Scholars in the interdisciplinary field of science and technology studies (STS) examine knowledge production, scientific practices, and therapeutics in social and cultural context. At UCSC, STS scholars analyze the symbolic dimensions and representational practices of global and community health; …
Bioethics
The field of bioethics developed in the 1960s as a response to a lack of accountability around the use of human and animal subjects in scientific research. Today, bioethics encompasses a broad range of perspectives. These range from contemporary public policy issues (such as the ethics of gene …
Women’s Health
Gender inequities in health prevail in most countries throughout the world, despite ongoing attempts to eliminate them. Across the globe, prospects for good health among women are limited by social norms, practices, and policies that are rooted in gender discrimination and bias. The 1985 United …
Immunology & Vaccines
Vaccines save lives and play a key role in contributing to global health. Through vaccination, humanity has largely eliminated diseases such as polio and has completely eradicated smallpox. The rapid development of vaccines to combat Covid-19 is helping the world to reopen following a year of …
Anthropocene
Adapted in a wide range of disciplinary contexts to describe an era in which humanity has profoundly transformed earth systems, the Anthropocene has also been used to come to terms with how the resulting changes to earth’s climate, ecologies and biologies are affecting global and local contexts for …
Health & Welfare Policies
Countries around the world create policies to promote healthy, well-educated, and well-nourished populations, but not all policies are created equal and UCSC researchers are interested in what makes them different and what their divergent outcomes are in terms of health and well-being. We know …
Racial Justice
Recent years have highlighted the perennial challenge of achieving racial justice in US society and more globally. Racial justice seeks to effect institutional change in providing equality of access, opportunities, and outcomes irrespective of phenotypical classifications and categories. These …
Migration & Health
Despite the fact that migrants tend to be healthier than is normal for both the countries that they leave and the countries to which they move, immigration is associated the world over with illness and health insecurity. Whether this is due to racist and xenophobic cultural discourses that blame …
Sustainable Food
The global food system is now facing the need to deliver a sustainable supply of nutritious food for more than 9 billion people by 2050 while minimizing environmental impacts, sustaining biodiversity and adapting to climate crisis. UCSC faculty are researching agroecological strategies and methods …
