Maria Sestito

Maria Sestito 

Department Editor, Arts & Humanities

Maria Sestito writes about all things arts and humanities as part of the College of Letters and Science’s marketing and communications team. She is an award-winning writer and journalist. Prior to joining UC Davis, she worked for a decade in newsrooms across California and in North Carolina as a photographer, reporter and columnist. She’s also taught journalism to high school students through TRIO Upward Bound and Oregon State University.

Sestito earned her bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies with a Women and Gender Studies minor at Rutgers University in New Jersey. She earned her master’s degree in journalism at UC Berkeley.

She is an alumna of AmeriCorps and Report for America. Some of her past fellowships were through the U.S. Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS), Columbia Journalism School, USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism and the Bloomberg Journalism Diversity Program.

Orchestra and choir performing on stage under warm golden lighting in a concert hall

UC Davis Chorus Makes History with Carnegie Hall Debut

  • by Maria Sestito
From Broadway shows to impromptu subway rides, singers from across the UC Davis campus and community set out on New York City this summer to make their Carnegie Hall debut with Director of Choirs Nicolás Dosman at the helm. American composer Rosephanye Powell accompanied the performance of 'The Cry of Jeremiah.'
Three students in white lab coats with blue gloves smiling while handling lab equipment

BioInnovation Lab Connects UC Davis Undergraduate Students to Real-World Research

  • by Maria Sestito and Greg Watry
A maker space for undergraduate research, the BioInnovation Lab provides a place for students to learn basic lab skills, experiment, innovate and contribute to research while also providing access to technologies they might not otherwise have. Explore how College of Letters and Science faculty are using the space in their classes.
College students seated in a large outdoor circle on campus lawn, backpacks nearby.

Bad Bunny’s Code-Switching Helps Bilingual Students Feel Seen

  • by Maria Sestito
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.
A little person woman with long curly hair (Soifya), very pregnant, is seated on a scooter beside a taller LP woman with turquoise hair (Julie). They are looking at a video monitor and surrounded by lighting and film gear.

'The Tallest Dwarf' Documentary Coming to Davis, PBS and a Theater Near You?

  • by Maria Sestito
Julie Wyman, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and associate professor of cinema and digital media at UC Davis, finds belonging and an unexpected history within the dwarf community whilst working on her documentary, "The Tallest Dwarf." It will be screened at theaters across the U.S., including at UC Davis, and have its broadcast premiere this spring on PBS.
Elderly couple smiling together in an art studio, vibrant paintings in the background.

Painting a Legacy

  • by Maria Sestito
UC Davis Professor Emeritus Roland Petersen, known for his Picnic Day paintings, reflects on his life’s work and his personal love story. Petersen, who turned 100 on March 31, still paints every day.