UC Merced Center for the Humanities

UC Merced Center for the Humanities The Center was established in the fall of 2008 at the newest campus in the UC system.

The UC Merced Center for the Humanities is committed to stimulating individual and collaborative research and scholarly work in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. In an institution designed around interdisciplinary approaches to knowledge, the Center sought to recreate the Renaissance integration of multiple approaches to knowledge, encompassing the humanities, arts, and qualitative social

sciences. These areas of academic study share a concern with the ways in which human beings conceive, express, and enact their situations in and relations to societies, both local and, increasingly, global. The Center was intended to provide spaces for discussion, conversation, and the extended pursuit of ideas. The shared concerns of various disciplines could be explored in ways that enrich research. By providing a context to challenge the self-validating paradigms of individual disciplines, the Center was conceived to support the divergent thinking that is the source of creative scholarship. In addition, we sought to make the significance of the perduring questions addressed by the humanities and arts more visible for both the campus and the community. The Center is part of the University of California Humanities Network, which incorporates the UC Society of Fellows in the Humanities, the University of California Humanities Research Institute, and the UC Consortium of Humanities Centers.

05/21/2026

Patricia Vergara’s journey to Merced wasn’t the typical path most take to get here.

Her musical odyssey began in her hometown of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, where by age 17 she was a professional musician. She came to the U.S. to pursue music at the Berklee College of Music, and has traveled across nations and continents, playing everything from classical to jazz and rock.

Now, Vergara is reaching new sonic and musical horizons. She curated “Soundscapes of Merced” – a new exhibit set to premiere May 14 at the Merced County Courthouse Museum.
The exhibit is a collection of stories, oral histories, interviews and environmental sound recordings that serve as an audio postcard of Merced County, plus photos and other important archival materials.

The exhibit will debut with an opening program 6 p.m. Thursday, May 14 at the Courthouse Museum, located at 21st and N streets in Merced. It runs until Nov. 30. Admission to the program is free.

In an interview with The Merced FOCUS, Vergara discussed her journey to Merced and the new exhibit. Link in the comments.

05/21/2026
Wonderful to see you all yesterday at Merced County Library for our Common Read Book Club discussion of Kao Kalia Yang's...
05/09/2026

Wonderful to see you all yesterday at Merced County Library for our Common Read Book Club discussion of Kao Kalia Yang's Where Rivers Part!

We had a great time returning to Gustine yesterday for this year's Common Read: Kao Kalia Yang's Where Rivers Part. What...
04/17/2026

We had a great time returning to Gustine yesterday for this year's Common Read: Kao Kalia Yang's Where Rivers Part. What a lively, long-standing book club they have! Not to mention such a unique and beautiful library building.

Thanks to all who came out to our first Common Read book club discussion of Kao Kalia Yang's Where Rivers Part at Merced...
04/17/2026

Thanks to all who came out to our first Common Read book club discussion of Kao Kalia Yang's Where Rivers Part at Merced County Library's main branch in Merced.

Our friend, ReCCES, would like to share the upcoming Community Engaged Research Reception, which will be held at the MMA...
04/14/2026

Our friend, ReCCES, would like to share the upcoming Community Engaged Research Reception, which will be held at the MMAC on Wednesday, April 15. Patricia Vergara will present The Soundscapes of Merced Project at 5:30 p.m.

03/21/2026
03/21/2026
02/06/2026

Whenever we eat, we enter into complex circuits of nourishment. Some beings are sacrificed so that others may be sustained. Sustenance engages lands, people, plants, animals, and insects in producing, reproducing, depleting and reconstituting. In this era of the Plantationocene, petrochemical inputs and intensive extraction create sacrifice zones in agricultural areas, as they produce industrially processed goods for a global market. What are the possibilities for finding collective sustenance and building nourishing relations in this disturbed landscape?

REGISTER: bit.ly/Sustenance2026

Panelists:
Catherine Sameh (UCI, Gender and Sexuality Studies)
Vetri Nathan (UCLA, European Languages & Transcultural Studies)
Paolina Lu (UCD, American Studies)

Moderated by Dana Simmons (UCR, Society, Environment, and Health Equity)

Address

5200 N Lake Road
Merced, CA
95343

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+12092282453

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