking assessments to focus on durable human skills, by learning to communicate the value of higher education to our students, and by evaluating strategies for integrating AI thoughtfully into our courses. Attendees will leave with both conceptual frameworks for decision-making and concrete tools for AI integration, communicating about integrity, and reducing misconduct through improved teaching and learning.
Register to attend in person or watch remotely

Survivor Circles: Healing After Trauma
2026-04-30 10:30 - 12:00 | Hahn Student Services, Hahn Student Services, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
CARE’s Healing After Trauma survivor circles are an in-person, drop-in space to share and connect on the glimmers & struggles of recovering from harmful sexual experiences. Guided and led by CARE advocates, each week’s session will offer an opportunity to engage with a different alternative healing modality – from sound healing, to art therapy, collective rest, and more.

Fill out an Interest Form for more information.

Please note: The interest form is not required for attendance, nor a registration form – registration is not necessary for these 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.

Queer Connections: Healthy Relationships
2026-04-30 11:00 - 12:30 | Lionel Cantú Queer Center, Crown Lane, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
CAPS & Cantú Collaboration: Queer Connections.
Join us at the Lionel Cantú Queer Center for conversations facilitated by CAPS Providers.
Healthy Relationships: Come talk about building healthy relationships of all kinds. Discuss boundaries, healthy communication, dispel heteronormative relationship myths, and craft with queers!
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.

Getting Involved in Your Campus Community
2026-04-30 12:00 - 12:45 | https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/7372922776?pwd=[REDACTED]
In this workshop, you will: Learn how to get involved with the campus community and how it supports student success.
The Successful Slug Workshop series, hosted by Learning Support Services Peer Coaches, are open to all UCSC undergraduate students and focus on academic skills and tools to support your success as a student. At each workshop, you will be introduced to a topic, engage in active learning, be given resources to begin implementing the same day, and have an opportunity to learn more if you are interested.
You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

Portfolio Workshop for Arts Division Students - all majors
2026-04-30 12:00 - 13:00 | https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/2614256373?pwd=[REDACTED]
Employment opportunities in various portions of the Art industry often require a portfolio as part of an application. If you’re unsure how to create a portfolio for an employment application, or what should be included in it, this workshop is for you! We will focus on best practices that apply broadly to almost all portfolio styles for all majors – digital media, fine art, AGPM, music, etc. We will also spend a few minutes on items that are specific to various majors/industries. We’ll end with time for you to ask questions and make a specific plan of action for yourself! Join us for this informative, relevant, and empowering workshop!

KNOW OUR POLICIES
Job postings and employer announcements are made without endorsement, direct or implied, by Career Success or UCSC. Career Success educates students about various opportunities and ensures equity of access to campus recruiting activities for all employers who abide by our Employer Policies. Individual students are encouraged to determine which employers align with their diverse talents, values, and interests.

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.
Online Safety Tips
UC Santa Cruz Career Success〡Hahn 125
Email Career Success: csuccess@ucsc.edu
Visit Career Success Website: https://careers.ucsc.ed

Blue Zones: Secrets to Health and Longevity Workshop
2026-04-30 12:00 - 13:00 | CA
Register for the Zoom link.

What do some of the world’s longest-living communities have in common? In regions known as Blue Zones, people routinely live longer, healthier lives. Known as centennials, they often reach 90 or even 100 with vitality. In this workshop, we’ll explore:

The 5 Blue Zone regions and their secrets to longevity

Everyday habits shared by these longevity hotspots

Tips for eating, movement, connection with others, purpose, and stress management

Take away small and realistic changes they can apply to support long-term health and well-being in your own life.

Register here for the Zoom link.

For questions, please reach out to Ashley Parker, Health and Well-being Specialist, at aseparke@ucsc.edu.
