Events

Queer Connections: Q/T Grad Students
2026-05-14 11:00 - 12:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | 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.
Q/T Grad Students: Graduate students are welcome to join us at the Cantú to craft while in community. We will provide a safe space on campus to connect, share and reflect together! Come be in community with your peers, hear about resources available to you, and create a craft or two.
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.

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

Narcan Training for Faculty and Staff
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.

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!

To learn more, visit the Campus Wellness Fair website.
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.
—
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.

Who Can I Run To?, by Alyssa Windom—2026 Dharma Grace Creative Writing Award and Theatrical Production
2026-05-15 19:30 - 21:30, 2026-05-16 19:30, 2026-05-17 14:00 | Second Stage, Second Stage, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Through their belief in Ifá and the divine, three generations of women grow their relationships with each other and navigate living within their African diasporic identities in undergraduate student Alyssa Windom‘s award-winning script, Who Can I Run To? Windom is a 3rd year History of Art and Visual Culture (HAVC) major with the Arts Division at UC Santa Cruz and is the recipient of the 2026 Dharma Grace Creative Writing Award. The award includes a full theatrical production of their script.
In a modern, undisclosed time and a familiar yet unvisited space within the Americas, the audience meets four women, Lucia, Esme, Naia, and Aviva, three generations of the Sandorson family. The play follows each woman as they navigate how to live within the African diaspora, as well as grow their relationships with each other. Families are complex, but audiences learn this family does not have to figure out this life alone. Their belief in Ifá, and the divine, connects each woman with a guiding orisha that aids them in discovering themselves and their life paths.
Who Can I Run To? is directed by Theater Arts graduate student Darren Jackson-Wilkins.
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ADVISORIES
– May contain mature themes.
– To request accessibility accommodations, or for more information, contact theaterartstickets@ucsc.edu.
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ADMISSION
– Attend in person at UCSC’s Theater Arts Second Stage.
– Free for UCSC undergrads (ticket required).
– General admission “Pay What You Like” options $5–20.
– Tickets issued through Eventbrite only.
– Follow the Dept. of Performance, Play & Design on Eventbrite for notifications and updates.
– A limited number of tickets/seats may be available at the door, even after online ticket sales end or reach full capacity.
– Doors are scheduled to open 30 minutes prior to event start time.
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FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
This production has seven performances over two weekends between May 15 and May 24, 2026, with 7:30 p.m. evening performances Thurs.–Sat., and Sun. matinees at 2:00 p.m., including:
– Fri. May 15, 7:30 p.m.
– Sat. May 16, 7:30 p.m.
– Sun. May 17, 2:00 p.m. matinee
– Thu. May 21, 7:30 p.m.
– Fri. May 22, 7:30 p.m.
– Sat. May 23, 7:30 p.m.
– Sun. May 24, 2:00 p.m. matinee
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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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ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
The 2026 Dharma Grace Creative Writing Award recipient, Alyssa Windom, is currently the chair of the Student Union Governance Board and co-Chair of the Black Student Union at UC Santa Cruz. Outside of organizing, she is a resident advisor for African, Black and Caribbean housing, a volunteer with Engaging Education, a frequenter in Cultural Arts and Diversity Resource Center (CADrc) spaces—such as Rainbow Theater and the African American Theater Arts Troupe—and is a member of Kasama, a Filipino Ballroom Dance Troupe. Windom is a 3rd year History of Art and Visual Culture major at UC Santa Cruz.
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ABOUT THE AWARD
Established in 2005, the Dharma-Grace Foundation Creative Writing Award Fund, an endowed fund, provides an award for an outstanding script, written by a junior or senior undergraduate student (from any discipline) who is in good academic standing. The award is designated to provide funding for a full production of the script. Eligible candidates for the award are selected by a faculty committee of the Department of Performance, Play & Design and recommended to the Dean of the Division of Arts for final approval. UCSC students interested in submitting a dramatic work to the 2028 award cycle are invited to learn more at the PPD website here.
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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 performing with the UCSC Mariachi Ensemble and Mariachi Eterno de UCSC.
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ADMISSION
– Attend in person at the Music Center Recital Hall at UC Santa Cruz.
– Free for UCSC students (ticket required).
– General admission tickets $5–12.
– 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)
—
This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

OLLI at UCSC Sunday Speaker Meeting
2026-05-17 10:00 - 12:00 | Colleges Nine and John R. Lewis College Multi-purpose Room, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
OLLI Hosts Michael Hutchinson, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UC Santa Cruz invites the public to an in-person presentation from 10:00 to noon on Sunday, May 17th, in the Colleges Nine/Lewis Multipurpose Room at UCSC.
Join us for a social hour and a presentation.
OLLI at UCSC is a community of adults from diverse educational, occupational, and geographic backgrounds who are devoted to the pursuit of learning. This event is free and open to the public. Bring a friend. Coffee and nibbles will be served.
For directions and free parking information, visit: https://olli.ucsc.edu/monthly-gatherings/location-directions-and-parking/
Free and open to the public

Presented by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UC Santa Cruz.

DMA Recital—Maisha Lani
2026-05-17 15:00 | Music Center Recital Hall, 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Graduate student Maisha Lani debuts new compositions composed over the course of two years in the D.M.A. Music Composition program at UC Santa Cruz. The pieces range in instrumentation and style: from a blues to a post-tonal work, consisting of vibraphone and stringed instruments, to afrobeat inspired compositions, to graphic scores and improvisation. Audiences are invited to an afternoon of emotional exploration and incantations in this graduate student recital.
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ADMISSION
– Free and open to the public
– Attend in-person at the Music Center Recital Hall at UC Santa Cruz
– Open admission (no ticket or registration required)
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PARKING
– Parking by UCSC permit, ParkMobile, or $11 cash/check/credit via the on-site parking attendant at the event.
– 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)
—
This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

Statistics Seminar: Unifying Regression-Based and Design-Based Causal Inference in Time-Series Experiments and Crossover Experiments
2026-05-18 16:00 - 17:00 | Jack Baskin Engineering, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Peng Ding, Associate Professor, UC Berkeley
Description: I will present some recent results on unifying regression-based and design-based causal inference in time-series experiments and crossover experiments. Part I: Time-series experiments, also called switchback experiments or N-of-1 trials, play increasingly important roles in modern applications in medical and industrial areas. Under the potential outcomes framework, recent research has studied time-series experiments from the design-based perspective, relying solely on the randomness in the design to drive the statistical inference. Focusing on simpler statistical methods, we examine the design-based properties of regression- based methods for estimating treatment effects in time-series experiments. We demonstrate that the treatment effects of interest can be consistently estimated using ordinary least squares with an appropriately specified working model and transformed regressors. Additionally, we show that asymptotically, the heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation consistent variance estimators provide conservative estimates of the true, design-based variances. This part is based on https://arxiv.org/pdf/2510.22864
Part II: Crossover designs randomly assign each unit to receive a sequence of treatments. By comparing outcomes within the same unit, these designs can effectively eliminate between-unit variation and facilitate the identification of both instantaneous effects of current treatments and carryover effects from past treatments. They are widely used in traditional biomedical studies and are increasingly adopted in modern digital platforms. However, standard analyses of crossover designs often rely on strong parametric models, making inference vulnerable to model misspecification. We unify the analysis of crossover designs using least squares, with restrictions on the coefficients and weights on the units. Based on the theory, we recommend specifying the regression function, weighting scheme, and coefficient restrictions to assess identifiability, construct efficient estimators, and estimate variances in a unified manner. This part is based on https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.09215
About the speaker: Peng Ding is an Associate Professor in the Department of Statistics at UC Berkeley. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Department of Statistics, Harvard University in May 2015 and worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health until December 2015. Previously, he received his B.S. in Mathematics, B.A. in Economics, and M.S. in Statistics from Peking University.
This seminar is hosted by Professor Allen Kei.

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.
