Community Connections Annual Spring Scholarship Presentation
2026-05-13 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Arboretum, 122 Arboretum Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join Community Connections as we present scholarships to local first-year and re-entry students. This event is an opportunity to meet, congratulate, and celebrate with these outstanding students. Choral group Fiat Musica will sing, and the scholars will share their stories as we dine.
Presented by Community Connections at UC Santa Cruz.
Questions?
Contact Sally Lester at sal@ucsc.edu

Building Belonging Program Student Showcase 2026
2026-05-13 15:00 - 17:30 | Seymour Marine Discovery Center, 100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060
Join us for the Institute for Social Transformation’s annual student showcase, celebrating the incredible work of our Building Belonging Fellows! This special event highlights the achievements of undergraduate research fellows. Each student will give a 2-minute lightning talk about a research project they worked on with a Social Sciences faculty mentor.
The event will be held in person on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, from 3:00–5:00 p.m. in the Seymour Center La Feliz Room, followed by an outdoor reception with light refreshments on the Oceanview Terrace from 5:00–5:30 p.m.
All are welcome—students, faculty, staff, family, and friends—we look forward to celebrating together!
RSVP HERE
Sponsored by:
The Institute for Social Transformation and the Division of Social Sciences
For questions, you can reach us at transform@ucsc.edu

Chat with the Chair: Conversations on AI
2026-05-13 18:00 - 19:00 | Silicon Valley Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, 95054, United States
Curious about the newest developments in artificial intelligence?
Join us for Chat with the AI Chair, a monthly drop-in conversation designed for professionals who want to stay ahead of emerging AI trends.
Event details
Praveen Krishna, chair of the Artificial Intelligence Application Development certificate program, will lead the informal discussion about what this technology means for developers, professionals, and organizations adopting AI tools.
Format: Online discussion + open Q&A
When: Every 2nd Wednesday of the month
Who should attend: Developers, technologists, product managers, and professionals exploring AI tools and automation
This is a casual, interactive session—bring your questions, share your experience, and hear directly from an AI educator working at the forefront of applied AI training. You’ll get an insider’s look at the technologies shaping the next generation of AI—and what you need to know to stay ahead.
Register
CLAIM YOUR SEAT.

Drop-in Figure Drawing
2026-05-13 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-05-20 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.

Survivor Circles: Healing After Trauma
2026-05-14 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.

Narcan Training for Faculty and Staff
2026-05-14 11:00 - 11:30, 2026-05-14 13:00 - 13:30
Register for the Zoom link.
Narcan is a life-saving opioid overdose reversal drug. Join us in this workshop as we learn the following:

How to use Narcan
When to use Narcan
Narcan FAQs
Where to find Narcan locally

Register for the Zoom link. To learn more, please visit the Narcan wellness initiative webpage. For trainings, please visit the Occupational Health Training website.
For questions or to schedule a training for your team, please contact Occupational Health Specialist, Elizabeth Tomlinson, at ektomlin@ucsc.edu.

Time Management
2026-05-14 12:00 - 12:45 | https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/7372922776?pwd=[REDACTED]
In this workshop, you will: Learn the ways you can manage your time and avoid procrastination/burnout.
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.

Spring Exhibitions at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences
2026-05-14 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-05-15 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-05-16 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-05-17 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-05-20 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
2026-05-14 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-05-16 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-05-17 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-05-20 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

Black on the Block
2026-05-14 13:00 - 14:00 | Crown Provost House, 660 Crown Service Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join the African American Resource & Cultural Center every Thursday from 1–2 p.m., at the front of the Ethnic Resource Center for Black on the Block, a weekly tabling and engagement space.
Stop by to learn about campus resources, upcoming programs, and ways to get involved. It’s a casual, welcoming space to ask questions, make connections, and build community. All are welcome.
You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

2026 Robert L. Sinsheimer Distinguished Lecture in Biology: Global Vaccines and Immunizations in a Time of Climate Change, Mega Cities, and Anti-science
2026-05-14 19:00 - 20:30 | Colleges Nine and John R. Lewis College Multi-purpose Room, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join us for an evening with Dr. Peter Hotez, a world-renowned vaccine scientist, pediatrician, and Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. A graduate of Yale, Cornell, and Rockefeller University, Dr. Hotez has dedicated his career to global health, co-developing low-cost COVID-19 vaccines administered to over 100 million people in India and Indonesia.
Beyond the lab, Dr. Hotez is one of the nation’s most prominent “science explainers,” tirelessly combating the rise of anti-science sentiment. In this lecture, he will discuss the themes of his current book, Science Under Siege (co-authored with climate scientist Michael Mann), offering a front-line perspective on defending scientific integrity and public health in an era of unprecedented challenge.

Risk Services & Occupational Health's Campus Wellness Fair
2026-05-15 12:00 - 14:00 | Upper East Field
Friday, May 15, 12:00 PM -2:00 PM
Where: Upper East Field
The Risk Services & Occupational Health’s Campus Wellness Fair is a fun-filled event open to all students, staff, and faculty. It will showcase the many UCSC departments, programs, and resources on campus that help contribute to a culture of well-being on our campus. You can go visit to their tables, learn what they have to offer, grab some giveaway items, and maybe even win some prizes!
Fill out the tabling request form by Monday, April 20, to showcase how your department contributes to a culture of well-being!
For questions, please reach out to Ashley Parker, Health and Well-being Specialist, at aseparke@ucsc.edu.

STEM Culture Festival
2026-05-15 13:00 - 16:00 | Jack Baskin Engineering, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join us for a celebration of UCSC’s vibrant, innovative, and diverse STEM community featuring:

Musical performances
Dance lessons
STEM-themed drag shows
Inspirational talks
Student organization tabling
Student-led games & activities
FREE tacos

This is a rare opportunity for UCSC to come together at Baskin Engineering for an exuberant and colorful celebration – don’t miss out!
This event will be sponsored by Baskin Engineering, the Women’s Center, the Cantu Queer Center, and the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute.

UCSC Graduate Research Symposium
2026-05-15 13:00 - 16:00 | McHenry Library, 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Friday, May 15, 1:00-4:00 PM (PDT)
McHenry Library | Information Commons South on the Main Floor
We are delighted to invite you to the 22nd Annual Graduate Research Symposium!
This event celebrates and highlights the work of UCSC graduate students in all academic divisions. Any enrolled graduate student is welcome to present either a poster, talk, or mixed media presentation. The event is free and open to the public. Please see the Graduate Division website for more information.

2026 Graduate Research Symposium
2026-05-15 13:00 - 16:00 | McHenry Library, 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
UCSC 22nd Annual Graduate Research Symposium
Friday, May 15, 1:00-4:00 PM (PDT)
McHenry Library | Information Commons South on the Main Floor
This event celebrates and highlights the work of UCSC graduate students in all academic divisions. Any enrolled graduate student is welcome to present either a poster, talk, or mixed media presentation. The event is free and open to the public.

Rasanblé/Rasanblaj: Call & Response
2026-05-15 17:30 - 19:00 | Institute of the Arts and Sciences, 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States
Join us for an evening of call and response between Portsha Jefferson, dancer and artistic director of Rara Tou Limen, and artist-scholar Gina Athena Ulysse. Jefferson will offer a Haitian dance response to Ulysse’s art exhibition Redwoods Rasanblaj: Origins & Disentanglements and screen her short film IMAMOU: Hotô to Shore… Agbe | Agwe. Ulysse will read from her memoir, Loving Haiti, Loving Vodou. A dialogue between Jefferson and Ulysse will follow.

UCSC Concert Choir
2026-05-15 19:30 - 21:30 | Music Center Recital Hall, 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
UCSC Concert Choir performs in a spring quarter concert.
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ADMISSION
– General admission.
– Free for UCSC students (ticket required).
– Tickets available online through Eventbrite only.
– Follow the Music Dept on Eventbrite for notices and updates.
– Doors are scheduled to open 30 minutes prior to event start time.
– Ticket holders not seated at least 5 minutes before the advertised start time may forfeit their ticket/seat and no refund will be issued.
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PARKING
– Parking by permit, ParkMobile, or $11 cash/credit via the on-site parking attendant
– Arts Lot #126 is the closest parking lot to the event
– Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time.
– UCSC affiliates must purchase their permits before arriving at the event in order to receive their discounted UCSC rate. Attendants will only sell the non-affiliate-priced permits.
– 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.

Opening Celebration for Visions from Within: Resilience
2026-05-16 14:00 - 16:00 | Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos, 1817 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, 95062, United States
Join us at Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos for the opening celebration of Visions from Within: Resilience.
Visions From Within is a continued series of art exhibitions dedicated to uplifting and platforming artists who are currently system impacted. The series is curated by Anthony Alejandrez and Sonny Trujillo, Transitions Fellows for Visualizing Abolition.

La Alegria del Mariachi with guest artist Lupita Infante
2026-05-16 19:30 - 21:30 | Music Center Recital Hall, 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Audiences are invited to Alegria Del Mariachi, featuring international guest artist/composer Lupita Infante, granddaughter of the legendary Pedro Infante, and students from the UCSC Mariachi Ensemble and Mariachi Eterno de UCSC.
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ADMISSION
– General admission
– Free for UCSC students (ticket required).
– Tickets online through Eventbrite only.
– Follow the Music Dept on Eventbrite for notices and updates.
– Doors are scheduled to open 30 minutes prior to event start time.
– Ticket holders not seated at least 5 minutes before the advertised start time may forfeit their ticket/seat and no refund will be issued.
—
PARKING
– Parking by permit, ParkMobile, or $11 cash/credit via the on-site parking attendant
– Arts Lot #126 is the closest parking lot to the event
– Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time.
– More information provided by UCSC Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS)
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This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

Privacy’s Defender: Fight Against Digital Surveillance with Cindy Cohn
2026-05-19 12:00 - 13:30 | Humanities 1 Building, 257 Cowell-Stevenson Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, United States
Privacy’s Defender
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Executive Director Cindy Cohn’s Journey Inside the Privacy Battles That Shaped Today’s Internet
Cindy Cohn has devoted her life to the fight for digital rights. She’s tangled with federal officials to keep our online conversations secure from the government’s prying eyes, fought to ensure that you are told when your information has been turned over to the government, and argued before judges to protect our right to speak and to share science and knowledge on the internet.
In Privacy’s Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance (MIT Press), Cindy weaves her own personal story with her role as a leading legal voice representing the rights and interests of technology users, innovators, whistleblowers, and researchers during the Crypto Wars of the 1990s, battles over NSA’s dragnet internet spying revealed in the 2000s, and the fight against FBI gag orders.
During this national book tour, Cindy will be at UC Santa Cruz to give a book talk on May 19, 2026 from 12:00-1:30 pm.
Free and open to the public with registration.
RSVP HERE to attend in-person or on Zoom.
In-Person location: UCSC Humanities 1, Room 210 (map link)
Virtual: Zoom link will be sent separately
Cindy Cohn is the Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which works to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice and innovation for all the people of the world. Before becoming Executive Director a decade ago, Cindy was the organization’s Legal Director from 2000-2015, and led the organization’s impact litigation work on bringing balance to copyright law, stopping mass spying and protecting freedom of expression online. She’s won many awards for her work and even more court decisions.
UCSC co-sponsors:
Institute for Social Transformation, The Humanities Institute, Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas, The Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS), and the Security Research Lab.
