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Blum Center Housing Survey Blurb

Active Research · Spring 2026

How is housing affecting your time at UCSB?

The Blum Center is conducting a research study on how housing costs shape undergraduate students' basic needs, academic outcomes, and wellbeing. Your responses will directly inform policy recommendations to UCSB leadership.

~20 minutes
$20 digital gift card
Completely confidential
Open to UCSB undergrads 18+

Take the survey

North American Society for Sport History's Best Anthology Award for 2026.

Blum Center Award Blurb

Book Award · 2026

Rings of Dissent: Boxing and Performances of Rebellion

The Blum Center is proud to celebrate Director Gaye Theresa Johnson, whose co-edited anthology Rings of Dissent: Boxing and Performances of Rebellion (University of Illinois Press) has received the North American Society for Sport History's Best Anthology Award for 2026.

The collection examines the boxing ring as a site for understanding race, citizenship, gender, power, and dissent, with essays and interviews that illuminate the cultural politics of marginalized boxers and reveal the structures of power shaping Black, Brown, and queer bodies in sport. This recognition reflects Gaye's sustained commitment to scholarship that centers communities whose experiences have too often been excluded from dominant narratives, and we are honored to have her leadership at the heart of our work.

2026 Cooperative Economics Symposium

Join the Blum Center on Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy for the Cooperative Economics Symposium. We are proud to feature four UCSB faculty and graduate awardees who will share research on Pacific gray whale ecotourism and conservation, cooperation and commerce in South Asian Chicago, farmworker organizing and cooperative farming, and worker-led models of socio-economic cooperation.

Date: Tuesday, May 26th Time: 1:00-2:30PM

Location: SSMS 3145

2026 Central Coast Regional Equity Symposium

Join the Blum Center on Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy for the Central Coast Research Engagement Initiative Symposium. We are proud to feature eight UCSB faculty and graduate awardees who will share community-engaged research on digital equity, mobile broadband access, oil and gas transition, child labor and schooling, commercial satellite impacts, Latina/o oral history, regional labor markets, and culturally grounded family resilience programs.

Date: Tuesday, May 19th Time: 1:00-4:00PM

Location: SSMS 3415

Get Funded, Stay Grounded: Research That Centers Community

Join us for a Community Engagement Workshop on Thursday, March 5th from 3:45–5:00 PM in Girvetz 2320. This session offers a practical and strategic introduction to grant-seeking, development, and management for researchers engaged in community-engaged research. Designed for faculty, graduate students, and research administrators, the workshop covers the full lifecycle of externally funded projects — from identifying funding opportunities and developing competitive proposals to managing grants and sustaining long-term community partnerships. Led by Gaye Theresa Johnson (Director, Blum Center, UCSB Black Studies) and Melissa Bator (Associate Director, Strategic Research Initiatives, UCSB Office of Research), the session draws on real-world examples and interactive discussions to help participants build durable research infrastructures and translate scholarly work into meaningful social impact.

See flyer for additional details.