Beatriz Cortez, a multidisciplinary artist and professor of Chicana/o/x studies at UC Davis, has been named a 2026 Joan Mitchell Fellow, which includes $60,000 in direct, unrestricted funding distributed over five years alongside learning, peer engagement and network-building opportunities.
L&S Magazine has been featuring books by authors from the College of Letters and Science for nearly two years. We’ve tried to organize the selections into relevant themes, addressing timely issues our society faces and celebrating the unique characteristics that make up humanity. These books remind us why we do what we do — not just in higher education but in the world at large. They challenge us, make us think, give us hope and inspire us.
Beatriz Cortez, a multidisciplinary artist and professor of Chicana/o/x studies at UC Davis, recently spoke with UC Berkeley Professor Ronald Rael at Aspen Ideas Festival 2026. Their panel, Ancient Futures: from Mud to Machine, was moderated by Nora Lawrence, executive director of Storm King Art Center in New York.
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.
Five researchers from the University of California, Davis, including two from the College of Letters and Science, were listed among recipients for the inaugural awards through the U.S. Department of Energy’s, or DOE, Genesis Mission — a national program leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate breakthroughs in energy, discovery science and national security.
From creating personalized maps of Alzheimer’s risk and designing next-generation cancer therapeutics to advancing AI-driven materials discovery and recovering nitrogen contaminants from water resources, the five projects that received this year’s Incentives for Large Grant Awards from the College of Letters and Science exemplify how UC Davis research is transforming science and society.
Artist Beatriz Cortez, professor of Chicana/o/x Studies, has work featured in "Aztlán: Tunel del Tiempo," an exhibition at the national galleries of the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes. The exhibition brings together a comprehensive installation of Latinx contemporary art from Los Angeles to Mexico City.
From Aug. 31 to Sept. 4, the Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter will hold its annual meeting at UC Davis. The conference, focused on the phenomena of emergence, will include a variety of talks and roundtables featuring distinguished experts in soft, biological and quantum matter.
Seven early career faculty members at UC Davis are being recognized with awards from the university and the UC Office of the President that highlight their research and creative exploration.
It’s been 40 years since the first demonstration of high-temperature superconductivity. A new article published in Nature written by UC Davis physicists Inna Vishik and Warren Pickett takes a retrospective look at “this strange state of matter.”
