10 Coolest Courses at UC Merced – OneClass Blog

The

University of California – Merced

is one of the newest of the University of California campuses. Aside from its highly advanced technology and modern design, UC Merced offers a handful of unique and fun courses that are gaining popularity with students. Here are ten of those:

This course is an examination of the main classical and modern explanations of the causes of social, economic and political inequality. The course covers issues including power; processes that create and maintain inequality, the central axes of inequality in society (race, class, and gender); consequences of inequality for individuals and groups, and how policy can mitigate or exacerbate inequality.

Students in class listening to professor

POLI 001 will give students a general insight into the political institutions and political behavior in the United States. Specific topics include the U.S. Constitution, Congress, the presidency, the federal judiciary, political parties, interest groups, mass public opinion, elections, and voting behavior.

America's political parties.

PSY 145 surveys the existing knowledge of human sexual behavior. It involves the physiological, anatomical, psychological, and cultural components, as well as the normative sexual functioning. Students will also tackle interesting topics such as sexual deviation, sexual dysfunctions, and types of treatment.

A look at human sexuality represented by male and female symbols

If you want a comprehensive psychological study of vision, this is the course to take. It includes color vision, motion, object recognition, depth perception, visual attention, oculomotor behavior, and visual consciousness. The course also covers the neurophysiology and development of the visual system, evolutionary and biological variations of vision, psychophysical methods, as well as vision.

There’s always more to life than the eye can see.

This course will introduce students to digital heritage methods and techniques for the study of past and present cultures. It gives focus on 3D modeling, basic remote sensing, and visualization techniques to study and visualize cultural phenomena, heritage sites, and landscapes.

Basic domains of virtual heritage.

QSB 218 addresses different global change processes like climate change, habitat fragmentation, ozone pollution, etc., and their impacts on organisms, interactions, and feedbacks between various global change factors and biological processes. Students are also given a chance to write a review article on a topic of their choice.

Climate Change Biology.

Mechatronics is the introduction to electro-mechanical systems controlled by microcontroller technology. The course covers the theory, design and construction of smart systems; closely coupled and fully integrated products and systems; the synergistic integration of sensors, interfaces, actuators, microcontrollers, control, and information technology.

Mechatronics venn diagram

Learn about the human effects on Earth’s ecosystems, air, and waters. Students will also have an insight into the social and technological solutions to interacting pressures from environmental pollution, biodiversity loss, water pollution, climate warming, and feeding Earth’s population.

Example of an environmental crisis facing humans today.

This will provide students with a foundation for UC-Merced’s general education program with a strong emphasis on writing, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and understanding events in their historical and cultural contexts. CORE 001 is designed to introduce students to UC-Merced’s faculty, our research, and the academic fields in which they work.

Faculty and staff of UC-Merced receving certificate

Astrobiology refers to the study of the origin and evolution of life in the cosmos. Questions such as what is life, how did it form, and where is it will be answered. It is an integrative, multidisciplinary field that includes areas of astronomy, biology, (bio)chemistry, geology, and physics.

an image of the stars and constellations