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Society + Culture

fist punch to gavel in front of red curtain
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Illustration by Matt Perko
In “Fighting Mad,” UCSB professor Laury Oaks examines how infant surrender policies are being used to justify restrictions on reproductive choice—and the ongoing fight for reproductive justice in the post-Roe era.

What baby safe haven laws reveal about reproductive justice

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Silvia Rodriguez Vega and book cover with children's drawing

Children’s drawings illustrate the hurt imparted by policies of family separation 
Historian Kate McDonald
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Matt Perko
Historian Kate McDonald, August 2023

From rickshaw to railroad, a scholar navigates Japan’s history of transportation
Two opposing heads with winged and horned brain and tailed and haloed brain.
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kovalto1 via iStock
Moral reasoning creates distinct patterns of activity in the brain.

Moral reasoning displays characteristic patterns in the brain, with distinctions between moral categories
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Professor Kyle Meng will serve as a senior economist in Washington
computer image overlaid with law symbols
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iStock/anyaberkut

To close digital divide, lawmakers succeed when focused on education and transparency
Inez Beverly Prosser superimposed over a classroom
Inez Beverly Prosser is known as the first Black woman psychologist in the United States.

Groundbreaking work of four prominent Black psychologists featured for the first time in American Psychologist
Illustration of a person's soul leaving the body
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Lidiia Moor / iStock

Paranormal experiences, among other extraordinary feelings, provide tools for cross-cultural study
U.S. Supreme Court building
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iStock/Bill Chizek
The Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C.

Scholars reflect on Supreme Court ruling and higher education in the post-affirmative action era
A person holds a phone displaying an image of a diverse group of people.
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Nathana Rebouças, Unsplash
The ability to efficiently measure diversity in social media opens new possibilities for researchers, companies and consumers.

Computer vision and human annotations provide insights on inclusion in social media at scale
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UCSB historians Ya Zuo and Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky awarded Stanford humanities fellowships
Archeological remains from El Gigante
Photo Credit
Thomas Harper
Botanical remains from El Gigante.

Lessons in sustainability, evolution and human adaptation — courtesy of the Holocene
Juneteenth mural
Photo Credit
Juneteenth Legacy Project
"Absolute Equality" mural in Galveston, Texas, commemorating Juneteenth

Teaching Juneteenth: a history lesson in slavery and freedom
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