Students Share the Spirit of Creativity at CCS RACA-CON 2025
Ninth annual conference sees record number of participants
“This is a place dedicated to the idea that we don’t hoard our ideas. We share them. And this is the spirit of RACA-CON.”
—Timothy Sherwood, Dean of the College of Creative Studies
On Saturday, November 8, the College of Creative Studies (CCS) hosted the ninth annual CCS Research and Creative Activities Conference (RACA-CON), featuring a record number of student participants during UC Santa Barbara’s 2025 Parents & Family Weekend. Students across all nine CCS majors came together for a day of interdisciplinary engagement, presenting 61 talks and 84 posters on topics ranging from the physics behind cake textures to a documentary about the coyotes of the Goleta coast.
Dean Timothy Sherwood opened the conference with a message of celebration and collaboration to a full house of students, faculty, staff, alumni, family, and friends. He highlighted the joy of creating alongside peers and the importance of sharing ideas with authenticity and curiosity. “Every single person in here has something to teach me, and I am always eager to listen,” Sherwood said. “I know that spirit will fill us here today.”
That sentiment echoed the experience of many student presenters. “I am taken aback every year that I attend RACA-CON,” said Lakshmi Garcia ’26 (Writing & Literature). “Seeing my peers from a wide range of disciplines present on the fascinating aspects of the world not only moves me, but also allows me to envision a future that holds so much potential. Collectively, we form a kaleidoscope of knowledge—each project shifting the pattern of what we know and what we imagine is possible.”
Reflecting on the road to RACA-CON, Sherwood expressed appreciation to CCS Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) founding faculty member, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Donald H. Aue, noting, “We have supported over 700 students through the years. It’s through the support of the community that this has been possible.” More than 30 of this year’s presenters received a CCS SURF fellowship, which supports students to pursue original research, creative projects, and entrepreneurial endeavors under close faculty mentorship.
Following the welcome address, talks were held across four lecture halls in the Interactive Learning Pavilion (ILP). Each space included presentations from a variety of disciplines to encourage interdisciplinary learning and connection. The afternoon concluded with refreshments and two poster sessions in the ILP courtyard as the sun set over campus. In addition, for the second year, the poster session also featured a pop-up “poem store,” creating personalized poems for attendees, hosted by CCS’s student-run literary journal, Spectrum.
About RACA-CON
RACA-CON debuted during the College’s 50th Anniversary celebration under former CCS Interim Dean Kathleen “Kathy” Foltz as a way to highlight the exceptional student work conducted by CCS students across all majors for the CCS and UCSB community. Since its launch, RACA-CON has become a signature CCS event and an embodiment of the College’s creative spirit. The conference aims to meet students where they are, emphasizing professional development and participation. As Sherwood emphasized, sharing even “imperfect knowledge” invites curiosity, collaboration, and cultivates intellectual growth. “Sharing is how this work becomes alive. It is the true birth of those ideas into the world.” Sherwood said.
Students at the Center
This year’s record participation reflected not only the scale of student involvement but also the depth of creativity thriving across CCS.
Tomas Spencer’s ‘26 (CCS Biology) project explored reflectin, a protein involved in the color change capabilities found in squid. “Distilling the endless detail of a project into a few core elements was something I hadn’t tackled before,” he said. “Once complete, communicating my research was incredibly rewarding, and I loved the excited questions I received.” Reflecting on his broader research experience, Spencer added, “I think creativity is the start and driving force behind all scientific discovery. Creativity allows scientists to frame their questions in the right lens for productive experiments, and allows them to persevere through unexpected roadblocks and adversity, which I’ve found are inevitable in science.”
Tuesday Madhavi ’28 (CCS Biology, Writing & Literature) presented a film exploring the ecological and cultural roles of coyotes on the Southern California coast. “It became incredibly evident that science and storytelling are inextricable,” she shared. “We become better scientists and storytellers when we let boundaries blur.” Madhavi described CCS as a community that “structurally enables interdisciplinary creation” and said that presenting at RACA-CON felt especially meaningful because of the faculty in attendance that have supported her growth. “I have always loved science and storytelling, but grew up not knowing I could connect both, so this has been nothing short of a dream,” she said.
Kellen Dyer ’28 (CCS Physics) used the wrinkles in a tiger-stripe cake as a model for exploring soft-matter physics. “Many deep physical concepts show up in nature and everyday phenomena long before they are formally studied,” Dyer explained. “I chose cake because it’s simple, familiar, and surprisingly rich in physics—and it’s not every day you get to do research by baking!” For Dyer, presenting to a general audience underscored the value of connecting everyday materials to complex theories and seeing curiosity sparked by something so accessible. “It helped me realize how many more questions and physical concepts we can investigate within simple materials,” he said.
These student projects are just a fraction of the diverse perspectives and topics which define RACA-CON. With next year marking the tenth annual RACA-CON, the College looks forward to celebrating a decade of student research, creative inquiry, and the sharing of knowledge that defines CCS.
