Welcome to Books of the Month, where once a month, L&S staff select works from our Bookshelf of authors within the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis. This month, we’re focusing on religion and spirituality.
Ana Castellon and Casey Manogue, both instructors for the UC Davis Writing Center, were approached by the Peer & AI Review + Reflection, or PAIRR, research team to collect data in their classrooms. Over the course of one quarter, they and other participating instructors implemented the PAIRR curriculum. Students discussed readings about AI and language equity, completed peer and AI reviews of their drafts, compared the feedback, and decided which recommendations to incorporate into their final work.
The artistry and craftsmanship of Italian haute couture will be on display in 'The Gift of Fashion: From the Maria Manetti Shrem Haute Couture Collection,' opens Oct. 14. Visitors to the free museum will have the rare opportunity for an up-close view of seven couture gowns by designers Roberto Capucci and Dolce & Gabbana, and pieces of jewelry designed by Dolce & Gabbana, Bulgari and Scavia, all on loan from the personal collection of the museum’s namesake, Maria Manetti Shrem.
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.
The 2026-2027 cohort features researchers whose work bridges the theoretical and the practical, seeking to affect concrete change — from evolving how institutions of higher education support native Spanish speakers, to shaping childcare policy, to developing new frameworks to aid in the legal fight against climate change.
Working primarily with textiles through techniques such as weaving and knitting, acclaimed fiber artist and 2025 Guggenheim Fellow Josh Faught draws on broader social and political histories, as well as his own experiences. He describes his process as “collaging and conflating” those influences, examining the relationships among them and considering where queer bodies exist within that matrix.
New research in communication finds that college students who are lonely tend to choose media likely to make them feel worse while those who are depressed or anxious tend to choose media that might improve their mood. Making different choices could increase people's chances to improve their mental health.
Dawn Sumner — a UC Davis geologist, planetary scientist and astrobiologist — is among the 53 scientists newly elected as fellows of the American Geophysical Union, or AGU, for outstanding achievements and contributions to earth and space science.
In an effort to share all the exciting and often mind-bending revelations about the universe with the public, UC Davis scientists Lloyd Knox and Markus Luty are bringing their combined knowledge and expertise on the road for a traveling conversation called Cosmic Connections.
Justin Siegel has been recognized as one of the inaugural recipients of the UC Regents Innovation Awards, honoring researchers and innovators whose work is translating University of California research into technologies, companies and solutions with broad impact.
