On Presidents Day weekend, children at the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity, or MOSAC, in Sacramento played Wreathies, a game created by graduate and undergraduate students in the Department of Communication’s UC Davis Media Lab. The game is part of a scientific study to test whether kids between 8 and 12 years old prefer to have choices in their learning.
A new study in communication examined how the data-driven business models of TikTok and Spotify shape both the music artists make, and the songs people listen to. The study was published Feb. 27 in the journal Information, Communication & Society.
Federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis is part of a larger history of government violence against citizens and non-citizens alike. However, today’s technology, rhetoric and legal tensions are changing what that violence means for society.
Jessie Murray, L&S Orange Cluster chief administrative officer, is finding new ways to both support students and take the sting out of budget uncertainty and cuts. For her work, Murray received the 2025 Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff Award for Exceptional University Management.
To provoke outrage is the point of rage bait. Research in communication is starting to explain how rage bait hacks the way our brains decide what we choose to read, watch and even click and swipe online. What’s more, the worse we feel, the more we seem to prefer it.
The booming growth of AI chatbots is similar to the trajectory of how social media radically changed our everyday lives, except with supercharged adoption rates and expectations. Some key lessons we are still learning from social media’s rise offer insight on how to avoid the same mistakes with AI.
Josie Peinemann remembers what it was like to take that first step to make connections and build community. All her efforts since then have been worthwhile.
After graduating from UC Davis with a degree in Communication, Joe Sasto spent years working in some of the best restaurants in the country. He competed on the 15th season of Top Chef and on an all-star season two years later. Now, his passion for food has led to the upcoming debut of his first cookbook on Oct. 21: "Breaking the Rules: A Fresh Take on Italian Classics".
In a new study, people who were encouraged to follow mainstream news organizations on Instagram and WhatsApp were better at identifying true from false news stories. News followers were also more aware of important events and had more trust in news media and journalists.
As a member of the College of Letters and Science Dean’s Advisory Council, Kirk DeClark is part of a group of civic, business and education leaders drawn from the college’s alumni, donors, emeriti and friends. For DeClark, the role has given him an opportunity to help students and young alumni explore their intellectual curiosity and career prospects.
