In his newly released documentary film, Umbria Jazz Feast, UC Davis Professor of Music, Pierpaolo Polzonetti, investigates the perceptions and identities of jazz as it intersects with the cuisine, art, and culture of locals and visitors in Perugia, a medieval town in central Italy. A musicologist specializing in music and food, Polzonetti focused on how the festival enabled a synesthetic experience; that is, one in which different senses are simultaneously engaged.
Chancellor May shares several examples of how UC Davis research partnerships serve the world, including those aided by Seed Grants for International Activities.
Professor Jiayi Young, a UC Davis design faculty member, uses data-driven art and international collaboration to explore how technology shapes society and culture. From France’s Useful Fictions to Taiwan’s AI for ALL, her projects—supported by Global Affairs grants—foster cross-disciplinary partnerships that connect art, science, and global education to reimagine technology’s role in our shared future.
UC Davis Professors Valeria La Saponara, Isaya Kisekka, Eliska Rejmankova, Zhaodan Kong, Sanjai Parikh, Yufang Jin and UC Merced Professor Erin Hestir, along with international collaborators, received a 2024-25 Seed Grant.
This year’s 13 Seed Grants for International Activities projects bring together more than 34 researchers across UC Davis and partner institutions worldwide, fostering collaborations to advance groundbreaking discovery.
In 2022, Carson Jeffres (UC Davis) with Dislene Torrente-Vilara (Universidade Federal de São Paulo) were selected for a UC Davis Global Affairs Seed Grant for International Activities to conduct a collaborative project with the Universidade Federal de São Paulo Instituto do Mar.
When Yayoi Takamura, professor and chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Davis, traveled to Santiago, Chile, last fall, she was amazed at how similar it was to the Sacramento area.
