
The Psychology Department studies the mind, mental processes, and resulting human behavior, from how thinking works inside the brain, to how our minds develop throughout childhood, to how identity and group dynamics shape patterns of belonging and exclusion.
Our work uncovers ways to advance social justice, produces useful innovations that improve our daily lives, and demonstrates the strengths that arise from diversity in human experience.
Academics
Faculty
Our faculty take pride in our department’s innovative approaches to scientific research, commitment to excellence in teaching and mentoring, and dedication to social justice.
They are each influential intellectual leaders in their fields who are highly productive and impactful in their research publications.
Many of our faculty members are also past recipients of UC Santa Cruz’s highly competitive Academic Senate Excellence in Teaching Award or the Social Science Division’s Golden Apple Award Teaching Award.

Research
Our department conducts research in wide-ranging areas, from investigating how people produce speech, to how everyday interactions shape children’s learning, to how we can make our society a more just place. We maintain a collaborative research environment that engages both graduate and undergraduate students in vital ways.
Together, we regularly generate new insights on a broad array of phenomena, including cognition, perception, memory, language, human-computer interaction, informal learning, student success, personal and social identities, gender and sexuality, racism, sexism, and classism.
Psychology campus news
Departmental updates
Public events
Visit the UCSC events calendar for a list of all upcoming events