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.

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.
A colorful theater scene with actors in vintage costumes, engaging in a dramatic moment.

Inside UC Davis’ Winter Musical ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’

  • by Maria Sestito
'The Drowsy Chaperone' tells the story of a man looking back on his life via his relationship to an audio recording of an old musical from 1928. Using his imagination only, "the Man in the Chair,” drawing from old Hollywood and musical theatre tropes and stereotypes, sends the stars of the musical into a mash-up performance wherein hilarity, beauty and chaos ensue.
Crowd of protesters holding signs and flags outside a building, expressing various messages.

New Book Explores the Human Cost of DOGE Cuts Under Trump and Musk

  • by Maria Sestito
What happens when “efficiency” comes at the expense of people? In his new book, American Carnage, Journalist and UC Davis Writing Center lecturer Sasha Abramsky examines the human cost of DOGE cuts during the second Trump administration. From lost healthcare to erased pensions, Abramsky focuses on the lived experiences behind policy decisions and reflects on empathy, free speech and the state of journalism today.