Giving Opportunities in Humanities at UC Santa Cruz
Supporting the Humanities
What does it mean to be human, to analyze and construct the human experience? These are the fundamental questions that guide and unite the learning, teaching and scholarship conducted in UC Santa Cruz’s Humanities Division. The exploration and discussion of this query has culminated in some of humanity’s most deeply and widely valued beliefs and teachings about the world in which we live. At UCSC, we recognize the humanities as the bedrock of a liberal arts education, where students develop their capacity for the reading, writing and reasoning that prepares them for understanding, analyzing and constructing the human experience.
The Humanities Division plays a critical role in upholding the university’s core standards of excellence in undergraduate education. Through focused discussions and intensive writing, our faculty engages students directly in the process of critical thinking, challenging students to examine fundamental assumptions and systems of thought. The humanities play a crucial role in UCSC’s mission to inspire and educate students for both personal and professional success.
Graduates of the Humanities at UCSC pursue lives and careers in banking, business, diplomacy, education, entertainment, healthcare, law, medicine, public policy, public service and social entrepreneurship. Research and scholarship conducted by Humanities trained graduates and faculty inform the policies, products and plans of governments, institutions, corporations and communities around the world.
The extraordinary accomplishments of our alumni reflect the broadly applicable values that a strong understanding of the humanities imparts. They are college presidents and cultural critics. They include military historian and National Humanities Medal winner Victor Davis Hanson, two-time Polk-award winning writer Lawrence Weschler, genre mega-novelist Jayne Ann Krentz, acclaimed American West historian Richard White, and winners of the MacArthur “Genius” Award and Marshall Scholarships.
If you'd like more information on how to champion the pathbreaking work being done at UCSC's Humanities Division, please contact:
Cari Napoles, Senior Director of Development: (831) 459-4713
