From the way we write to the way we socialize and even the way we think, we are greatly influenced by our changing technologies. This month we look at books by scholars from Science and Technology Studies, the Department of Cinema and Digital Media, the Department of English and the University Writing Program.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have made a surprising discovery about a galaxy long, long ago and far, far away: It isn’t rotating. That’s something only seen in the most massive, mature galaxies that are closer to us in space and time, said Ben Forrest, a research scientist in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Davis, and first author on the paper published May 4 in Nature Astronomy.
Every day faculty and students from the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis are highlighted in the news media, having their research featured and commenting on the most pressing issues facing the world. Check out some of these news media highlights from the past month.
A new study by UC Davis and Stanford SQARQ applied AI tools and techniques to New York Police Department body-worn camera footage to learn whether officers followed legal rules for stops and searches.
A recent study at UC Davis tested whether a classroom curriculum could reduce that stigma. Not only did the class reduce prejudice against consensual non-monogamy, but it also increased all students’ relationship skills and sense of belonging.
The Spanish language is having a "historical moment of visibility" in the U.S. this year thanks to Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny. The worldwide superstar's pride in his culture and use of language validates an experience that many bilingual Spanish speakers, including at UC Davis, relate to. Professors and students in the College of Letters and Science recently weighed in on the current cultural moment.
Research shows that taxes, and what we decide they should be, directly affect our long-term social and economic health as a nation — for better or for worse. This in-depth article explains how income and corporate taxes in the U.S. affect economic growth, inequality and government spending.
"Umbria Jazz Feast" is a documentary film that investigates multi-sensorial intersections during the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy. It presents a new look at this festival by addressing the question: how is jazz perceived as part of a new global identity intersecting with local and global cuisine, art and culture? There will be a free screening of the film on May 6 in Davis.
At the April Davis Science Café, environmental toxicologist Andrew Whitehead explored not only how our actions as a species affect ourselves, but also how they impact the innumerable species we share the Earth with.
An author blending fact and fiction in her second novel, an anthropologist studying the origins of rituals and pilgrimages, and a mathematician investigating the complexity of large datasets have been named the 2026 Dean’s Faculty Fellows for the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis.
