Between 2017 and 2025, the Henry Luce Foundation awarded $1,130,000* to UC Merced to enhance its humanities graduate education program, with a focus on community-engaged research that addresses regional needs in the San Joaquin Valley. Through hands-on summer projects as well as workshops, trainings, and networking opportunities, graduate students gained skills for both academic and alternative careers. Partnership resources and graduate curricula have been developed for long-term sustainability. Ultimately, these projects have led to lasting relationships between UC Merced faculty, graduate students, and local communities.
Summer Project Outcomes
Additional Project Outcomes
1) Summer Institute for Community-Engaged Scholarship
- Summer Institute for Community-Engaged Scholarship 2024
- Summer Institute for Community-Engaged Scholarship 2023
- Summer Institute for Community-Engaged Scholarship 2022
- Summer Institute for Community-Engaged Scholarship 2021
2) Academic Year Workshops & Trainings
AY 2024 - 2025
- Making Community-Engaged Research Count
- Creating Research Space: Tips for Collaborative Writing
- National Endowment for the Humanities Funder’s Forum
- Building and Sustaining Relationships in Community-Engaged Research
AY 2023 - 2024
- Collaborative Writing for Community-Engaged Research
- Beginning Your Community-Engaged Research Project with the End in Mind
- Resources for Community-Engaged Research
- Being Resourceful with Community-Engaged Research
- National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Funders Roundtable
(workshops from prior years can be found here)
3) Networking Events
AY 2024 – 2025
- Research Week: Reception for Community Engaged-Research
- Strongest Together - Community Networking
- Strongest Together: Community Voices in Research
(networking events from prior years can be found here)
4) Publications (beyond the summer projects)
- Ojeda, Martin. “Tsia Xiong's Advice for Sustaining Community Relationships.” Center for the Humanities Blog, Sept. 15, 2025.
- Ojeda, Martin. “Tips on Making Community Engagement Count." Center for the Humanities Blog, Sept. 8, 2025.
- Ojeda, Martin. “Tips for Effective Collaborative Writing.” Center for the Humanities Blog, Sept. 1, 2025.
- Ojeda, Martin. “Merced Speaks: Exploring Language, Culture, and Community Through Signage.” Center for the Humanities Blog, Aug. 25, 2025.
- Lux, Christina. “A Roadmap for Public Humanities Mentorship.” Public Humanities Resources, Modern Language Association Public Humanities Incubator, 2022.
- Noorani, Shiraz. “Summer Institute for Community Engaged Scholarship.” Center for the Humanities at UC Merced, June 13, 2022.
5) Presentations (beyond the summer projects)
- DeLugan, Robin and Christina Lux, “Intersections and Divergences Between Public Humanities and Community-Engaged Research." Public Humanities Boot Camp, University of California, Merced, April 4, 2025.
- DeLugan, Robin, Christina Lux, Miriam Campos Martinez, and Samantha Almeida. "Why Do We Need Community in Our Research?" University Friends Circle, Elks Lodge, Merced, Feb. 4, 2025.
- Ohanlelham, Mariam. “Unity, Love, Faith: Iranian-Assyrians Rebuilding Community through Spiritual Community in California's Central Valley.” First Biennial Virtual Graduate Students Conference, The Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (ASPS), Princeton University, Oct.23, 2024.
- Lux, Christina. “Adapting Research Support During COVID-19,” Librarians Association of the University of California-Merced, July 21, 2021.
6) In the News
- Murray, Jody. "Film Documents the Struggle of Growing Old Behind Bars." UC Merced Newsroom, April 14, 2025.
- Ortiz, Brenda. "Major Gift to Reimagine Humanities Research, Community-engaged Projects." UC Merced Newsroom, June 6, 2024.
- Davis, Sophia. “Public Invited to Environmental Humanities Play that Examines Vital Ecological Issues” UC Merced Newsroom, Dec. 5, 2023.
- Hardy, Andy. “UC Merced To Host Original Student Play.” Merced County Times, Dec. 1, 2023.
- Anderson, Lorena. “Research Week Highlights Solutions to Urgent Environmental Issues.” UC Merced News Room, March 2, 2023.
- Arakelian, Elizabeth. "Scholarship and Community Partnerships Continue with Renewed Luce Foundation Grant." UC Merced Newsroom, Sept. 22, 2020.
- "Luce Research Project: 4-Dimensional Map of Merced." UC Merced Newsroom.
- "Luce Research Project: Baskets to Bytes." UC Merced Newsroom.
- "Grad Students Drive Public Understanding Through Research." Merced County Times, Aug. 19, 2019.
- Anderson, Lorena. "UC Merced Humanities Project Launching Community Collaborative for Graduate Training and Research." Sierra Sun Times, July 12, 2018.
7) Luce Graduate Fellow Alumni Job Placements
|
Name |
Title | Institution |
|
Adam Fleenor |
Instructor |
CSU, Stanislaus |
|
Ahmed Correa |
Lecturer in Cultural Anthropology |
CSU, Sacramento |
|
Anaïs Guillem |
Engineer |
n-Dame_Heritage ERC project (2022-2027) |
|
Camille Paladino |
Service Coordinator (Mental Health Case Manager) |
Crestwood Behavioral Health, Inc. |
|
Destina Bermejo |
Admissions Counselor |
Clear Field Job Corps Center |
|
Ekta Kandhway |
Spanish Adjunct Faculty |
Chaffey College |
|
Graham Goodwin |
Staff Archaeologist |
Widseth |
|
Iván González-Soto |
Assistant Professor of Latinx History |
Washington State University |
|
Jamie Moore |
Professional Development Coordinator |
The Puente Project |
|
Joshua Semerjian |
Dispatcher |
Luzerne County Transportation Authority (LCTA) |
|
Katherine Shurik |
Lecturer in Anthropology |
CSU, Fresno |
|
Lorraine Ramos |
Teacher & Mentor |
Fusion Education Group |
|
Manuel Dueñas |
Lecturer in Anthropology & Heritage Studies |
UC Merced |
|
Rocco Bowman |
Business Intelligence Developer |
Gov Solutions Group |
|
Shiloh Green Soto |
Assistant Professor of History |
Washington State University |
*The institutional Luce grants that were part of this overall Luce Initiative at UC Merced include the following:
“Planning Grant - Building Research Partnerships in the San Joaquin Valley: Community Engaged Research and Graduate Mentorship in the Interdisciplinary Humanities,” $50,000, Jill Robbins (PI), Marjorie Zatz (co-PI), Robin DeLugan (co-PI), Nicola Lecari (co-PI), and Arturo Arias (co-PI), 2017
“Building Research Partnerships in the San Joaquin Valley: Community-Engaged Research and Graduate Mentorship in the Interdisciplinary Humanities,” $280,000, Jill Robbins (PI), Marjorie Zatz (co-PI), Nicola Lercari (co-PI), Robin DeLugan (co-PI), and Mario Sifuentez (co-PI), 2018–2020
“Supplement: Building Research Partnerships in the San Joaquin Valley - Community-Engaged Research and Graduate Mentorship in the Interdisciplinary Humanities,” $50,000, Marjorie Zatz (PI), Mario Sifuentez (co-PI), Nicola Lercari (co-PI), Robin DeLugan (co-PI) 2019-2020
“Developing Resilient and Integrative Humanities Research with San Joaquin Valley Communities,” $350,000, Anne Zanzucchi (PI), 2020–2022
“Stronger Together, Community-Engaged Research in the San Joaquin Valley,” $400,000, Anne Zanzucchi (PI) & Robin DeLugan (co-PI), 2023–2025
