COVID-19 Response

Social Science researchers have been taking on COVID-19 head on. From conducting surveys to developing tracking apps, here are just a few ways that UC Santa Cruz is planning to change the trajectory of this global pandemic.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Small Business Owners: Continued Losses and the Partial Rebound in May 2020

Social distancing restrictions and demand shifts from COVID-19 shuttered many small businesses and entrepreneurs in the first month of widespread shelter-in-place restrictions.

Contextualizing Coronavirus Geographically

This editorial introduces a special virtual issue aimed at providing online access to articles that can contribute to the work of coming to geographical terms with the COVID‐19 pandemic. It outlines seven sub‐themes of enquiry and analysis that appear especially useful for contextualizing coronavirus geographically.

CITRIS UCSC funds new pandemic-related research projects

The campus seed funding program is providing $40K grants for three new projects to address the challenges of COVID-19.

Royal Geographical Society publishes special COVID-19 issue

Matt Sparke, co-organizer of Global and Community Health program, highlights scholarship that contextualizes the pandemic and provides free access to a wide range of previously published geography articles that provide perspective.

Protecting vulnerable children and families during the pandemic

Developmental psychologist Margarita Azmitia contributes to “rapid response” policy brief effort to track the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on low-income families, children, and people of color. 

Peru: Coronavirus spreads despite strict and early measures

Economist Kristian Lopez Vargas was featured in CNN’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in Peru.

Number of working black business owners falls 40 percent, far more than other groups amid coronavirus

The Washington Post reported new findings by economist Rob Fairlie about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on black-owned businesses. 

Quarantine Could Change How Americans Think of Incarceration

Psychology Professor Craig Haney was featured in an article in The Atlantic about how sheltering in place might change attitudes about incarceration.

On-Demand and on-the-edge: Ride-hailing and Delivery Workers in San Francisco

Chris Benner, professor of environmental studies and sociology, conducts a new survey of app-based ride-hailing and food and grocery-delivery workers in San Francisco. The research underscores the financial vulnerability of workers in the gig economy—and how the coronavirus has made their plight much worse. 

Discrimination, governance, and trust in the age of COVID-19

Jenny Reardon, the director of the Science and Justice Research Center at UC Santa Cruz and a leading scholar of genomics and medical ethics, said the pandemic has been “decades in the making,” rooted in profound ecological disturbance and climate change, as well as the gutting of public health infrastructure and—public governance itself—amidst the ravages of “hyper-capitalism.”

Coronavirus job losses stack up, and California gig workers’ claims may come next

Sociology professor Chris Benner released preliminary results of an online survey of gig workers displaced by the pandemic, and the findings were covered by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Economist helps build “contact tracing” app for Peru

Kristian López Vargas, professor of economics, worked around the clock with academics, the government, and technology companies to develop the phone-based app to improve “contact tracing” to protect people from COVID-19. 

Economist Nirvikar Singh joins panel of experts

Professor of economics Nirvikar Singh has joined a panel of experts convened by the government of Punjab to oversee the revival of the state in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The group will draft a plan that will cover short- and medium-term action plans, including a fiscal management strategy and other policy measures designed to revive the state in the aftermath of the crisis.

Home vegetable gardens surge in light of the pandemic

Orin Martin, manager of the Alan Chadwick Garden at UCSC, is delighted that people are responding to the coronavirus pandemic with a desire to grow their own veggies, and he has lots of knowledge to share—as well as one plea: Be sure to plant some flowers, too.

In China’s War on the Coronavirus, a Community Is Besieged

Politics Professor Ben Read was quoted in a New York Times story about a suburb of Wuhan, China, that has been besieged by the coronavirus.

How Political Science Explains Countries’ Reactions to COVID-19

Sara Niedzwiecki, assistant professor of politics, coauthored an analysis for Americas Quarterly of how Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Let’s hail the heroes of higher ed’s pandemic-inspired shift into the modern age

Jody Greene, director of the Center for Innovations in Teaching and Learning, penned a commentary for EdSource about the behind-the-scenes teams of employees that are making the delivery of remote education possible.

Cómo detener al COVID-19, por Kristian López Vargas y Miguel Núñez del Prado

Kristian López Vargas, assistant professor of economics, penned a Spanish-language opinion piece for El Comercio, the main newspaper in Peru, about how to use mobile technology to improve containment of the coronavirus.

Who Should You Let Into Your Coronavirus Quarantine Orbit?

The Wall Street Journal interviewed Rebecca London, assistant professor of sociology, for a story about how families are figuring out how to stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus Makes Juvenile Jails Look Like Adult Prisons

Psychology Professor Craig Haney was quoted in a Ms. magazine article about the conditions facing incarcerated juveniles around the country since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Fear sent her Chinatown restaurant spiraling. The challenges to reopening feel ‘just impossible.’

Research by economist Robert Fairlie was cited in a Washington Post article about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Asian-owned businesses.

Gig workers in San Francisco are mostly people of color and many are immigrants, according to survey

Among the outlets covering the results of a unique survey of gig workers that was led by Chris Benner of Sociology are Tech Crunch, Vice, Science Daily, EurasiaReview, Eater SF, CFI.co, and Broke-Ass Stuart.

Outbreak inquiry

Faculty have developed two undergraduate classes that are focusing on the effects and experiences of the coronavirus pandemic, even while the pandemic is under way. Titled Coronavirus and Community and Living and Learning in a Pandemicene, the courses are being taught, respectively, by Assistant Professor of Sociology Rebecca London and Professor of Sociology Jenny Reardon. 

Peruvians cry out for oxygen as coronavirus takes its toll

Economist Kristian Lopez Vargas was quoted on CNN in a story about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Peru. 

The black-white economic divide is as wide as it was in 1968

Research by Economics Professor Rob Fairlie was featured in a Washington Post story about the wealth gap between black and white Americans, which is as wide today as it was in 1968.

Scaling Economic Solidarity: The Pandemic, Nonprofits, and Power

Chris Benner, professor of environmental studies and sociology, explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how a disease can reveal an underlying sickness—and in America, that means our failure to provide universal health care, our marginalization of immigrants and others, and our devaluation of the caring work that makes lives possible.

New program advances global and community health

As countries across the globe fight the coronavirus pandemic, UC Santa Cruz is creating a new program that will prepare students and provide research to solve current and future global health problems.

CITRIS Seed Funding program invites proposals for pandemic and disaster preparedness projects

CITRIS is inviting UCSC researchers to apply for research support through its Campus Seed Funding program. For 2020, the program will fund projects focused on providing solutions to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and disaster preparedness.

How to #keepteaching and #keeplearning during a pandemic

Jody Greene, director of the Center for Innovations in Teaching and Learning, is eager—almost desperate—to help her colleagues who are facing the unprecedented challenge of shifting to remote instruction. Greene is on the front lines, hearing the fears and frustrations of faculty and teaching staff who feel overwhelmed by the prospect of redesigning their courses.

What Happens When More Than 300,000 Prisoners Are Locked Down?

Psychology Professor Craig Haney was quoted in an article by The Marshall Project about the impact of the COVID lockdown on prisoners across the country.

Delivery and ridehailing workers lack critical protections from coronavirus

Preliminary data provides a disturbing snapshot of what app-based delivery and ridehailing workers are confronting with COVID-19, and demonstrates the urgent need for the city and platform companies to take more immediate actions to protect this vulnerable workforce.

The Pandemic Is Not a Natural Disaster

Anthropology Professor Anna Tsing was quoted in an article in The New Yorker about the environmental backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

Actually, paid sick leave might not be too expensive for restaurant owners

Politics Professor Matt Sparke was quoted in an article in The Counter about paid sick leave in the restaurant industry.

How (Not) to Evaluate Teaching During a Pandemic

Jody Greene, director of the Center for Innovations in Teaching and Learning, offers her ideas on how academia might rethink and remake its practices of “evaluating teaching effectiveness” during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the years ahead.

Solidarity Economics—for the Coronavirus Crisis and Beyond

Sociology professor Chris Benner, director of the Institute for Social Transformation, coauthored an opinion piece for American Prospect about “solidarity economics,” or the refashioning of our economy and society to protect the common good, which he describes as “the right thing to do for both public and economic health.”

Contagion, lies, and crises

Professor of economics Nirvikar Singh penned an opinion piece for Financial Express about the economic impacts of the coronavirus crisis, and how they compare to the financial crisis of 2008.

Coronavirus NJ: Ex-prisoners can teach us about isolation; ‘You’ve got to remain positive’

Distinguished Professor of Psychology Craig Haney was quoted in an Ashbury Park Press article about what we can learn about the challenges of social distancing from inmates who have experienced solitary confinement.

These Are the Impacts of Trump’s Coronavirus Fumbles—and How to Protect Yourself

Sociology Professor Jenny Reardon was one of many experts quoted in an article by Vice News about the Trump administration’s failures as it attempts to address the coronavirus crisis.