Admitted Student Tours for 2026 have passed. Thank you to our many guests and families for making this a successful event! If you are interested in touring UC Santa Cruz, we welcome you to sign up for one of our regularly-scheduled, student-led walking tours. Please check this website in late winter/early spring 2027 for information on Admitted Students Tours 2027.
Wednesday, April 1
10:00-10:50 a.m.
Gregory O'Malley | Professor and Chair, Department of History
Who Gets to Be an American?: A Case for an Enslaved Founding Father
During the Revolutionary War, David George led one of the great mass escapes in slavery's history, from a plantation called Silver Bluff in the South Carolina backcountry. Having heard that British forces marched up the Savannah River Valley toward their location, George and dozens of collaborators floated down the river to seize a British offer of liberty to runaways from "rebel masters." At the end of the war, the fugitives would evacuate the new United States with defeated British forces.
Despite his departure from the United States, this lecture suggests we should consider David George a Founding Father. George was a Baptist preacher, and the people he escaped with belonged to the congregation he had recently founded—quite possibly the first independent Black Baptist church. And not everyone from the congregation left with David George. The Silver Bluff Baptist Church still convenes on Sunday mornings, just down the road from the old plantation site, and still remembers David George as its founder, despite his departure 250 years ago. This talk will tell David George's incredible story to reflect on two key questions: What does it mean to leave a legacy in a society one departs? And what counts as a democratic institution in a society that limits democratic participation? As white men in the United States built political institutions and barred Black people (and women and other minorities) from them, Black churches became sites of refuge from slavery and eventually for organizing for voting and other civil rights (through church leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr.). If the founding fathers were those who built America's democratic institutions during the Revolution, was David George one of them?
11:00-11:50 a.m.
Jess H.K. Law | Assistant Professor, Humanities Division
Small Endings, Big Questions: How Sentences Do More Than They SayWhat do tiny elements at the ends of sentences do?
This talk explores the surprisingly rich role of sentence-final elements—the small words, particles, and intonational patterns that can signal attitude, emotion, evidence, politeness, and social connection. We will ask big questions about these subtle forms:
- How do they shape the meaning of a sentence?
- Are they part of grammar, interaction, or both?
- How do speakers use them together with voice and body movement to communicate more than words alone?
You will be introduced to the cutting-edge methods researchers use to study these questions, including acoustic analysis of speech, spech perception experiments, gesture analysis, and pragmatic theory. Bringing together insights from linguistics, psychology, and communication, this presentation offers a lively glimpse into how modern language science uncovers the hidden complexity of everyday speech.
1200-12:50 p.m.
Brij Lunine, Ph.D. | Senior Continuing Lecturer in Writing
The First-Year Experience and What is "College-Level" Writing
Brij Lunine, Senior Lecturer in the Writing Program, will cover strategies for success in your transition to college, how college-level writing typically differs from high school, and how to prepare for writing at the start of your college career. Lecturer Lunine has taught in the UCSC Writing Program for twenty-eight years. He has also taught First-Year Experience courses for the past twelve years. Questions are welcome.
1:00-1:50 p.m.
Ashley Bayman | Assistant Director of Global Learning
Sheila Poz | Peer Advisor, Global Economics Major
Going Global at UCSC (study abroad and away opportunities for students)
Come learn how students at UC Santa Cruz experience the world through enriching Global Learning programs. In this session, admitted students and their families will discover the many ways UCSC supports domestic and international study opportunities that expand students' understanding of cultures, languages, academic perspectives, and global communities.Global Learning programs can help students stay on track academically by fulfilling degree requirements (major, minor, GE, and total units) while also offering opportunities for internships, research, and immersive learning experiences connected to their field of study. With financial aid that can often apply and a wide range of program options, studying away can be both accessible and transformative.
2:00-2:50 p.m.
Ariel Chan, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor, Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics | Director, Bilingualism, Sociolinguistics, and Cognition Lab
What Happens in the Brain When You Speak More Than One Language?
Imagine talking with your parents in one language, texting your friends in another, and switching between them effortlessly throughout the day. For millions of bilingual speakers, this is simply everyday life. But inside the brain, something remarkable is happening: both languages are often active at the same time, and the brain must constantly manage which one to use. In this talk, I'll introduce how scientists study the bilingual brain and what we have learned about how people understand, produce, and switch between languages. This research not only helps us understand how language works in the mind and brain, but also how culture, identity, and experience shape the way we communicate in multilingual societies. These are also questions students explore in the Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism (APLX) major, where they learn how language works in the mind, brain, and society and develop skills useful in fields such as education, language policy, speech-language pathology, translation and legal services, and language technology. Students can also get involved in research, including in my Bilingualism, Sociolinguistics, and Cognition Lab, where we study how bilingual speakers process and mix languages in real time.
Thursday, April 2
9:00-9:50 a.m.
Addi Somekh | Lecturer, Undergraduate Education
What Are Your Values?
Every decision we make in life—from what to eat for lunch to where to go to college—is based on our values. Yet most people rarely take the time to stop and consider what their own core values actually are. In fact, what is a value? How do our values change? And what do we do when our values conflict? These questions and more will be explored (and possibly answered) in this important conversation about what truly matters.
10:00-10:50 a.m.
Grant McGuire | Associate Professor, Linguistics Department
Nosey Judgments: What Does It Mean to Sound 'Nasal'?
In this talk, I will discuss recent work from my lab on what it means to sound "nasal". It's a term applied to individuals, dialects, and languages, but what do we mean by it? We will go on a brief tour through speech articulators, acoustics, and sociology to better understand the term. Along the way we'll learn a bit about speech sounds, singing, speech pathology, and how speech perception works. By the end, you should have a better understanding of what it means for a voice to sound nasal, and how linguists explore these questions.
11:00-11:50 a.m.
Grant Hartzog | Professor | Co Director, Global and Community Health
Opportunities for Students Interested in Healthcare Careers
The Global and Community Health program offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Sciences degrees. This interdisciplinary program emphasizes that the health of individuals, communities, and nations depends on biological, social, political, economic, and psychological factors. By encouraging collaboration across disciplines, we aim to prepare students for the full range of health related careers, from policy and public health to direct patient care and the science of human health and disease.
To illustrate the importance of this interdisciplinary approach to health, in this lecture, I will present a clinical case that presents a range of medical, social, and legal challenges. I will then discuss options and opportunities at UCSC for students who are interested in health-related careers.
12:00-12:50 p.m.
Danny Rahal | Assistant Professor, Social Sciences Division
Psychobiology of Stress
People often think of stress and well-being as opposites, but they're both essential parts of our lives. Although we all experience stress, some people show bigger emotional and physical responses (like a faster heart rate) than others. Having a larger response to stress can tire our bodies and worsen our health. Dr. Rahal's research examines how people interpret and respond to stress, what it means to be more or less sensitive to stress, and how stress gets under the skin to shape health. In this talk, he'll present an overview of what stress is, how it affects us, and what we can do to cultivate well-being.
1:00-1:50 p.m.
Matthew Shetrone | Deputy Director, UC Observatories
Students Using Lick Observatory
The University of California Observatories (UCO) and Lick Observatory are part of the University of California's world-leading astronomy program, where scientists and engineers study planets around other stars, the formation of galaxies, and the chemistry of the early universe while developing advanced telescope instruments used around the world. At University of California, Santa Cruz, the UCO Technical Lab designs and builds cutting-edge research equipment for major observatories, and undergraduates can get involved through internships working alongside engineers and scientists. Students also have opportunities to work with UCSC astronomy faculty during observing runs at both Lick and Keck, often assisting from the UCSC remote observing room on campus and gaining firsthand experience with real astronomical research. I'm Matthew Shetrone, Deputy Director of UCO, and I work to help connect students with these hands-on opportunities in research, instrumentation, and public outreach.
2:00-2:50 p.m.
Peter Weiss | Faculty Researcher & Lecturer, Physical & Biological Sciences
Tracking air pollution
Participants will explore the air pollution measurement technologies used in the lab while learning about the nature and impacts of air pollution. The session will also highlight current efforts to monitor air quality and the research being conducted to better understand and address air pollution challenges.
Friday, April 3
10:00am-10:50 p.m.
Michael Loik | Professor, Environmental Studies Department
Robots for Sustainable Greenhouses
It takes a lot of work to grow our food, not to mention a lot of fuel, electricity, water, chemicals and people. Growing food is hard on the environment, so my research team is developing new ways to make agriculture more sustainable. We aim to reduce the use of electricity, water, and chemicals in the food system. Have you ever seen a greenhouse that generates its own power? Or living plants that produce electricity? What about robots tending plants in a greenhouse? This presentation will help highlight research on sustainable food production at UC Santa Cruz, and student opportunities to get involved in research.
11:00-11:50 a.m.
Addi Somekh | Lecturer, Undergraduate Education
What Are Your Values?
Every decision we make in life—from what to eat for lunch to where to go to college—is based on our values. Yet most people rarely take the time to stop and consider what their own core values actually are. In fact, what is a value? How do our values change? And what do we do when our values conflict? These questions and more will be explored (and possibly answered) in this important conversation about what truly matters.
12:00-12:50 p.m.
Brij Lunine, Ph.D. | Senior Continuing Lecturer in Writing
The First-Year Experience and What is "College-Level" Writing
Brij Lunine, Senior Lecturer in the Writing Program, will cover strategies for success in your transition to college, how college-level writing typically differs from high school, and how to prepare for writing at the start of your college career. Lecturer Lunine has taught in the UCSC Writing Program for twenty-eight years. He has also taught First-Year Experience courses for the past twelve years. Questions are welcome.
1:00-1:50 p.m.
Grant McGuire | Associate Professor, Linguistics Department
Nosey Judgments: What Does It Mean to Sound 'Nasal'?
In this talk, I will discuss recent work from my lab on what it means to sound "nasal". It's a term applied to individuals, dialects, and languages, but what do we mean by it? We will go on a brief tour through speech articulators, acoustics, and sociology to better understand the term. Along the way we'll learn a bit about speech sounds, singing, speech pathology, and how speech perception works. By the end, you should have a better understanding of what it means for a voice to sound nasal, and how linguists explore these questions.
2:00-2:50 p.m.
Kailani Polzak | Assistant Professor, History of Art & Visual Culture
Art History of the Sea from UCSC
How do you represent the experience of the ocean in one picture? Or how about a book? In various contexts, "the sea" has stood in for ideas of wonder, danger, opportunity, and control. In this session, we will discuss a range of visual materials, several of which are available here at UCSC, and consider how oceans have served as conduits for producing knowledge about the natural world and as arenas in which arguments about national and cultural differences are staged.
Monday, April 6
9:00-9:50 a.m.
Michael Loik | Professor, Environmental Studies Department
Robots for Sustainable Greenhouses
It takes a lot of work to grow our food, not to mention a lot of fuel, electricity, water, chemicals and people. Growing food is hard on the environment, so my research team is developing new ways to make agriculture more sustainable. We aim to reduce the use of electricity, water, and chemicals in the food system. Have you ever seen a greenhouse that generates its own power? Or living plants that produce electricity? What about robots tending plants in a greenhouse? This presentation will help highlight research on sustainable food production at UC Santa Cruz, and student opportunities to get involved in research.
10:00-10:50 a.m.
Zac Zimmer | Associate Professor of Literature, Humanities Division
Time Travel Narratives: An Introduction
In this short lecture, I'll introduce some of the topics that we'll be studying in my Literature class on time travel narratives. We'll think about what it means to *study* time travel narratives from a critical perspective. Yes, we can critique the methods and mechanics of any proposed fictional time machine. But there is more that we can do! We can talk about the real differences between time voyages that go into the future versus those that go back to the past. We can analyze how authors and filmmakers use time travel stories to teach us how to break out of bad time loops. And we can ponder what it might mean to unlearn a future that someone else imposed, in order to create new future possibilities.
1:00-1:50 p.m.
Ashley Bayman | Assistant Director of Global Learning
Sheila Poz | Peer Advisor, Global Economics Major
Going Global at UCSC (study abroad and away opportunities for students)
Come learn how students at UC Santa Cruz experience the world through enriching Global Learning programs. In this session, admitted students and their families will discover the many ways UCSC supports domestic and international study opportunities that expand students' understanding of cultures, languages, academic perspectives, and global communities.Global Learning programs can help students stay on track academically by fulfilling degree requirements (major, minor, GE, and total units) while also offering opportunities for internships, research, and immersive learning experiences connected to their field of study. With financial aid that can often apply and a wide range of program options, studying away can be both accessible and transformative.
2:30-3:20 p.m.
Mark Amengual | Professor & Department Chair, Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics
Beyond One Language: What Bilingual Voices Teach Us
In recent years, immigration patterns in the United States have contributed to heightened public attention to bilingualism and accented speech, often transforming linguistic diversity into a politically charged issue. In this talk, I examine how accented speech is processed both linguistically and socially, focusing on how listeners interpret accent variation and how such perceptions shape judgments about bilingual speakers in the United States and beyond. Understanding these processes is crucial not only for linguistics but also for educators, psychologists, and policymakers, since research increasingly shows that the variable speech patterns of bilinguals are not necessarily indicative of limited proficiency. Rather, accentedness is often a natural consequence of bilingual experience—even among highly proficient or balanced bilinguals—and the social stigma attached to it lacks linguistic justification.
Tuesday, April 7
10:00-10:50 a.m.
Gregory O'Malley | Professor and Chair, Department of History
Who Gets to Be an American?: A Case for an Enslaved Founding Father
During the Revolutionary War, David George led one of the great mass escapes in slavery's history, from a plantation called Silver Bluff in the South Carolina backcountry. Having heard that British forces marched up the Savannah River Valley toward their location, George and dozens of collaborators floated down the river to seize a British offer of liberty to runaways from "rebel masters." At the end of the war, the fugitives would evacuate the new United States with defeated British forces.
Despite his departure from the United States, this lecture suggests we should consider David George a Founding Father. George was a Baptist preacher, and the people he escaped with belonged to the congregation he had recently founded—quite possibly the first independent Black Baptist church. And not everyone from the congregation left with David George. The Silver Bluff Baptist Church still convenes on Sunday mornings, just down the road from the old plantation site, and still remembers David George as its founder, despite his departure 250 years ago. This talk will tell David George's incredible story to reflect on two key questions: What does it mean to leave a legacy in a society one departs? And what counts as a democratic institution in a society that limits democratic participation? As white men in the United States built political institutions and barred Black people (and women and other minorities) from them, Black churches became sites of refuge from slavery and eventually for organizing for voting and other civil rights (through church leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr.). If the founding fathers were those who built America's democratic institutions during the Revolution, was David George one of them?
11:00-11:50 a.m.
Danny Rahal | Assistant Professor, Social Sciences Division
Psychobiology of Stress
People often think of stress and well-being as opposites, but they're both essential parts of our lives. Although we all experience stress, some people show bigger emotional and physical responses (like a faster heart rate) than others. Having a larger response to stress can tire our bodies and worsen our health. Dr. Rahal's research examines how people interpret and respond to stress, what it means to be more or less sensitive to stress, and how stress gets under the skin to shape health. In this talk, he'll present an overview of what stress is, how it affects us, and what we can do to cultivate well-being.
1:00-1:50 p.m.
Matthew Shetrone | Deputy Director, UC Observatories
Students using Lick Observatory
The University of California Observatories (UCO) and Lick Observatory are part of the University of California's world-leading astronomy program, where scientists and engineers study planets around other stars, the formation of galaxies, and the chemistry of the early universe while developing advanced telescope instruments used around the world. At University of California, Santa Cruz, the UCO Technical Lab designs and builds cutting-edge research equipment for major observatories, and undergraduates can get involved through internships working alongside engineers and scientists. Students also have opportunities to work with UCSC astronomy faculty during observing runs at both Lick and Keck, often assisting from the UCSC remote observing room on campus and gaining firsthand experience with real astronomical research. I'm Matthew Shetrone, Deputy Director of UCO, and I work to help connect students with these hands-on opportunities in research, instrumentation, and public outreach.
Wednesday, April 8
10:00-10:50 a.m.
Kriti Sharma | Associate Professor of Critical Race Science and Technology Studies
Liberatory Laboratories: Science and Social Justice
Science is said to serve humanity, society, the common good. What does this mean? Science can benefit many by fueling imagination and wonder, by inspiring collective action for better futures, by leading to technologies that bring greater ease, and more. It can also exacerbate social strife in an already highly stratified society: making the already rich richer and poor poorer, and generally increasing the ability of the already powerful to dominate other people and the earth – with dire consequences.
Given how important science is to bringing about futures – prosperous or impoverished, peaceful or violent, equal or wildly stratified – we would do well to think through the complex relationship of science and society rigorously, and together. UCSC offers a rich and unique array of programs, courses and communities passionately invested in how science and justice can meet: through the Science & Justice Research Center, the proposed Science & Justice undergraduate minor housed in the Critical Race & Ethnic Studies Department, and much more. Professor Kriti Sharma – a microbiologist by training who teaches and does research in the humanities and in the laboratory – will give a brief talk and overview of all of the above; please feel free to bring your own questions and curiosities.
1:00-1:50 p.m.
Kylie Rachwalski | Assistant Director of Experiential Learning, Humanities Division
Employing Humanities: put your degree into action
Join us for a casual conversation about Employing Humanities, an initiative that connects what you study in the classroom with real-world experience. You'll learn how UC Santa Cruz Humanities students can participate in Humanities EXCEL, which offers paid internships with community organizations, and Humanities EXPLORE, which supports undergraduates working on research projects with faculty. We'll talk about how these opportunities help students build skills, explore career paths, and contribute to meaningful public and scholarly work while still in college.
Thursday April 9
11:00-11:50 a.m.
Addi Somekh | Lecturer, Undergraduate Education
What Can The Yin Yang Symbol Teach Us About A Good Life?
Everyone has seen the Yin Yang symbol, and most people have only a very basic and simplistic understanding of its meaning. But the more we look at it, the more depth and insight we can discover. This lecture decodes this ancient symbol and unpacks its fascinating, practical, and always-relevant life lessons.
1:00-1:50 p.m.
Grant Hartzog | Professor | Co Director, Global and Community Health
Opportunities for Students Interested in Healthcare Careers
The Global and Community Health program offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Sciences degrees. This interdisciplinary program emphasizes that the health of individuals, communities, and nations depends on biological, social, political, economic, and psychological factors. By encouraging collaboration across disciplines, we aim to prepare students for the full range of health related careers, from policy and public health to direct patient care and the science of human health and disease.
To illustrate the importance of this interdisciplinary approach to health, in this lecture, I will present a clinical case that presents a range of medical, social, and legal challenges. I will then discuss options and opportunities at UCSC for students who are interested in health-related careers.
Friday, April 10
2:00-2:50 p.m.
Ariel Chan, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor, Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics | Director, Bilingualism, Sociolinguistics, and Cognition Lab
What Happens in the Brain When You Speak More Than One Language?
Imagine talking with your parents in one language, texting your friends in another, and switching between them effortlessly throughout the day. For millions of bilingual speakers, this is simply everyday life. But inside the brain, something remarkable is happening: both languages are often active at the same time, and the brain must constantly manage which one to use. In this talk, I'll introduce how scientists study the bilingual brain and what we have learned about how people understand, produce, and switch between languages. This research not only helps us understand how language works in the mind and brain, but also how culture, identity, and experience shape the way we communicate in multilingual societies. These are also questions students explore in the Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism (APLX) major, where they learn how language works in the mind, brain, and society and develop skills useful in fields such as education, language policy, speech-language pathology, translation and legal services, and language technology.Students can also get involved in research, including in my Bilingualism, Sociolinguistics, and Cognition Lab, where we study how bilingual speakers process and mix languages in real time.