The American Dream as both idea and ideal, for all its complications, has had an undeniably powerful role in shaping values and aspirations in the U.S. and far beyond its borders. We spoke with faculty and students in the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis who represent a wealth of knowledge and perspectives that help us think about American society’s past, present and continuing potential. 

A new book co-authored by UC Davis sociologist Erin Hamilton charts the lives of 34 women and men who have returned to Mexico in the last two decades after years living in the U.S. Their stories convey the deep sense of loss they feel as they struggle to rebuild their lives.

Cognitive migration describes when our imagination guides us through potential futures. It’s a process through which we work out the emotional, cognitive and social problems of traveling to a new location by putting ourselves in a future time and space.

Historian Gregory Downs explains the complicated history of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, including subsequent laws that undermined equal protections it guaranteed, as well as the court case affirming the definition of birthright citizenship we take for granted today.

Enrollment of low-income, undocumented students declined by half at University of California and California State University campuses from 2016 through the 2022-23 academic year, according to a new study by the University of California Civil Rights Project at UCLA and UC Davis School of Law.

In her short film Unpacking Immigration, anthropology doctoral candidate Harleen Bal illuminates what she calls the “unseen middle step between the farm and the table” by exploring the lives of immigrant meatpackers living in Livingston, California.

Migration is a powerful force for shaping society. It is also a flashpoint for anger and prejudice in every country and context, and these responses can blur the reasons why people relocate their lives and what their arrival means for the places where they settle. The UC Davis Global Migration Center weaves facts and human experience into the complexity of how we think about migration, both in the U.S. and globally.