News
Fellowships support graduate students studying queer movies, Mau Mau Uprising
May 24, 2022
Raed El Rafaei is examining queer movies made by artists from Lebanon and the diaspora, and Christian David Alvarado is investigating how the Mau Mau Uprising, which ran through the 1950s in Kenya, fits in with the larger processes of decolonization in Africa.
Professor Christine Hong Speaks on KPFA
May 23, 2022
Professor Hong is a guest on KPFA's "Flashpoints" program, speaking about Biden's trip to Asia and the fight for ethnic studies. Listen to the entire episode here!
New Department of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies invites students to think critically about race during a time of global reckoning with racism
May 10, 2022
CRES was first introduced as a degree program in 2014 and, thanks to its rapid growth and strong faculty and student advocacy, gained departmental status in 2021.
Statement in Support of the UC A-G Ethnic Studies Requirement
May 6, 2022
The CRES Department supports the UC A-G Ethnic Studies requirement, as drafted by experts in the field, which centers what has historically been marginalized in traditional curricula: namely, the lived experiences of Native peoples and communities of color, their epistemologies, and their struggles within and against systems of colonialism and racism.
Invisible Labor, or Labor of Love? Transforming Structures of Whiteness.
May 2, 2022
City on a Hill Press, the student-run weekly at UC Santa Cruz, published an article on the toll of invisible labor for faculty of color, highlighting the CRJ’s “Calling Out Whiteness” event series.
Onyx: Black Faculty and Staff Association Officially formed
April 20, 2022
After a year of efforts, UCSC’s Black faculty and staff affinity group, 'Onyx', became the campus's first official ethnic affinity association on March 22. A special thanks to Shauntay Larkins, CRES Assistant Manager, for her dedication to this effort.
CRES/FMST Major Receives First Fellowship for Humanities Students at the American Prospect
April 13, 2022
Unique partnership between The Humanities Institute, a leading national media outlet, and a generous UC Santa Cruz donor amplifies opportunities for UC Santa Cruz students.
Jenny Kelly: Touring the Colonial Present and Imagining a Decolonized Future
April 8, 2022
In this THI profile on the "Imagination" faculty series, Jenny Kelly explores the imaginative potential of tourism in Palestine.
CRES Supports the "Students for Sustaining Black Wellness" Referendum
April 4, 2022
Read the CRES Department's statement of support for the Black Student Union (BSU) and African American Theatre Arts Troupe (AATAT) referendum on Black Student Wellness.
micha cárdenas' Book Listed by Lambda Literary
March 8, 2022
Poetic Operations is listed in Lambda Literary’s list of most anticipated LGBTQIA+ books in March!
Upcoming Virtual Talks with CRES/DANM Faculty, micha cárdenas
March 8, 2022
See article for details and registration links to the virtual events with Assistant Professor, micha cárdenas (CRES/DANM).
Christine Hong's Book Awarded the 2022 Association for Asian American Studies Book Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literary Studies
March 3, 2022
Congratulations to Christine Hong, who has been awarded the 2022 Association for Asian American Studies Book Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literary Studies for A Violent Peace: Race, U.S. Militarism, and Cultures of Democratization in Cold War Asia and the Pacific. Christine will be honored at the 2022 AAAS conference in April.
Black Women in Tech: A.M. Darke
February 18, 2022
TONL sat down with CRES/AGPM Assistant Professor, A.M. Darke as part of their "Women Techmakers" storytelling series highlighting Black women in tech.
CRES Major Receives First Jay Family Humanities Scholarship
February 17, 2022
CRES Major Mikayla Jordan (Kresge, '23) received the first Jay Family Humanities Scholarship, a new scholarship that honors the Jay family's humanities legacy.
CRES DE Anny Mogollón Profiled in THI
February 11, 2022
Mogollón, a Literature PhD student and CRES DE, explains her academic and activist engagement with domestic workers.
Black Hair in Video Games Is Terrible. These 3D Artists Are Changing That.
January 10, 2022
Please check out this Vice News article and interview with CRES and AGPM Assistant Professor, A.M. Darke!
micha's book, "Poetic Operations: Trans of Color Art in Digital Media" Out Now!
December 22, 2021
Available on Kindle!
A.M. Darke to Give Talk at Yale CS Colloquium
December 1, 2021
A.M. Darke (Assistant Professor of CRES and Digital Arts and New Media) will be discussing her development of the Open Source Afro Hair Library, a queer, feminist, antiracist 3D database for Black hair textures and styles at the Yale Computer Science Colloquium at 1:00PM PST on Friday, December 3rd.
FMST Professor Neel Ahuja publishes new book: Planetary Specters
November 19, 2021
Congratulations to Neel Ahuja, whose new book – Planetary Specters: Race, Migration, and Climate Change in the Twenty-First Century – was recently published by UNC Press. Click through to learn more ...
KT Yamashita Accepts National Book Award Lifetime Achievement Award
November 18, 2021
Karen Tei Yamashita is recognized with the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, presented by Viet Thanh Nguyen. The presentation begins at 43:17.
CFP for Detours: A Decolonial Guide to Palestine
November 10, 2021
Lila Sharif, Somdeep Sen, and Jenny Kelly are co-editing Detours: A Decolonial Guide to Palestine in the Detours series at Duke University Press.
Camilla Hawthorne Receives Leonardo Da Vinci Society Humanities Award
November 1, 2021
Please join us in congratulating Camilla on being the 2021 recipient of the Leonardo Da Vinci Society Humanities Award for Early-Career Italian-American Researchers and Scholars!
Trans of Color Poetics and Lesbian Potentiality
October 3, 2021
micha cárdenas (Theater Arts and Digital Arts and New Media) has a series of upcoming virtual talks about her forthcoming book Poetic Operations: Trans of Color Art in Digital Media.
Camilla Hawthorne to speak at the virtual GeoWoche2021
October 2, 2021
Journal Lecture of the Geographica Helvetica at the virtual GeoWoche2021 will be delivered by Camilla Hawthorne (SOCY) on October 5th at 7pm (CET) and is titled: Black Mediterranean Geographies. Please find the abstract below.
"Opinion: I created the first ethnic studies program at my high school. Here’s what awoke my identity."
September 16, 2021
Izadora Lopez McGawley is a 2nd year CRES and Community Studies student.
Karen Tei Yamashita to receive 2021 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
September 13, 2021
UC Santa Cruz emerita professor of literature Karen Tei Yamashita will be awarded the 2021 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from The National Book Foundation, presenter of the National Book Awards.
A.M. Darke Profiled in Killscreen
August 6, 2021
Please check out this interview with CRES faculty, A.M. Darke, Assistant Professor in DANM (Digital Arts and New Media)!
Critical Ethnic Studies Journal: Volume 6, Issue 2 Now Live!
August 2, 2021
Jenny Kelly (FMST/CRES) and Camilla Hawthorne's (SOCY/CRES) guest-edited "Borderland Regimes and Resistance" issue of the Critical Ethnic Studies Journal (CES) is now live! Please check it out!
UPON Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America
July 29, 2021
Professor Ronaldo Wilson's (LIT) incredible poem, "UPON Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America" was recently published on poet.org
Racial and colonial histories offer insights on refugee crisis in ‘The Black Mediterranean’
July 22, 2021
Assistant Professor of Sociology and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Camilla Hawthorne coedited a first-of-its-kind new book called "The Black Mediterranean," which examines the African diaspora within the region.
Doctoral student wins Ford Foundation fellowship for work on gender, race, and policing
June 09, 2021
Uriel Serrano recently won a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship to support his research on how gender ideologies are formed in relation to carceral violence.
Congratulations to Camilla Hawthorne on Her Book, "The Black Mediterranean"!
June 4, 2021
Please join us in celebrating the publication of CRES faculty, Camilla Hawthorne's (SOCY) landmark edited volume, "The Black Mediterranean: Bodies, Border, and Citizenship" (Palgrave 2021).
Congratulations to Eric Porter on His New Book!
May 29, 2021
Please join us in congratulating Eric Porter, CRES faculty (HIS) on the release of "Sound Changes: Improvisation and Transcultural Difference".
CRES and FMST welcome Marisol LeBrón!
May 18, 2021
CRES Statement of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on Nakba Day
May 15, 2021
CRES stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Please see our statement issued May 15th, Nakba Day.
The Judy Yung Memorial Fund
May 11, 2021
In honor of Judy Yung, emerita professor of American studies, author, scholar of Chinese American history
CES Publishing Workshop for Graduate Students
April 19, 2021
The current co-editors and managing editor talk publishing in critical ethnic studies and its sister disciplines.
Global Racial Justice Podcast with Camilla Hawthorne
April 15, 2021
CRES faculty Camilla Hawthorne and activist Shailja Patel talk about global racial justice
Congratulations to Christine Hong, CRES Director (LIT) on the publication of her article "White Terror, 'Red' Island": a People's Archive of the Jeju 4.3 Uprising and Massacre
April 8, 2021
Congratulations to Christine Hong, CRES Director (LIT) on the publication of "White Terror, 'Red' Island": a People's Archive of the Jeju 4.3 Uprising and Massacre," a special forum of the abusable past, the online companion to Radical History Review. The Abusable Past is a digital venue that emerges from the work of the Radical History Review. For over forty years, Radical History Review has stood at the nexus of historical scholarship and active political engagement. The Abusable Past provides a space for critical scholarship and rigorous debate with implications for how we think through the past, understand the present, and envision the future.
CRES Principal Faculty, A.M. Darke receives major award from UCSC Arts Research Institute
April 5, 2021
Please join us in congratulating A.M. Darke (Assistant Professor DANM/AGPM/CRES) who was recognized for her work “Open Source Afro Hair Library”!
CRES DE, Ka-Eul Yoo's research paper recognized by the Association for Asian American Studies
April 2, 2021
Literature Ph.D student and CRES DE, Ka-eul Yoo received the Best Graduate Student Paper Award from the Association for Asian American Studies.
Campus launches first Black studies minor
February 26, 2021
UC Santa Cruz's Black Studies minor offers students grounding in the intellectual histories, political movements, cultural expressions, and critical theories of the Black diaspora.
CRES Faculty Jenny Kelly and Camilla Hawthorne on "Border Regimes" Research Cluster
February 19, 2021
FMST professor Jenny Kelly and SOCY professor Camilla Hawthorne speak about "Border Regimes and Resistance in Global Perspectives," one of three research clusters connected to THI's 2020-2021 theme "Memory."
Graduate Student Spotlight: Theresa Hice-Fromille (Sociology)
February 10, 2021
CRES DE, Theresa Hice-Fromille (Sociology), spoke with fellow CRES DE and grad rep, Jane Komori to discuss her love of travel and research around community-based roots travel organization (CBRTO)--an educational space in which youth participants learned about themselves and Blackness and came to form their racial identity.
Anthropologist Savannah Shange wins book award for insights on race and education
February 01, 2021
Anthropology faculty member Savannah Shange received one of the most prestigious honors in the field when she was awarded the 2020 Gregory Bateson Book Prize from the Society for Cultural Anthropology.
Italian newspaper ranks sociology professor among top women of the year
January 20, 2021
Camilla Hawthorne is being recognized for shedding light on emergent Afro-Italian identities and activism during a time of racial reckoning in Italy and beyond.
Graduate Student Spotlight: Uriel Serrano (Sociology)
January 12, 2021
CRES Designated Emphasis (DE) student, Uriel Serrano (Sociology), sat down with fellow CRES DE and grad rep, Jane Komori at the end of last quarter to discuss his research in youth studies, critical race theory, and critical carceral studies.
micha cárdenas: Sin Sol / No Sun
January 7, 2021
CRES faculty, micha cárdenas (Art & Design: Games and Playable Media) and her AR game, Sin Sol featured in two recent articles.
This artist is creating a “belligerent algorithm” to expose AI bias
January 7, 2021
Artist and game maker A.M. Darke is creating a system based on their own prejudices to highlight the problem of AI bias, calling for programmers to be held accountable for algorithms that govern everything from credit ratings to criminal convictions. The art project has been commissioned by the Open Data Institute (ODI), which has made Darke its research and development artist-in-residence. Darke is writing an algorithm that is overtly biased against the demographic predominantly designing the algorithms influencing our lives: white men. The ongoing project seeks to flip the usual narrative, in which the inherent biases of this demographic are unwittingly reflected in the AI systems they build...”
A.M. Darke, Open Source Afro Hair Library
January 7, 2021
CRES principal faculty, A.M. Darke was named one of this year’s most impactful people in the game industry for her development of Open Source Afro Hair Library. She was featured in the online series "GI 100 | Game Changers -- Part Ten" on GamesIndustry.biz.
APEX Express Radio Interview with CRES DE, Jane Komori
October 30, 2020
APEX Express is a weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of the community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Last month the hosts interviewed Jame Komori (History of Consciousness doctoral student ) as part of a series about Asian diasporic activists where she discussed political education with the hosts.
CRES Director Christine Hong Publishes A New Book
October 12, 2020
Christine Hong, Associate Professor of Literature, principal faculty member in CRES, and current CRES director, has published a new book titled "A Violent Peace: Race, U.S. Militarism, and Cultures of Democratization in Cold War Asia and the Pacific."
THI Graduate Profile: Noya Kansky, Feminist Studies Doctoral Student
October 1, 2020
Noya Kansky is a PhD Student in the Feminist Studies Department at UC Santa Cruz researching the history and enduring legacies of settler colonialism.
The Morning After: A (Post)Election Conversation
September 24, 2020
In this Cultural Studies event, CRES principal faculty member Savannah Shange, Gina Dent, and Debbie Gould will start a conversation the morning after the November 3rd US Presidential election. We will gather as a community the morning after to process the preceding night (and preceding years) and to think together about the weeks, months, and years to come.
Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Introduces Black Studies Minor
September 22, 2020
Amid nationwide protests in support of Black Lives Matter, the UC Santa Cruz critical race and ethnic studies (CRES) department unveiled a new minor — Black studies.
New art game explores intersection of personal trauma and climate induced wildfires
September 10, 2020
Sin Sol (No Sun) is an augmented reality game that allows players to experience the feelings of a climate change event. Set 50 years in the future, it tells the story of environmental collapse from the past—which is our present in 2020.
History professor Eric Porter examines musical improvisation as a response to crisis
August 31, 2020
"Playing for Keeps: Improvisation in the Aftermath" is an exploration of the various ways that musical improvisation can be used as a method for responding to crisis and dealing with trauma and stress.
A.M.Darke: Conceptual Artist and Game Designer
July 16, 2020
The Art of Change hosts in depth interviews with artists from the University of California, Santa Cruz who believe in the transformative power of art-making and are committed to proactive social engagement. Hosted by Lyle Troxell, in February of this year he sat down with A.M. Darke, Assistant Professor in Digital Arts and New Media and CRES principal faculty.
Mikael Owunna’s Photographs Show the Essence of Black Healing
June 12, 2020
Anney Traymany is a library worker and a recent graduate in CRES (2020). She has an interest in archival work, particularly pertaining to the Southeast Asian diaspora. Anney conducted this interview with photographer Mikael Owunna for Aperture, a not-for-profit foundation, that connects the photo community and its audiences with the most inspiring work, the sharpest ideas, and with each other—in print, in person, and online.
Announcing the Black Studies Minor
June 11, 2020
CRES is thrilled to announce the approval of the Black Studies minor, effective Fall 2020.
Artist-Made Tools Resist Algorithmic Racism and Empower Communities
June 10, 2020
“How can I be useful as an artist?” Many contemporary artists are critically engaging with technology to answer that question. Here are five artist-made tools that support protests on the ground, resist surveillance’s biased gaze, fight back against social alienation and combat technologies imbued with anti-Blackness. micha cárdenas, an artist, poet and professor at UCSC discusses how she helps empower communities that regularly face systemic violence.
Dear Class of 2020
June 9, 2020
New Banana Slug alumna Nyereath Nhial, was one of the featured profiles showcasing the breadth of talent, scholarship and achievement in this year's graduating class!
K-12 Teaching Credential Workshop for Humanities PhDs
June 1, 2020
In this workshop, learn more about simultaneously pursuing a teaching credential and master's degree in education while completing your doctoral degree in the humanities! Explore the possibilities of public school teaching in California for a union-backed career. Ethnic studies students, learn about how you would be positioned to roll out ethnic studies in the public high school curriculum statewide!
Queer Convoys: American Imperial Militarism and Global Asian Cultural Production
April 2, 2020
CRES DE in Literature Department, Talib Jabbar, describes how their work searches for a queer politics in the age of permanent war, a politics that dissents the normativizing logic of American-led imperial warfare.
Why Nick Mitchell Is Returning the Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity
February 21, 2020
Professor Nick Mitchell shares why he returned his Chancellor's Achievement Award for Diversity and expresses solidarity with the COLA campaign.
CRES Solidarity Statement with COLA Campaign
February 10, 2020
CRES faculty stands behind striking graduate students and their fight for a cost of living increase
CRES Graduate Spotlight--Christian Alvarado (History of Consciousness)
January 13, 2020
Christian Alvarado, a CRES DE in the Department of History of Consciousness discusses with Jane Komori, also a CRES DE in the same department, his interdisciplinary research around education and culture in (anti)colonial (as well as post-colonial) Kenya.
Transgender Studies Quarterly Journal Issue, Co-edited by CRES Faculty, micha cárdenas
December 2, 2019
CRES faculty micha cárdenas co-edited Volume 6, Issue 4 of Transgender Studies Quarterly
Sociology PhD candidate named UC Free Speech Fellow
October 2, 2019
Saugher Nojan will examine free speech and civic engagement among Muslim students across UC system
Nick Mitchell Speaks at Ithaca
September 19, 2019
Nick Mitchell is the first speaker for a discussion series, “Roots and Routes: Reflecting Toward Change" at Ithaca College's Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, celebrating the 50th anniversary of ethnic studies nationally. He gave a presentation Sept. 10 on the history of student movements and the creation of the ethnic studies department at San Francisco State.
Nick Mitchell and Saugher Nojan Receive Chancellor's Diversity Awards
June 11, 2019
Professor Nick Mitchell (FMST and CRES) and Saugher Nojan (CRES DE) each received a 2019 Chancellor's Achievement Award for Diversity.
Graduate Spotlight: Christine Rosales (Psychology)
June 7, 2019
CRES grad student Christine Rosales traces forms of everyday resistance for Latinx women in the Santa Cruz area.
Nick Mitchell to Give Kresge Commencement Address
June 6, 2019
Professor Nick Mitchell (Feminist Studies and Critical Race & Ethnic Studies) will be giving the commencement address for Kresge College's celebrations on June 15, 2019.
Graduate Spotlight: Claire Urbanski (Feminist Studies)
May 16, 2019
CRES graduate Claire Urbanski's project explores the ways that the San Francisco Bay area was able to develop by evacuation, desecration, and museum collections of Ohlone dead. This is done in order to question how the dead and the space of afterlife are central to the formation of settler colonial expansion and capital production.
Congratulations: 2018-19 Dean's Undergraduate Research Award Recipients!
May 3, 2019
Summer Session Information
April 19, 2019
Hello CRES majors! Thinking about Summer Session? Here are some fast facts on what that could look like for you!
Graduate Spotlight- Dana Ahern
March 23, 2019
CRES graduate student Dana Ahern shares their project and how it tracks the development and movement of transgender knowledge and bodies. It also looks for the origin points of transgender medicine and research and examines the histories and presences of colonialism and imperialism required to make transgender medicine possible, and so much more.
Graduate Spotlight- Saugher Nojan (Sociology)
March 1, 2019
CRES graduate Saugher Nojan depicts the struggle the Muslim student community and their struggle to have a dedicated prayer space at UC Santa Cruz through their photovoice project.
Graduate Spotlight- Sheeva Sabati (Education)
January 10, 2019
CRES graduate DE student Sheeva Sabati depicts the settler colonial imaginaries and the naming of the first UC campus.
Graduate Research Spotlight - Jess Whatcott (Politics)
January 10, 2019
CRES graduate student Jess Whatcott shares their research on eugenics-based policy-making in California history that enacts state violence.
CRES Faculty Condemn Recent Police Violence against Student Protesters
January 4, 2019
CRES principal faculty sent a letter to Napolitano, Blumental, and Tromp as a response to the violence UCPD brought upon students on Friday, November 16, 2018.
Graduate Student Spotlight- Trung PQ Nguyen (History of Consciousness)
December 13, 2018
CRES graduate DE student Trung PQ Nguyen shares their research on how the U.S. used visual culture to distort the history about the war in Southeast Asia.
Micha Cárdenas's Plenary Address at the National Women's Studies Association
December 13, 2018
CRES principal faculty member Micha Cárdenas was honored as a plenary speaker on the "Future of Gender." This plenary panel also featured nationally renowned scholar-activists and cultural producers Cathy Cohen, Tourmaline, C. Riley Snorton, Dean Spade, and Kendall Thomas.
New CRES Faculty Spotlight: Jenny Kelly
November 8, 2018
An interview with new CRES faculty member, Jenny Kelly, with Robert Parke, CRES and biochemistry double-major.
Graduate Research Spotlight - Ka-eul Yoo (Literature)
October 17, 2018
CRES graduate DE student Ka-eul Yoo researches Hansenin, or Hansen’s disease (leprosy), patients in South Korea.
Central Valley Freedom Summer registers voters, changes lives
October 02, 2018
For most kids who grow up in the Central Valley, the goal is to get out. But this summer, 25 UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced students turned that narrative on its head and returned home, eager to give back to their communities.
The Long, Dirty History of U.S. Warmongering against North Korea
April 25, 2017
Christine Hong, associate professor of Literature and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, contributed an article to The Progressive, giving a historical perspective to the current rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.
UCSC to offer new B.A. degree in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
June 06, 2014
Beginning this fall, students at UC Santa Cruz can now declare a major in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies (CRES), leading to a new bachelor of arts degree.
