Talks and events in Santa Cruz

Advanced Tractor Skills Workshop Oct 23–24

Community & Practice Workshop / PracticeUniversity / College

Oct 23–24 Fri, Oct 23 ·UCSC Farm ·Santa Cruz ·$550

A 2-day hands-on workshop for farmers with 2–4 years of tractor operating experience. Participants learn to operate tractors more efficiently and safely, covering tractor setup, implement attachment, equipment calibration, field operation, and maintenance. The program emphasizes real field demonstrations and practical problem-solving based on everyday farming situations. By the end, participants should operate tractors more efficiently, make better field decisions, and maximize machinery performance. Cost includes food, overnight accommodation in tent cabins, and parking; scholarships available.

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Tour of Forest Health Treatments in Upper Campus on Saturday October 24th

Science & TechCivics & Power Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Sat, Oct 24 ·10:00 am ·Barn Theater ·Santa Cruz

A guided walking tour of UC Santa Cruz's Upper Campus Demonstration Site exploring forest health treatments and wildfire resilience. Participants will learn about the Wildfire Vegetation Management Plan and techniques including thinning, handwork, mechanical treatment, mastication, and chipping designed to lower wildfire risk and support ecosystem recovery. The approximately one-mile walk is led by university experts and supported through a CAL FIRE Forest Health Grant. Comfortable hiking boots recommended; shuttles provided from Barn Theater Parking Lot.

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Katy Scott - What Goes On Inside a Tide Pool

Science & TechCulture & Humanities Book TalkBookshop

Sat, Oct 24 ·11:00 am ·Bookshop Santa Cruz ·Santa Cruz

Author and Education Programs Director at Monterey Bay Aquarium Katy Scott reads and signs her illustrated children's book about a hermit crab's 24-hour journey through a tide pool ecosystem. Through the crab's search for a new shell, readers learn about tide cycles, marine adaptations, predator-prey relationships, and the interconnected life of tide pool creatures. Scott brings expertise from nearly 15 years developing STEM education programs at one of the world's leading aquariums.

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Victor ‘Marka27’ Quiñonez: Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá

Culture & Humanities MuseumUniversity / College Free

Sat, Oct 24 ·12:00 pm ·Institute of the Arts and Sciences ·Santa Cruz

Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá (Not From Here, Not From There) is a multidisciplinary exhibition by artist Victor 'Marka27' Quiñonez exploring the experience of living between worlds. The show features altars, an immersive botanica, paintings referencing textiles and graffiti traditions, and brightly colored resin sculptures of melting Mexican paletas. Accompanying the exhibition, Elevar la Cultura—a twenty-two-foot-tall pyramid built from ice coolers adorned with ancestral textiles and sacred symbols—will be installed at Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos. The cooler sculptures symbolize immigrant labor and survival in the United States, transforming everyday objects into monuments of resilience and cultural pride.

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Día de los Muertos Celebration

Culture & HumanitiesCommunity & Practice MuseumLecture / ForumWorkshop / Practice Free

Sat, Oct 24 ·12:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz

The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History hosts an annual Día de los Muertos Celebration honoring Latino cultural heritage. The day features musical and dance performances by Senderos, hands-on activities, live music, and community-created altares (ofrendas). Attendees can explore the museum's installations and learn about the holiday's significance from community partners and Senderos leaders, hearing stories of how Día de los Muertos is celebrated locally.

via Santa Cruz MAH ↗ Event link ↗ Edit
SpectreVision Radio Bigfoot Event

Culture & Humanities Lecture / Forum

Sat, Oct 24 ·7:30 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz ·$17.85

SpectreVision Radio presents a live Liminal Mic podcast recording exploring Bigfoot encounters and folklore. Real audience members share paranormal experiences with a live panel including Bryce Johnson (Expedition Bigfoot), The 418 Project, and SpectreVision Radio Director Daniel Noah. The event explores the cultural history and contemporary reports of Sasquatch and related cryptids across North America, with particular focus on Northern California sightings. SpectreVision Radio is an independent podcast network founded by filmmaker Elijah Wood and Daniel Noah, exploring the paranormal, esoteric, and unexplained across 62 shows reaching millions of monthly listeners.

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Make & Take Dried Floral Pumpkin Workshop

Community & Practice Workshop / PracticeUniversity / College

Sun, Oct 25 ·12:00 pm ·Hay Barn ·Santa Cruz ·$60

Learn to create a dried floral and succulent pumpkin centerpiece in this hands-on workshop led by instructor Amber Pearsall. You'll work with a selection of dried and fresh materials—some grown at the UC Santa Cruz Farm & Garden—to design your own artistic creation, guided by examples and encouragement to develop your personal style. The finished pumpkin will last well into the new year with proper care.

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Rite Life – A Writing Group Amongst the Dead

Community & PracticeCulture & Humanities Workshop / PracticeMuseum Free

Sun, Oct 25 ·1:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz

Rite Life is a workshop blending automatic writing with ancestor veneration practices, designed to confront difficult emotions and celebrate what sustains us. Facilitated by Gabe alongside local writers and spiritual practitioners, the workshop carries forward the vision of poet and spiritual teacher Honeysun, who conceived it in 2016. Participants of all ages engage in guided writing and reflective practice in the museum's cemetery setting. All ages welcome.

via Santa Cruz MAH ↗ Event link ↗ Edit
Giving an Account of Our Hope: Catholic Social Teaching Today — Fr. William O'Neill

Culture & HumanitiesCivics & Power Lecture / ForumWorkshop / Practice

Sun, Oct 25 ·2:00 pm ·Santa Clara University ·Santa Cruz

A workshop exploring Catholic Social Teaching as a living tradition of shared discernment on justice and human dignity. Fr. William O'Neill, a Jesuit scholar and resident at Santa Clara University's Markkula Center, draws on his work in refugee camps across Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan to address how we embody CST's vision today—encompassing human rights, ecological ethics, immigration policy, and restorative justice. The session includes structured conversation and reflection, open to Christians and non-Christians alike.

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ECE 290 Seminar: “Learning Dexterous Manipulation: From Simulation to Human Demonstrations”

Science & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Mon, Oct 26 ·10:40 am ·Engineering 2 ·Santa Cruz

A technical talk on learning dexterous robotic manipulation through simulation and human demonstrations. Joe Dong, co-founder and CTO of Chestnut Robotics, presents two complementary approaches: training in simulation using reinforcement learning with the open-source Aero Hand, and learning from human demonstrations via a matched wearable capture interface. The talk covers hardware design, MuJoCo simulation, sim-to-real transfer, motion capture, contact sensing, and engineering tradeoffs in connecting robot embodiment with training data and simulation environments.

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Statistics Seminar: Calibration Methods for Generative Models with Application to Protein Structure Modeling

Science & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Mon, Oct 26 ·4:00 pm ·Jack Baskin Engineering ·Santa Cruz

Brian Trippe, Assistant Professor of Statistics at Stanford, discusses calibration methods for generative models with applications to protein structure prediction. Generative models often produce realistic samples while underestimating probabilities of important modes—a problem Trippe addresses by framing calibration as constrained optimization. He presents surrogate objectives enabling low-variance gradient estimates for stochastic optimization, demonstrating results across hundreds of simultaneous constraints and models with up to nine billion parameters. The talk includes applications for assimilating thermodynamic measurements into generative models of protein structure Boltzmann ensembles.

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Plant Keying Workshop at the UCSC Arboretum & Botanic Garden

Science & TechCommunity & Practice Workshop / PracticeUniversity / College Free

Mon, Oct 26 ·5:30 pm ·Arboretum ·Santa Cruz

Learn plant terminology and identification techniques in a hands-on, informal workshop led by Lucy Ferneyhough, assistant director of the UCSC Arboretum & Botanic Garden. Participants are encouraged to bring plants to examine together and suggest topics for future sessions. Sessions held the 4th Monday of each month, 5:30–7:30pm at the Horticulture 2 meeting hall.

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US Higher Education and the Future of Society: A Panel Discussion

Civics & PowerScience & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College

Tue, Oct 27 ·3:30 pm ·Dougherty Reading Room, Main Level, Science & Engineering Library ·Santa Cruz

A panel discussion on how U.S. universities must restructure to address 21st-century threats, particularly the ecological crisis. Convened by the UCSC Earth Futures Institute, a group of world-class visionaries presents findings on what knowledge society needs and how higher education must reorganize to generate it. Designed for UC students, faculty, administrators, and community members concerned about the role of universities in managing existential challenges.

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Halloween Printing Party and Pop-Up Exhibition in Special Collections and Archives

Community & Practice Workshop / PracticeUniversity / College Free

Wed, Oct 28 ·11:30 am ·McHenry Library ·Santa Cruz

A hands-on printing workshop celebrating Halloween at UC Santa Cruz's Special Collections and Archives. Attendees can print their own designs on the BookBeetle, a replica Gutenberg-era common press, while exploring a curated display of Halloween-themed archival materials including movable books and historical documents. Open to all.

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Rizvana Bradley, Donna V. Jones, and Isaac Julien – God Save the Queen: Nationalism, Queer Desire, and Black Alternative Cultures

Culture & HumanitiesCivics & Power Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Wed, Oct 28 ·12:15 pm ·Humanities 1, Room 210 ·Santa Cruz

A panel examining Isaac Julien's 1991 film Young Soul Rebels, exploring temporality, memory, Black culture, and film theory. Rizvana Bradley (UC Berkeley) discusses the intervallic and phenomenology in Julien's work and Black critical theory. Donna V. Jones (UC San Diego) reflects on how film communicates history through multiple simultaneities, drawing on her experience watching the film in post-Thatcher Britain. Isaac Julien is present. Hosted by the Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz.

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The World Cafe: Food, Tea, and Conversations that Matter

Civics & PowerCommunity & Practice SalonUniversity / College Free

Wed, Oct 28 ·5:00 pm ·Rachel Carson/Oakes Dining Hall ·Santa Cruz

A recurring conversation series hosted by UC Santa Cruz's Right Livelihood Center, held every other Wednesday evenings in the dining hall. Each session frames a different theme — from personal meaning-making to activism, mental health, and immigration justice — and invites students across all majors and colleges to gather over food and tea for facilitated dialogue on questions that matter. The structured salon format prioritizes student voice and collective thinking about social change.

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The People of Color Sustainability Collective Professional Development Symposium: BIPOC Professionals in Environmental Careers

Civics & PowerBusiness & Economy Conference / SymposiumUniversity / College Free

Wed, Oct 28 ·5:00 pm ·Alumni Room ·Santa Cruz

A symposium connecting UCSC students with BIPOC environmental and sustainability professionals, organizations, and career pathways. Attendees will learn directly from practitioners across environmental fields, explore diverse career opportunities, and build professional networks. The event centers BIPOC leadership and businesses in the sustainability sector, offering students resources, mentorship, and connections to support their academic and career development in environmental work.

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Reshaping representation: Midterm elections and emerging district map battles

Civics & Power Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free ✦ burnoff pick

Wed, Oct 28 ·5:30 pm ·Namaste Lounge ·Santa Cruz

A panel exploring redistricting, gerrymandering, and threats to electoral representation ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The discussion will cover the history of redistricting in the US, racial versus partisan gerrymandering, state independent redistricting commissions, California's Prop 50, recent changes to the Voting Rights Act, and Supreme Court actions affecting electoral fairness. Moderated by Melanie Springer (UC Santa Cruz), with panelists Sonal Shaw (The Texas Tribune), Elspeth Wilson (UC Santa Cruz), and Erik J. Engstrom (UC Davis). Part of the 2026-27 Resilient Democracy event series.

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A Discussion and Reading with Fady Joudah: Exhibit G: Poems, Essays, and Photographs of Gaza

Culture & HumanitiesCivics & Power Book TalkLecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Wed, Oct 28 ·6:00 pm ·Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz

Award-winning poet, translator, and physician Fady Joudah discusses and reads from Exhibit G: Poems, Essays, and Photographs of Gaza (2026), a finalist for the National Book Award. Writing from the perspective of a Palestinian American doctor witnessing Gaza's destruction from the United States, Joudah examines the paradoxes of his position—caring for the sick while complicit in their suffering, writing in English while defending a colonized people, finding beauty and survival amid devastation. The book explores how beauty persists through Palestinian resilience and the nonhuman world as refuge from human-inflicted war. Hosted by UC Santa Cruz's Center for the Middle East and North Africa with the Humanities Institute.

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Julie Orringer - Luna, Phoenix, Queen

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshop

Wed, Oct 28 ·7:00 pm ·Bookshop Santa Cruz ·Santa Cruz

Julie Orringer reads from and signs her new novel Luna, Phoenix, Queen, a multigenerational story spanning four decades and four thousand miles. The novel explores infidelity, artistic theft, and the power of storytelling through interwoven voices: a Midwestern couple—one a fiction writer, one a literature professor—whose marriage fractures as she secretly writes a novel and he steals and publishes it as his own after she develops early-onset Alzheimer's. Orringer, author of The Invisible Bridge and The Flight Portfolio (basis for Netflix's Transatlantic), teaches at NYU and Stanford.

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Research Pathways Fair

Science & Tech University / College Free

Wed, Oct 28 ·7:10 pm ·Cultural Center – Merrill College ·Santa Cruz

Meet 15+ research labs at UC Santa Cruz presenting posters and demos about undergraduate research opportunities. Labs will discuss their work and research experience across disciplines.

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The science of life in the neighborhood—and beyond

Science & Tech Lecture / Forum Free ✦ burnoff pick

Thu, Oct 29 ·7:00 pm ·UC Santa Cruz ·Santa Cruz

A presentation on astrobiology and the search for life beyond Earth by Natalie Batalha, professor and director of UC Santa Cruz's Santa Cruz Center for Astrobiology. Batalha explores how Earth's geological history offers clues about the origin and evolution of life, examines icy moons in our solar system that may harbor hidden oceans, and discusses the billions of planets orbiting distant stars. The talk covers how scientists are developing tools to search for signs of life on nearby worlds and connects fundamental questions about life's origins with the search for extraterrestrial life. The presentation will be followed by a live Q&A.

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CreativeMornings Santa Cruz

Culture & Humanities Lecture / ForumSalon Free

Fri, Oct 30 ·8:30 am ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz

A free monthly breakfast lecture series uniting Santa Cruz's creative community. Local innovators share creative insights while attendees connect over coffee and pastries. This month features Jeremy Stone, musician, producer, and founder of Sonivore listening lounge, who explores how art shapes community, identity, and place. Stone serves as a City Commissioner and trustee of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History and Kuumbwa Jazz Center. Open to anyone passionate about making something real.

via Santa Cruz MAH ↗ Event link ↗ Edit
ECE Special Seminar: “Bilevel Optimization for Agentic AI: From Theory to Retrieval-augmented Agentic Reinforcement Learning”

Science & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Fri, Oct 30 ·10:30 am ·Engineering 2 ·Santa Cruz

A technical seminar on bilevel optimization methods for training agentic AI systems that combine language models with retrieval, tool use, and memory management. Quan Xiao, PhD candidate in electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University, will present a first-order penalty formulation for joint optimization of LLM parameters and agentic-system design variables, with applications to retrieval-augmented reinforcement learning and multi-hop question-answering tasks.

via UC Santa Cruz ↗ Event link ↗ Edit
Asri, M. (BMEB) – Genome Inference in the Pangenome Era

Science & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Fri, Oct 30 ·1:00 pm ·Engineering 2 ·Santa Cruz

A dissertation defense on advancing pangenome references and genome inference methods. Asri presents Secphase, a tool for correcting read mappings in genome assembly; HMM-Flagger, a reference-free detector of structural misassemblies; and pangenome-aware approaches to variant calling. The work contributes to the Human Pangenome Reference Consortium's mission of representing human genetic diversity and mitigating reference bias in genomics research.

via UC Santa Cruz ↗ Event link ↗ Edit
Celebrating the Legacy of David Hoy

Culture & Humanities Conference / SymposiumUniversity / College Free

Fri, Oct 30 ·2:00 pm ·Virtual and In Person ·Santa Cruz

A conference celebrating the academic legacy of David Hoy, Professor of Philosophy at UC Santa Cruz. The program features panels on his scholarly contributions, mentorship, leadership as department chair, and intellectual influence, with speakers including Christoph Cox (New School), Colin Koopman (University of Oregon), Martin Jay (UC Berkeley), James Clifford and Donna Haraway (UCSC), David Chalmers (NYU), and many of Hoy's former students and colleagues across philosophy, history, and the humanities.

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Free Craft: Mask Making

Community & Practice Workshop / PracticeMuseum Free

Sat, Oct 31 ·10:00 am ·Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History ·Santa Cruz

Drop-in mask-making workshop at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. Decorate your own mask inspired by the museum's animal exhibits or create something supernatural for Halloween. All ages welcome.

via SC Natural History ↗ Event link ↗ Edit
Barnstorm Presents: The Flick (Sat. Oct. 31st, 2:00 pm) Oct 31–Dec 17

Culture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / College

Oct 31–Dec 17 Sat, Oct 31 ·2:00 pm ·UCSC Theater Arts Center Studio B100 ·Santa Cruz ·$0–$20

A staging of Annie Baker's *The Flick*, set in a failing movie theater in Central Massachusetts where three employees tend to the last remaining 35-mm film projector in the state. Their daily struggles and quiet heartbreaks explore themes of authenticity and human connection. Co-directed by Lina Valderrama and Felix Rae Whitehouse. Approximately three hours with a 15-minute intermission.

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Honoring the Dark Season: A Samhain Celebration with Casey Zabala

Community & Practice Workshop / Practice

Sun, Nov 1 ·6:00 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz ·$23.18

A Samhain ritual celebration honoring the thinning of the veil, the season of ancestors, and Earth's cycles. Intuitive witch and author Casey Zabala guides participants through meditative practices, shares energetic and traditional aspects of Samhain, and leads a spiralic ritual for integration and remembrance. All are welcomed—witches and witch-curious folks gather in non-dogmatic space for magical connection, honoring endings and the wisdom of the dark season.

via The 418 Project ↗ Event link ↗ Edit
Barnstorm Presents: The Flick (Sun. Nov. 1st 7:30 pm) Nov 1–Jan 10

Culture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / College

Nov 1–Jan 10 Sun, Nov 1 ·7:30 pm ·UCSC Theater Arts Center Studio B100 ·Santa Cruz ·$0–$20

A staging of Annie Baker's *The Flick*, set in a failing movie theater in Central Massachusetts where three employees tend the last remaining 35-mm film projector in the state. The play explores their daily struggles and quiet heartbreaks in the search for connection. Co-directed by Lina Valderrama and Felix Rae Whitehouse. Approximately 3 hours with a 15-minute intermission.

via UCSC Play & Design ↗ Event link ↗ Edit
CM Seminar: Dr. Jofish Kaye – “Understanding Humans and AI”

Science & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Mon, Nov 2 ·12:30 pm ·UC Santa Cruz ·Santa Cruz

Dr. Jofish Kaye, Director of Research for New Product Development at Inflection AI, discusses how people across cultures experience and trust AI systems. Drawing on surveys of chatbot users in the US, India, and South Africa, he explores varying engagement styles, the limits of AI as a synthetic respondent, and how models erase dissent. Kaye will conclude with approaches to building AI that works collaboratively with humans, recognizing possibilities in partnership over solo capability. Hosted by UC Santa Cruz Computational Media.

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AM Seminar: Data Analysis Workflow from Low-Code Tools to Generative and Agentic AI

Science & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Mon, Nov 2 ·4:00 pm ·Jack Baskin Engineering ·Santa Cruz

Learn how to accelerate data analysis using low-code tools, Generative AI, and Agentic AI workflows. Dr. Reza Fazel-Rezai, Senior Science and Education Application Engineer at MathWorks, will demonstrate how to import, explore, visualize, and model data with minimal coding, how Generative AI assists with code creation and troubleshooting, and how Agentic AI can plan analysis steps, execute code, validate results, and iteratively refine outcomes. Includes live demonstrations and practical examples. Hosted by Professor Pascale Garaud at UC Santa Cruz.

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AM Seminar: Sliced Optimal Transport: From Acceleration to Bayesian Modeling

Science & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Mon, Nov 2 ·4:00 pm ·Jack Baskin Engineering ·Santa Cruz

A seminar on sliced optimal transport (SOT) and its applications to statistical modeling and Bayesian inference. Dr. Khai Nguyen, Assistant Professor of Statistics and Data Science at Texas A&M University, will discuss computational methods for optimal transport—a framework for comparing and interpolating probability distributions—and present sliced-regularized OT as an efficient approximation technique. The second part covers new applications including distributional determinantal point processes for clustering, with examples in image processing and single-cell data analysis. Hosted by Professor Yunyi Shen.

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Education in the Age of AI: Faculty Panel and Workshop

Science & TechCivics & Power Lecture / ForumWorkshop / PracticeUniversity / College Free

Tue, Nov 3 ·10:00 am ·Colleges Nine and John R. Lewis College Multi-purpose Room ·Santa Cruz

A faculty panel and workshop exploring AI's role in education, moderated by Pranav Anand (Faculty Director, Humanities Institute; Professor of Linguistics). Panelists include Leilani Gilpin (Computer Science and Engineering), Zac Zimmer (Literature), Lauren Lyons (Philosophy), and Adam Smith (Computational Media). The discussion addresses how AI impacts critical thinking, learning outcomes, and entry-level careers; questions of ethics, equity, and institutional policy; and whether students should embrace, avoid, or selectively use AI. Following the panel, attendees will join small-group workshops to brainstorm institutional responses and pathways forward. The first in a proposed series on AI and education.

via UC Santa Cruz ↗ Event link ↗ Edit
Ecological Worldmaking: Field Notes from Speculative Science and More Than Human Aesthetics — Donna Haraway, Dimitris Papadopoulos, Maria Puig de la Bellacasa, Mark Nash, Karolina Karlic & Kriti Sharma

Culture & HumanitiesScience & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Wed, Nov 4 ·12:15 pm ·Humanities 1, Room 210 ·Santa Cruz

What more-than-human modes of knowing and world-making can guide ecological thought and practice in an era of ecological crisis? This panel brings together art, science, and environmental philosophy to explore field-based knowledge, speculative science, and critical aesthetics beyond human exceptionalism. Dimitris Papadopoulos (UC Santa Cruz, History of Consciousness) and María Puig de la Bellacasa (UC Santa Cruz, environmental humanities and science studies) lead the conversation, joined by philosopher and artist Mark Nash discussing Felix Guattari's ecosophy and art as singularization, alongside Donna Haraway, Karolina Karlic, and Kriti Sharma. Field Notes emphasizes place-based observation, relationality, and post-Anthropocene ecological thinking.

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Skate for Change: Norma Ibarra's Photography and Indigenous Skateboarding as Decolonial Praxis — Miguel Fernandez

Culture & HumanitiesCivics & Power Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Wed, Nov 4 ·1:30 pm ·Huerta Center Conference Room (Casa Latina) ·Santa Cruz

A discussion of photographer Norma Ibarra's work documenting Indigenous skateboarders and the decolonial potential of skateboarding as a challenge to settler-colonial property regimes. Ibarra's photographs from the Museum of Vancouver's 2021–22 exhibition *Skate for Change* capture self-fashioned Indigenous skaters, exploring how her collaborative practice reveals skateboarding's cultural resistance to imposed spatial discipline. The presentation examines tensions between skateboarding's liberatory practice and photography's settler-colonial legacy, articulating possibilities for decolonial praxis. Presented by Miguel Fernandez, Ph.D. student in History of Art/Visual Culture at UC Santa Cruz and 2025 Lionel Cantú Memorial Awardee.

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Priyanka Mattoo - How to Be Less Useful: The Joy of Inefficiency

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshop

Wed, Nov 4 ·7:00 pm ·Bookshop Santa Cruz ·Santa Cruz

Priyanka Mattoo, author of *Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones* and contributor to The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Vulture, reads from and signs her memoir *How to Be Less Useful: The Joy of Inefficiency*. Mattoo explores how American culture has become obsessed with optimization and efficiency, especially in work, parenting, and self-care, and investigates why pleasure gets pushed aside as we age. With humor and insight, she examines what we systematically cut out—solo travel, dessert, dancing, unhurried time with friends—and shows how to reclaim joy, authenticity, and ease. A reading and signing.

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Reckoning with Redress: the Legacy of Japanese American Incarceration

Civics & PowerCulture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Thu, Nov 5 ·6:00 pm ·Cultural Center at Merrill ·Santa Cruz

A public launch of Reckoning with Redress, a cinematic digital history project, alongside the 45th-anniversary Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture. Donald Tamaki, Senior Counsel at Minami Tamaki LLP and former pro bono counsel on the Korematsu coram nobis case, will deliver "A Debt Owed—Korematsu, Reparations, and the Ever-Recycling Racial Pathology of 1619." Tamaki helped overturn Fred Korematsu's 1944 conviction after uncovering suppressed government evidence proving the incarceration's false justification. He served on California's Reparations Task Force. The event marks the 45th anniversary of the 1981 Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians hearings that catalyzed major U.S. reparations efforts.

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Women Behind the Camera During the Silent Era — Dwight Cleveland

Culture & HumanitiesCivics & Power Lecture / Forum

Thu, Nov 5 ·7:30 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz ·$12.51

Film historian and collector Dwight Cleveland presents an illustrated lecture on women directors, writers, and producers of the silent era whose contributions to cinema have been largely overlooked. Drawing on his decades-long collection of film posters and lobby cards, Cleveland traces how women shaped early Hollywood's development and cultural landscape. He will discuss his extensive research into over 1,000 silent-era women filmmakers, with particular focus on figures like Anna May Wong and María Félix. Cleveland is the author of *Cinema on Paper: The Graphic Genius of Movie Posters* and has exhibited his collection at major institutions including the Library of Congress, the Academy Museum, and Poster House in New York. Limited copies of his book available for purchase and signing.

via The 418 Project ↗ Event link ↗ Edit
23rd Annual Graduate Research Symposium

Science & Tech Conference / SymposiumUniversity / College Free

Fri, Nov 6 ·1:00 pm ·Physical Sciences Building ·Santa Cruz

The 23rd Annual Graduate Research Symposium celebrates work across all academic divisions at UC Santa Cruz, featuring graduate student presentations in poster, talk, and mixed-media formats. The event showcases research from sciences, engineering, humanities, social sciences, and other fields, offering a window into current graduate scholarship and emerging work by early-career researchers.

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San Lorenzo River Walk Series: Where River Meets Ocean

Science & TechCommunity & Practice Workshop / PracticeMuseum Free

Sat, Nov 7 ·9:30 am ·Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History ·Santa Cruz

Discover the estuary where the San Lorenzo River meets Monterey Bay and learn why these habitats are vital for wildlife. Led by Suzy Clark of the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, this easy-to-moderate 2-mile guided walk combines natural history and ecology. Part of the San Lorenzo River Walk Series, featuring expert guides from the Monterey Bay Salmon & Trout Project, Coastal Watershed Council, and Santa Cruz Bird Club. Suitable for school-age children and adults.

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A Day of Ecosex at the MAH

Culture & HumanitiesCivics & Power Film + TalkConference / SymposiumMuseum Free

Sat, Nov 7 ·12:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz

A full-day film and dialogue event exploring the Ecosex Movement—a practice that reimagines Earth as lover rather than resource, blending environmental activism, art, and sensuality. Founders Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle present three documentary films spanning their work from Appalachian mountaintop removal protest (Goodbye Gauley Mountain, 2013) to California water politics (Water Makes Us Wet, 2017) to wildfire aftermath (Playing with Fire, 2025). Each screening includes a Q&A with the directors. The day also features an interactive Ecosex Bingo game, book signings for Assuming the Ecosexual Position, tabling, and community conversation. Doors open 11:30 AM; programming runs through 8 PM.

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New Exhibitions Opening at Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos

Culture & HumanitiesCivics & Power Lecture / ForumMuseum Free

Sat, Nov 7 ·2:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos ·Santa Cruz

Opening celebration for two Visualizing Abolition exhibitions at Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos: Visions From Within: Women of Resilience, featuring newly commissioned work by people incarcerated in California women's facilities, co-curated by Elizabeth Lozano and Anthony Alejandrez; and Elevar la Cultura, a 22-foot sculptural installation by artist Victor 'Marka27' Quiñonez exploring immigrant labor and creativity. The event includes panel discussions with currently and formerly incarcerated artists and organizers, remarks by Quiñonez, live entertainment, and food. Elevar la Cultura will remain on view through March 7, 2027.

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Marine Science Fest: Ms. Blue Returns!

Science & TechCommunity & Practice Conference / SymposiumWorkshop / Practice

Sun, Nov 8 ·11:00 am ·Seymour Marine Discovery Center ·Santa Cruz ·$15

A day-long celebration of marine science at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center featuring the return of Ms. Blue, a reconstructed Great Blue Whale skeleton. Attendees can ask marine scientists about whale biology, ocean ecosystems, and the Center's conservation research; create art at a community mural; explore a special exhibit on the whale's reconstruction; participate in music and movement activities; and enjoy coastal explorations and behind-the-scenes experiences. The festival includes food trucks, local makers, and live music throughout the day.

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Artist Panel Discussion: Silica / SiO2: Northern California Ceramics

Culture & Humanities Lecture / ForumMuseum Free

Sun, Nov 8 ·2:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz

A panel discussion with artists from the exhibition Silica / SiO2: Northern California Ceramics, moderated by ceramicists Carlos Dye and Iver Hennig. The artists discuss their work and practice in contemporary ceramics.

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The Big Whoop — Jim Turner, Mark Fite & Dave Gruber Allen

Culture & Humanities Film + TalkLecture / Forum

Sun, Nov 8 ·5:00 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz ·$12.51–$17.85

A screening of The Big Whoop, a dark indie comedy about three desperately out-of-work birthday party clowns who go on the run with an accidentally-stolen artifact, pursued by a ruthless thief and crossing paths with comedy legends including Sandra Oh and Penn Jillette. In the spirit of classic slapstick farces like The Pink Panther and The In-Laws. Director Lisa Satriano has 30 years of experience in studio features and premium television; cast members Jim Turner (HBO's ARLI$$, MTV's Randee of the Redwoods), Mark Fite, and Dave Gruber Allen will participate in a post-screening discussion with writer Steven Banks (SpongeBob SquarePants Emmy-nominated head writer).

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Imagining Revolution in the Non-Aligned World with Dr. Jessica Stites Mor

Civics & PowerCulture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Mon, Nov 9 ·2:30 pm ·Charles E. Merrill Lounge ·Santa Cruz

How did Cuban photojournalism of the 1960s–70s reshape decolonial struggle across the Global South? Dr. Jessica Stites Mor of the University of British Columbia explores how Cuban revolutionary imagery functioned as infrastructure for tricontinental solidarity, forging new anti-imperial vocabularies and mobilization strategies during the height of the Cold War. Part of the Sovereignty & Solidarity Fall Speaker Series, hosted by UC Santa Cruz's Huerta Center.

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AM Seminar: Enhanced Resolution Imaging in Strongly Scattering Media

Science & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Mon, Nov 9 ·4:00 pm ·Jack Baskin Engineering ·Santa Cruz

A talk on super-resolution imaging in strongly scattering media by Chrysoula Tsogka, Professor of Applied Mathematics at UC Merced. Tsogka discusses how multiple scattering, conventionally an obstacle to imaging, can paradoxically enable sharper refocusing than in homogeneous media. She presents methods to learn Green's functions directly from data using sparse dictionary learning, recovering resolution beyond standard limits. Recent extensions include new algorithms for random initialization, unstructured grids, and time-varying random media.

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November Slugs and Steins with Professor Kevin Volkan (Kresge ’81)

Science & TechCulture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Mon, Nov 9 ·6:30 pm ·UC Santa Cruz ·Santa Cruz

How do we understand AI beyond the simplistic frames of savior or monster? Professor Kevin Volkan explores AI as a symbolic and transitional medium that reflects longstanding human desires to summon and control powerful forces we don't fully understand. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory, he examines how AI inherits distinctly human patterns of reasoning, conflict, and distortion—and how people form attachments and transference relationships with machine systems. Volkan is a clinical psychologist and founder of California State University Channel Islands who teaches in psychoanalytic studies programs at Roma Tre University and Pacifica Graduate Institute; his forthcoming book is *Artificial Intelligence and Our Ghosts in the Machine*.

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Matt O'Hara - The Flying Death

Science & TechCulture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumBookshop

Mon, Nov 9 ·7:00 pm ·Bookshop Santa Cruz ·Santa Cruz

A reading and discussion of *The Flying Death*, historian Matt O'Hara's account of 1930s explorers racing to harvest curare from the Amazon—a poisonous vine used by Indigenous tribes that became foundational to modern medicine and surgery. The book traces Richard Gill's obsessive quest to broker deals between Indigenous poison masters and American pharmaceutical companies, his competition with rival Boris Krukoff, and the human cost of their success: curare became central to shock therapy and surgical innovation, eventually earning a Nobel Prize, yet the story raises urgent questions about who profits from discovery and who bears the price. O'Hara is a professor of history at UC Santa Cruz and author of *The History of the Future in Colonial Mexico* and *A Flock Divided*.

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Arash Davari – Iran is Not a Signifier: Reflections on Imperialism and Revolution in the 21st Century

Civics & PowerCulture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Tue, Nov 10 ·1:30 pm ·Namaste Lounge – College 9 ·Santa Cruz

Dr. Arash Davari examines representations of Iran through the lens of colonialism and imperialism, asking how Western encounters with Iran in the 19th and 20th centuries—when Iran remained semi-colonial but unconquered—illuminate contemporary geopolitical debates. Drawing on René Magritte's concept of the image versus reality, Davari diagnoses assumptions that obscure understanding of Iran's revolutionary history and current political strategies, particularly among those opposing US imperial ambitions in the Middle East. Co-hosted by CMENA and the Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center at UC Santa Cruz.

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Emeriti Faculty Lecture, Fall 2026

Science & TechCivics & Power Lecture / ForumUniversity / College

Tue, Nov 10 ·7:00 pm ·Music Center Recital Hall ·Santa Cruz

Intoxications and Their Meanings: A lecture exploring how the U.S. understands altered states across addiction, drug policy, and culture—from 19th-century temperance movements to today's overdose crisis and therapeutic uses of psychedelics and cannabis. Craig Reinarman, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at UCSC and author of *Cocaine Changes* and *Crack in America*, examines why we narrowly frame intoxication around addiction while ignoring its ubiquity in American society. Presented by the UC Santa Cruz Emeriti Association.

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Avia Tadmor & Keetje Kuipers - The Hive Live! Poetry Reading

Culture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumBookshop

Tue, Nov 10 ·7:00 pm ·Bookshop Santa Cruz ·Santa Cruz

An evening of poetry featuring Avia Tadmor, author of *Song in Tammuz* (Tupelo Press, 2026), winner of the International Berkshire Prize, and Clinical Associate Professor at NYU; and Keetje Kuipers, author of four poetry collections from BOA Editions and Editor-in-Chief of *Poetry Northwest*. Kuipers' *Lonely Women Make Good Lovers* won the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award, and her work has appeared in *The New York Times Magazine*, *POETRY*, and *American Poetry Review*. A rare shared reading from two acclaimed contemporary poets.

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Naturalist Night: State of Change — Laura Cunningham

Science & TechCulture & Humanities Lecture / ForumBook TalkMuseum Free ✦ burnoff pick

Thu, Nov 12 ·6:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History ·Santa Cruz

Join artist-naturalist Laura Cunningham for a reading and presentation on the reissue of her natural history masterpiece *A State of Change: California's Forgotten Landscape*. Cunningham, who studied paleontology and biology at UC Berkeley and has worked field biology jobs for the California Department of Fish and Game and USGS, presents illustrated scientific detail of California's precolonial ecology and historical biodiversity. This fully redesigned edition features new material on wolf reintroduction, regenerative agriculture, and traditional Indigenous uses of fire. A book signing follows. Hosted at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History.

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La Haine Film Screening + Discussion

Culture & HumanitiesCivics & Power Film + TalkLecture / Forum

Thu, Nov 12 ·7:30 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz ·$12.51

A screening of La Haine (1995), Mathieu Kassovitz's landmark film about three young men navigating racism, marginalization, and police violence in Paris's low-income banlieue districts. The screening is followed by a moderated panel discussion with The 418 Project board member Amber Wyld and special guests addressing the film's themes: racism and identity, economic hardship, alienation, and state violence against immigrant communities. The film explores the simmering resentment of France's Jewish, African, and Arab populations confronting systemic exclusion.

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James Spooner in Conversation with Johnny Damm on AFROPUNK, Anger, and Other Things

Culture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Fri, Nov 13 ·6:00 pm ·Institute of the Arts and Sciences ·Santa Cruz

A conversation with filmmaker and graphic novelist James Spooner about his graphic novel *It Starts with Anger: A Punk Beginning. An AFROPUNK Ending*, which traces the origin of the multi-million-dollar AFROPUNK festival from a mixed-race teenager's search for belonging in the nineties New York City punk scene. Moderated by cartoonist Johnny Damm. The event includes a book signing by Spooner, and local author and punk historian John Malkin will also sign his new book *Punk Spirit! – An Oral History of Punk Rock, Spirituality, and Liberation*, with Damm's latest comic *I'm a Cop: Real Life Horror Comics No. 3* available.

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Barnstorm Presents: meet me in the belly of the whale, by playwright Gillian O’Leary

Culture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / College

Fri, Nov 13 ·7:30 pm ·Theater Arts B100 Studio Theater ·Santa Cruz ·$20

A student-directed production of playwright Gillian O'Leary's original play about friendship, apocalypse, and the interior of a sperm whale's stomach. Directed by UCSC student Britney Johnson, the show features quick-witted dialogue and implausible storylines exploring the complexities of young adult relationships. Running approximately 60 minutes with no intermission. Contains loud noises, violence, adult language, and mature themes.

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Esalen Presents: "Human Futures: A.I. Through the Lens of Human Potential"

Science & TechCulture & Humanities Lecture / Forum

Sat, Nov 14 ·7:30 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz ·$17.85–$23.18

An illustrated lecture on how to evaluate artificial intelligence through the lens of human flourishing—considering authenticity, embodiment, agency, relationship, community, and responsibility. Sam Stern, Senior Content Creator at Esalen Institute and host of the podcast Voices of Esalen, draws from the human potential movement to examine AI's capacity for assistance and expression alongside its risks of extraction, dependency, and control.

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The Olive Tree: A Santa Cruz Poetry Open Mic

Culture & Humanities Lecture / Forum

Sun, Nov 15 ·2:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz ·$10

An open mic poetry event celebrating local poets of all ages and cultural backgrounds. The afternoon includes a free writing workshop (2:30 PM), open sign-ups (3:30 PM), and an open mic (4:00 PM) featuring four-minute performances, followed by a featured poet at 5:00 PM. Host and featured artist Chris "L7" Cuadrado, a cultural worker from Inglewood committed to amplifying the voices and struggles of colonized and oppressed communities, will provide vinyl house music throughout. Hosted by Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History.

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Daniel Duane - Yosemite Falls

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshop

Sun, Nov 15 ·4:00 pm ·Bookshop Santa Cruz ·Santa Cruz

A memoir of climbing, California, and the legacies of wilderness and preservation. Daniel Duane, author of six books including the surfing memoir Caught Inside and a three-decade contributor to The New York Times, discusses Yosemite Falls, his examination of his family's devotion to John Muir's vision of California's wilderness alongside the park's violent and complex history—including its erasure of Indigenous peoples like the Yahi, whose last member Ishi was taken by UC Berkeley as an object of study. Duane reckon with the true cost of his ecological heroes' legacies.

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Hometown Homeless — Documentary Screening + Panel Discussion

Civics & PowerCulture & Humanities Film + TalkLecture / Forum Free

Sun, Nov 15 ·6:00 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz

A screening of Hometown Homeless, a 20-minute documentary by Maleah Welsh following unhoused women in Santa Cruz's Potrero district as they build community, share poetry, and navigate criminalization. Welsh, a Santa Cruz-based filmmaker and social justice activist, explores themes of displacement, resilience, and belonging through careful composition and visual intimacy. Following the screening, Welsh will discuss the film with participants from the documentary. Co-presented with the Association of Faith Communities of Santa Cruz and The Coalition to End Homelessness.

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ECE 290 Seminar: “From Stochastic Planning to Safe and Resilient Autonomy: Learning and Control for Robotic Systems”

Science & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Mon, Nov 16 ·10:40 am ·Engineering 2 ·Santa Cruz

A research seminar on safe and resilient autonomous robotics, spanning stochastic planning, learning-based control, and real-time decision-making in uncertain environments. Francesco Trotti, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Bologna (currently UC Santa Cruz), will discuss model-based planning with Markov Decision Processes and Monte Carlo Tree Search, safe reinforcement learning using Control Barrier Functions, computational approaches to collision avoidance, and NEMORE, his fellowship project on energy-aware and morphologically adaptive aerial systems integrating hybrid control and wind-adaptive autonomy. The talk concludes with open questions at the intersection of hybrid systems, optimization, learning, and control for adaptive autonomous robots.

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Fall Slow Seminar: The Range of the River by Iftkhar Iqbal

Science & TechCulture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Mon, Nov 16 ·3:30 pm ·Humanities 1, Room 210 ·Santa Cruz

A Slow Seminar examining Iftekhar Iqbal's *The Range of the River*, which traces the interconnected histories of Asia's great river systems—the Brahmaputra, Mekong, and Yangtze—and their role in shaping transregional exchange, imperial power, and cultural encounters across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China. Facilitator Anna Tsing (UCSC Anthropology) will guide discussion with reflections from Sanjay Barbora (UCSC Sociology), David Biggs (UCR History), and Ben Read (UCSC Politics), each offering disciplinary perspectives on one river system before opening to collective conversation. Registered participants receive a PDF of the book.

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Statistics Seminar: Evolutionary Analysis of Biobank-Scale Data to Study Population History, Mutation Rates, Natural Selection, and the Genetics of Complex Traits

Science & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Mon, Nov 16 ·4:00 pm ·Jack Baskin Engineering ·Santa Cruz

Joshua Schraiber, Research Scientist at USC and Cornell University, presents evolutionary models for analyzing biobank-scale genetic data. He discusses methods to study recent human demographic history, mutation rates, and natural selection using hundreds of thousands of genotypes, and to understand the genetic architecture of complex traits. The talk addresses how ultra-rare mutations, recurrent mutation, and rare variants often violate standard assumptions in population genetics, and presents Bayesian approaches to extract fine-scale evolutionary insights from large datasets.

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AM Seminar: Heat Transport and Scalar Dissipation in Turbulent Flows: A Constructive Approach

Science & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Mon, Nov 16 ·4:00 pm ·Jack Baskin Engineering ·Santa Cruz

A talk on efficient heat and scalar transport in turbulent flows, with applications to data-center cooling. Anuj Kumar, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at UC Davis, presents a constructive approach using explicitly designed incompressible flows to reveal the physical mechanisms underlying enhanced transport and dissipation in turbulence. He will discuss optimal heat-transport scaling under power constraints, scalar turbulence and the Obukhov–Corrsin regularity threshold, and how eddy-diffusivity effects allow advection to mimic diffusion even without molecular diffusion.

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Displacements of Cubanidad: Drag, Pageantry, and Diasporic Representation -A Huerta Center Brown Bag presentation with Jennifer Gottlieb

Culture & HumanitiesCivics & Power Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Tue, Nov 17 ·12:00 pm ·Huerta Center Conference Room (Casa Latina) ·Santa Cruz

Jennifer Gottlieb, a Ph.D. candidate in Latin American and Latino Studies at UC Santa Cruz, examines how Cuban identity is performed and constrained through drag and beauty pageantry within globalized media systems. Rather than treating Cubanidad as stable, she explores it as a mobile, contested formation shaped by economic crisis, migration, racial inequality, and gendered labor. The talk traces how Cuban identity circulates, fractures, and is reconstituted through contemporary transnational performance cultures.

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Maywa Montenegro – Smart Glasses: Hands-free liberation or surveillance on your face?

Science & TechCivics & Power Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Wed, Nov 18 ·12:15 pm ·Humanities 1, Room 210 ·Santa Cruz

Smart glasses promise hands-free AI access but carry histories of surveillance rooted in racial capitalist computation. Maywa Montenegro, associate professor of Environmental Studies at UC Santa Cruz, examines four cases: Meta's luxury Ray-Bans for elites, Amazon's delivery glasses for working-class drivers, eyewear training Indian textile workers to replace robots, and smart glasses marketed to disabled populations. She traces this persistence to Charles Babbage's theories borrowed from plantation surveillance and control. Part of the Center for Cultural Studies' weekly Wednesday colloquium.

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Dav Pilkey - Dog Man: A Sprinkle in Time

Culture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumBookshop

Thu, Nov 19 ·6:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Warriors Arena ·Santa Cruz

A visual presentation and live drawing session with Dav Pilkey, bestselling author-illustrator of Dog Man, Captain Underpants, and Cat Kid Comic Club. The 30-minute program features Pilkey drawing on stage, trivia with prizes, a photo opportunity with the author, and exclusive activities including character meet-and-greets and giveaways. Attendees receive a pre-signed copy of Dog Man: A Sprinkle in Time and a limited-edition glow-in-the-dark backpack tag. Costumes encouraged.

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Morton Marcus Poetry Reading with Lee Herrick

Culture & Humanities Lecture / ForumBook Talk

Thu, Nov 19 ·6:00 pm ·Cultural Center at Merrill College ·Santa Cruz

The Seventeenth Annual Morton Marcus Poetry Reading features California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick, who was the first to be reappointed to a second term. Herrick, author of *In Praise of Late Wonder: New and Selected Poems* (2024) and co-editor of *The World I Leave You: Asian American Poets on Faith and Spirit*, discusses themes of adoption, faith, social justice, and environmental poetry. Poet Gary Young hosts, and the evening includes announcement of the Morton Marcus Poetry Prize winner ($1,000 award).

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Vigil in honor of Trans Day of Remembrance and Resistance

Civics & PowerCulture & Humanities Lecture / Forum Free

Fri, Nov 20 ·5:30 pm ·London Nelson Community Center ·Santa Cruz

An intergenerational vigil honoring trans, 2 Spirit, non-binary, and gender expansive lives lost in the past year, exploring memory, legacy, and shared LGBTQ+ lineage. The event features community-made fabric art installations and performances celebrating the strength and resilience of the trans community. Organized by UC Santa Cruz's Cantu Queer Center and The Diversity Center in collaboration with the London Nelson Community Center and Fabrica Santa Cruz. Prior craft meet-ups (October 2 and 22) invite community members to create panels for a Trans Memorial Quilt displayed at the vigil.

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Aleister Crowley on Peyote

Culture & Humanities Lecture / Forum

Fri, Nov 20 ·6:30 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz ·$17.85–$23.18

An illustrated lecture on Aleister Crowley's hidden history as both a scandalous bohemian and pioneering psychological experimenter who used altered states of consciousness decades before the 1960s counterculture. Art historian Dr. Michael J. Pearce explores Crowley's dual life through avant-garde Paris and London's secret rituals, examining his use of peyote and hashish for mystical experience, his literary persona inspired by W. Somerset Maugham, the Rite of Luna, and his celebrated five-year collaboration with artist Frieda Harris on the Thoth Tarot. Pearce, a figurative painter and scholar of psychedelic and visionary art, contextualizes Crowley's late-career pivot into painting and his influence on Western psychedelic culture.

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Beat Artists on Acid - Illustrated Lecture by Michael Pearce

Culture & HumanitiesScience & Tech Lecture / Forum

Sat, Nov 21 ·2:00 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz ·$17.85–$23.18

An illustrated lecture on the Beat artists of 1950s San Francisco who used peyote and psychedelics to challenge American conformity years before the 1960s counterculture explosion. Michael J. Pearce, Ph.D., art historian and painter, explores the underground network centered at 669 Oak Street in the Lower Haight—including assemblage artists of the Batman Gallery, Dave Haselwood's Auerhahn Press poets, and Alan Russo's radical psychedelic experiments. Pearce traces the philosophy and aesthetics of figures like Dion Wright, whose 12-foot Taxonomic Mandala became a centerpiece of California's psychedelic art movement. The talk covers police raids, institutional censorship, and the origins of West Coast visionary art.

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Statistics Seminar: Randomization Posteriors and Generalized Bayesian Inference

Science & Tech Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Mon, Nov 23 ·4:00 pm ·Jack Baskin Engineering ·Santa Cruz

Edric Tam, Warren Alpert Fellow in AI and Computational Biology at Stanford University, presents on randomization posteriors and generalized Bayesian inference. The talk introduces a class of Bayesian updates obtained by averaging over auxiliary randomization laws, with applications to robustness and statistical modeling. Tam will discuss power posteriors, bagged posteriors, and contamination posteriors, characterizing their theoretical properties and illustrating empirical performance through simulations and experiments.

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Rite Life – A Writing Group Amongst the Dead

Culture & HumanitiesCommunity & Practice Workshop / PracticeMuseum Free

Sun, Nov 29 ·1:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz

Rite Life is a creative workshop blending automatic writing with ancestor veneration, designed to confront difficult emotions and celebrate what sustains us. Facilitated by Gabe alongside local writers and practitioners, the workshop honors the vision of Honeysun, a poet and spiritual teacher who conceived it in 2016. Participants of all ages engage in guided writing practice in the cemetery setting, combining craft instruction with contemplative spiritual work.

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World Aids Day Event

Civics & PowerCulture & Humanities Film + TalkLecture / ForumMuseum Free

Tue, Dec 1 ·6:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz

A screening of the intergenerational documentary Never the Last Love Letter, which explores HIV/AIDS resistance and organizing in Santa Cruz during the 1980s–1990s within LGBTQ+ and harm reduction communities. Following the screening, a panel discussion with local organizers and activists addresses how to meet the current political moment and build community power. Hosted by The Diversity Center and the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History in honor of World AIDS Day.

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Kobenova, A. (CM) – Inclusive Joyful Learning: Designing and Evaluating Playful Immersive Systems for Neurodivergent Youth

Science & TechCivics & Power Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Wed, Dec 2 ·10:00 am ·UC Santa Cruz ·Santa Cruz

A dissertation defense on inclusive design for neurodivergent youth. Presenting researcher Aleksandrina Kobenova advances a philosophy of joyful learning grounded in the Affirmative Model of Disability and Flourishing HCI, resisting ableist therapeutic paradigms that prioritize "behavior deficits" over autonomy and well-being. The work introduces the Joyful Extended Reality (XR) framework—a set of inclusive design principles—evaluated across three immersive systems: a room-scale motion-capture mixed-reality environment for autistic children, a narrative VR space for emotional literacy and grief processing, and an immersive game for environmental problem-solving. Findings demonstrate how instructional structures can be decoupled from adult coercion and embedded into play-centered, self-directed exploration.

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Chanell Stone – A Record and Rendition of the Land

Culture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Wed, Dec 2 ·12:15 pm ·Humanities 1, Room 210 ·Santa Cruz

Artist Chanell Stone presents work examining the racialized body as a geographic site and embodied history. Working in self-portraiture, film, and poetry, Stone traces migration and cultural memory across the American South and metropolitan cities, unearthing histories of erasure and creating new articulations of female subjectivity through the intersection of lyricism and abstraction. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, and Aperture, with exhibitions at the San Diego Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Art, and SFMOMA. Hosted by the Center for Cultural Studies at UC Santa Cruz.

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Picture This: Belonging Builds Community

Civics & PowerCommunity & Practice SalonMuseum

Thu, Dec 3 ·6:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz

A quarterly storytelling and conversation series exploring belonging, connection, and community care in Santa Cruz County. Each event opens with a featured storyteller sharing a personal experience of belonging and what it means to feel seen, supported, and included. A local community partner then joins for a facilitated discussion on how belonging shows up in practice and how inclusive spaces are built. The evening concludes with small-group reflection and a shared invitation to take meaningful action toward a more connected community.

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Hedgehog in the Fog: The Short Films of legendary animator Yuri Norstein

Culture & Humanities Film + Talk

Fri, Dec 11 ·7:30 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz ·$12.51–$17.85

A screening of short films by legendary Russian animator Yuri Norstein, including his masterpiece *Hedgehog in the Fog* (1975) and *The Tale of Tales* (1979), alongside rarely-seen works spanning from his 1968 debut through experimental pieces. The program totals 101 minutes of lyrical, visually striking animation exploring themes of loss, revolution, folklore, and the human condition. All films in Russian with English subtitles. Presented by The 418 Project.

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Al Ridenour - The Krampus and the Old Dark Christmas

Culture & Humanities Lecture / ForumBook Talk

Sat, Dec 19 ·6:00 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz ·$28.52

An evening exploring the history and cultural significance of Krampus, the Alpine folkloric creature linked to centuries-old witchcraft beliefs and darker pre-Christian understandings of the Christmas season. Author Al Ridenour, who wrote the definitive English-language study *The Krampus and the Old Dark Christmas*, delivers an illustrated presentation revealing how Krampus traditions connect to the spirit world. The evening includes live traditional St. Nicholas songs performed by singer Christina Linhardt, a curated collection of European Krampus video shorts (DIY horror films, disco shows, metal music videos), a rare excerpt from the 1955 German film *Der Struwwelpeter*, costumed Krampus performers for photo opportunities, local artisan vendors, and a book signing.

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The Olive Tree: A Santa Cruz Poetry Open Mic

Culture & Humanities Lecture / ForumMuseum

Sun, Dec 20 ·2:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz ·$10

An open mic and poetry workshop celebrating local voices. The evening begins with a free writing workshop at 2:30 PM, followed by sign-ups and an open mic where performers share up to four minutes each, with a featured poet closing at 5:00 PM. Hosted by Chris 'L7' Cuadrado, a cultural worker and artist committed to amplifying the voices of colonized and oppressed communities through poetry, music, and radical thought. All Vinyl House Music throughout.

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Rite Life – A Writing Group Amongst the Dead

Community & Practice Workshop / PracticeMuseum Free

Sun, Dec 27 ·1:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz

A hands-on writing workshop blending automatic writing with ancestor veneration practices, designed to confront what haunts us and celebrate what sustains us. Facilitated by Gabe alongside local writers and craft practitioners, the workshop preserves the vision of Honeysun, a poet and spiritual teacher who founded it in 2016. All ages welcome.

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The Olive Tree: A Santa Cruz Poetry Open Mic

Culture & Humanities Lecture / Forum

Thu, Dec 31 ·4:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz ·$10

An open mic poetry event hosted by Gabriel Kittle-Cervine, inspired by previous Santa Cruz poetry series. The evening features a free workshop at 4:30pm, open sign-ups at 5:30pm, the main open mic from 6:00–7:00pm (4 minutes per performer), and a featured poet at 7:15pm. Named after the olive tree as a symbol of resilience and peace, the event welcomes poets of all ages and backgrounds to share work on a public stage. Vinyl House Music Artist provides music.

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My Cousin Vinny — Dale Launer

Culture & Humanities Film + TalkLecture / Forum

Sat, Jan 9 ·7:30 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz ·$12.51–$17.85

A screening of My Cousin Vinny (1992), the acclaimed courtroom comedy starring Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei, followed by an in-person conversation with screenwriter and producer Dale Launer. Launer's script is widely praised by legal experts as one of the most accurate and funny depictions of real courtroom procedure ever written. Launer, who also wrote Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Ruthless People, has traveled from Los Angeles to discuss the film's writing, characters, and enduring legacy.

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Meet & Greet + Workshop with Daniel Attaboy Seifert

Community & Practice Workshop / PracticeMuseum Free

Thu, Jan 14 ·5:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz

Join a creative paper plate sculpture workshop led by artist Daniel Attaboy Seifert at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. Participants will use paper plates, colored tapes, wire, staples, and scissors to create their own sculptural works. Materials provided.

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Steven Arnold: Heavenly Bodies

Culture & Humanities Film + Talk

Fri, Jan 15 ·7:30 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz ·$12.51–$17.85

A screening of the documentary Steven Arnold: Heavenly Bodies (2019, 80 min.), directed by Vishnu Dass, former head of the Steven Arnold Museum and Archives. The film traces the life and visionary work of Los Angeles-based multimedia artist and filmmaker Steven Arnold (1943–1994), a pioneer of underground cinema and queer aesthetics who created surreal, shamanistic tableaux and legendary midnight screenings in San Francisco. Narrated by Anjelica Huston and featuring archival footage and interviews with collaborators including artist Ed Moses, actress Ellen Burstyn, Warhol Superstar Holly Woodlawn, Beat poet ruth weiss, and former members of The Cockettes drag theatre troupe.

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Lilith Intensive Workshop + Presentation — Scarlett Amaris

Culture & Humanities Lecture / ForumWorkshop / Practice

Sat, Jan 16 ·7:30 pm ·The 418 Project ·Santa Cruz ·$24.34–$29.95

An intensive workshop, illustrated lecture, and guided visualization exploring the figure of Lilith across mythology, literature, and modern reclamation. Scarlett Amaris, screenwriter of *H.P. Lovecraft's Color Out of Space* and author on occult studies, traces Lilith from ancient night spirits and Jewish protective traditions through her appearance in Romantic poetry and nineteenth-century art—Goethe, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Collier—examining how female refusal, sexual autonomy, and power outside sanctioned structures became coded as danger. The workshop includes an interactive reflection on inherited agreements and suppression, followed by a twenty-minute guided visualization inviting participants to meet the exiled or ungovernable aspect of self. Participation is fully optional; no disclosure required.

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The Olive Tree: A Santa Cruz Poetry Open Mic

Culture & Humanities Lecture / Forum

Sun, Jan 17 ·2:00 pm ·Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ·Santa Cruz ·$10

A poetry open mic celebrating local voices across all ages and cultural backgrounds. The afternoon includes a free writing workshop (2:30 PM), open sign-ups (3:30 PM), and an open mic session (4:00 PM) hosted by Chris "L7" Cuadrado, a cultural worker and artist who draws from radical political traditions and liberation movements. A featured poet performs at 5:00 PM. Vinyl house music throughout. $10 suggested donation.

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Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation

Civics & PowerCulture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / College Free

Tue, Jan 26 ·6:00 pm ·Music Center Recital Hall ·Santa Cruz

The 43rd annual Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation honors Dr. King's legacy of freedom, equity, and human dignity. Hosted by UC Santa Cruz's Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the event features leaders and scholars who apply an equity lens across diverse, interdisciplinary fields, reflecting how civil rights advocacy intersects with every facet of daily life. Speaker to be announced.

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Teaching Symposium 2027

Culture & Humanities Conference / SymposiumUniversity / College Free

Wed, Feb 24 ·2:45 pm ·Cultural Center – Merrill College ·Santa Cruz

UC Santa Cruz's Teaching Symposium showcases innovative teaching practices, programs, and scholarly work from across the campus community. The event brings together faculty, instructors, and educators to share methodologies, discuss pedagogical challenges, and explore new approaches to learning and instruction.

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Join Us for the 24th Annual Practical Activism Conference Feb 27–27

Civics & Power Conference / Symposium Free

Feb 27–27 Sat, Feb 27 ·Colleges Nine and John R. Lewis College Multi-purpose Room ·Santa Cruz

The 24th annual Practical Activism Conference is a day-long student-designed gathering on social justice issues, featuring keynote speaker Melina Abdullah, alongside panels, workshops, and hands-on creative activities. The conference, coordinated by students from College Nine and John R. Lewis College with support from UC Santa Cruz's CoCurricular Programs Office, aims to generate dialogue, question assumptions, and build tools for local and global change.

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Advanced Tractor Skills Workshop Oct 23–24

Barnstorm Presents: The Flick (Sat. Oct. 31st, 2:00 pm) Oct 31–Dec 17

Barnstorm Presents: The Flick (Sun. Nov. 1st 7:30 pm) Nov 1–Jan 10

Join Us for the 24th Annual Practical Activism Conference Feb 27–27