Featured Profiles
What prisoners in solitary confinement can teach us about social isolation
April 3, 2020
Tens of millions of Californians are sheltering in place — a passive form of social isolation that radically limits the amount of social contact they are supposed to have with others. There are a number of unanticipated, unintended, but potentially very serious consequences of this form of social distancing, no matter how absolutely necessary it is.
These L.A. parents don’t want to assign a gender to their baby, so the government did it for them
September 25, 2019
Campbell Leaper, a psychology professor at UC Santa Cruz who studies childhood gender development, said that gender stereotypes limit kids early and enduringly.
Helping and Hindering Undergraduate Women’s STEM Motivation: Experiences with STEM Encouragement, STEM-Related Gender Bias, and Sexual Harassment
May 9, 2019
Professor Campbell Leaper and Graduate Student Christy Starr discuss the #MeToo and other feminist social movements have highlighted the prevalence of sexual harassment and gender-biased treatment, as well as how damaging they can be.
In the Realm of "Ahh"
May 7, 2019
Professor Jean E. Fox Tree discusses voice and style of speech—including pesky filler words—reveal a lot about a speaker.
Open Forum: On the legacy of AIDS — trauma and shame get in the way of HIV prevention
March 28, 2019
Men & Women Tend To Approach Conversations Differently — Here's How
March 26, 2019
Supreme Court takes no action on DACA, what this means for ‘Dreamers’ in Salinas
January 22, 2019
Professor Gina Langhout was interviewed for this article on DACA.
An immigration and deportation talk translates the scientific and legal speak
January 17, 2019
The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History is running a series called Hardcore Natural History in which they explore different themes in research presentations through three lenses: plant, animal, and human/cultural. Their latest theme is migration, which they’ve covered via eucalyptus trees and plankton; this Friday they cover the human element in a talk titled “Deportation Uncovered.”
Beyond ‘no means no’: What most parents aren’t teaching their sons about sexual consent
October 4, 2018
In the age of #MeToo, and in the wake of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, parents across the country have been wrestling with the anxieties of raising teenage boys to understand consent. How does a parent bring clarity to an issue that is too complex even for the country’s political leaders to navigate? How can a mother or father prevent their teenage son from someday being accused of sexual assault?
Q & A with Professor Su-hua Wang
January 15, 2016
We sat down with Wang for a Q&A to learn more about her work and about the unique research internship program she offers to psychology majors.
Meet the Psychology Department's newest faculty
November 04, 2015
The Psychology Department now consists of 26 faculty thanks to its three newest hires: Christy Byrd, Audun Dahl and Rebecca Covarrubias.
Craig Haney: A career dedicated to social justice
June 20, 2015
No one has documented the long-term psychological damage of incarceration in the United States more than UC Santa Cruz professor Craig Haney.
Alumna Kris Perry shares how she overturned Prop 8, the same-sex marriage ban
October 14, 2014
At a recent event on campus, Perry talks about her leadership in the gay rights movement
Reduce Poverty? Social Barriers Need To Be Removed
October 10, 2014
UCSC psychology professor Heather Bullock sheds light on social obstacles to poverty reduction in a recent UN report.
Youth, empowerment, and social change
May 5, 2013
Participatory action research (PAR), which is a model of research where community members and university-based researchers work collaboratively at all stages in the research process.
How do people learn without being taught?
November 2, 2011
Professor Barbara Rogoff on how people learn by observing and pitching in.
Message from Avril Thorne, Chair
September 6, 2011
Having been at much larger universities and at private colleges, I have found that nothing compares with Psychology at UC Santa Cruz. The students are unusually creative and bold.
