News

Study: In China, Misinformation Skews Views of Government

September 10, 2015
Chinese people who have overly rosy views of socioeconomic conditions in the western world tend to have more negative views of their own government — but when their misconceptions of foreign countries are corrected, their opinions about the Chinese government improve. Such is one...

Study: Smoke-Free Zones, Higher Taxes Deter Youth Smoking

September 8, 2015
Banning smoking in the workplace and increasing taxes on cigarettes have discouraged teens and young adults from taking up smoking, according to a study by researchers at UC San Francisco and UC Merced.  The study, published today (Sept. 8) in JAMA Pediatrics, used data from the...

Student Examines Role of Gender in Perception of Political Scandals

August 19, 2015
With the 2016 presidential race already in full swing, political science graduate student Kayla Canelo’s research is particularly timely.  This spring and summer, Canelo designed and carried out a study that examines the effects of scandal on the public perception of political figures....

Robbins Named Dean of School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

July 28, 2015
Jill Robbins has been named dean of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) at the University of California, Merced, the university announced today. She will begin serving full time in that capacity on Jan. 1, 2016. Robbins joins UC Merced after more than 20...

SSHA Professors Conducting Summer Research Projects

July 15, 2015
Like their colleagues in science and engineering, researchers in UC Merced’s School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts are keeping busy this summer with a wide variety of projects.   Among them:   • Sociology Professors Tanya Golash-Boza and Zulema Valdez are...

Climate Scientist Aims to Change National Dialogue, One Story at a Time

July 1, 2015
Climate scientist Emmanuel Vincent noticed climate change discussions in Europe had become somewhat politically polarized before he left France a few years ago, and found the same situation on a larger scale when he came to America. Vincent, now a project scientist with UC Merced’s...

Study: In Any Language, Learning to Walk and Talk Are Linked

June 17, 2015
UC Merced developmental psychologist Eric Walle recently discovered a link between walking and talking in infants. This development, however, brought up additional questions. Was the link specific to culture? Age? Native language? Walle, a professor in the Psychological Sciences graduate group,...

Interdisciplinary Spirit Pays Off for Grad Student

June 9, 2015
One of the things that attracted Chelsea Coe to UC Merced as an undergraduate student was the opportunity to do research. She transferred to UC Merced during her junior year and worked in Professor Teenie Matlock’s interactive cognition lab for the rest of her undergraduate career. When she...

Political Science Grad Gaining Capital Experience

May 13, 2015
Baltazar Cornejo is poised to become a strong and tireless advocate for the Central Valley, thanks to a fellowship program that provides real-world experience in state government.  Born in Modesto to farmworker parents who had immigrated from Mexico, Cornejo received his bachelor’s...

Grad Student Examines Use of Social Media in Health Care

April 23, 2015
The use of images and direct questions by health communicators on Facebook tends to increase user engagement, though linking to external websites and videos does not. Posts conveying positive emotions have no clear impact on engagement, while negative ones — including expressions of...

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