College of Letters and Science Magazine

05/29/2026

05/28/2026

UC Davis economist Ina Simonovska is helping shape California’s economic future as a member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors.

A leading expert in global finance and trade, Simonovska works alongside fellow economists and policy leaders to analyze economic trends and advise the state on issues ranging from tariffs and trade policy to AI and labor.

“California is like a really, really big country,” Simonovska said. “It’s now the 4th largest economy in the world on its own.”

Her appointment highlights the critical role that our researchers play in informing policy and addressing complex global challenges.

Visit the UC Davis College of Letters and Science Magazine to read more.

UC Davis economist Ina Simonovska, a leading expert on global finance and trade, is serving on the California Governor's Council of Economic Advisors, which makes policy recommendations across a range of pressing issues for the state.

05/27/2026

“Discovering a dark sector would really revolutionize everything we know about our universe.”'

From galaxy collisions to underground particle detectors, UC Davis researchers are exploring one of science’s greatest mysteries: dark matter.

Studying the fundamental building blocks of the universe, Assistant Professor Matthew Citron is working as part of a team using the Large Hadron Collider to search for evidence of hidden particles that may shape the cosmos around us.

Visit the UC Davis College of Letters and Science Magazine to read more.

Featuring:
CERN
UC Davis Physics & Astronomy

While almost the complete inverse of astronomy and cosmology, fields concerned with the largest objects in our universe, particle physics aims to answer similar questions but from a different vantage. Matthew Citron discusses how particle physicists like himself use particle accelerators to search f...

05/26/2026

05/26/2026

05/26/2026

05/26/2026

Why do some events dominate the news for weeks while similar stories receive far less attention?

New research from UC Davis explores the anatomy of a “media storm” — the sudden surge of intense news coverage surrounding major events like George Floyd’s killing or Greta Thunberg’s climate activism.

Find out what three key ingredients drive the coverage at the UC Davis College of Letters and Science Magazine.

Featuring:
Political Science at UC Davis

A new book by UC Davis political scientist Amber Boydstun explains why some events drive media storms, an explosion of sustained media coverage, and why other events, even very similar ones, don’t.

05/21/2026

Teaching subjects like genocide, slavery, and political violence can leave students feeling hopeless.
That's why UC Davis professor Keith David Watenpaugh approaches human rights education through a framework focused on solutions, empowerment, and action.

From the end of Apartheid to modern refugee support initiatives, his courses challenge students to think critically while imagining ways to build a more just world.

Learn more at the UC Davis College of Letters and Science Magazine.

Featuring:
Article 26 Backpack
UC Davis Human Rights Studies

Keith David Watenpaugh, professor of human rights, guides UC Davis undergraduate and graduate students through the modern world’s greatest tragedies with a focus on empowerment and solutions. Learning this human rights perspective prepares students to lead and promote the good wherever life leads ...

05/20/2026

How are AI, internet culture and video games reshaping the way we think, write and interact?

This month’s Books of the Month explores the digital world through the work of faculty scholars studying online discourse, gaming culture, copyright, algorithms and emerging technologies.

Find your next favorite read at the UC Davis College of Letters and Science Magazine.

Featuring:
UC Davis
UC Davis Library
UC Davis English
Cultural Studies, UCDavis
UC Davis Cinema and Digital Media
UC Davis University Writing Program (UWP)
UC Davis Science and Technology Studies Courses

From the way we write to the way we socialize and even the way we think, we are greatly influenced by our changing technologies. This month we look at books by scholars from Science and Technology Studies, the Department of Cinema and Digital Media, the Department of English and the University Writi...