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The Dickens Project

Teaching Social Justice through Nineteenth-Century Literature

Match Opportunity: Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000 by two generous donors!

Introducing high school students to the pleasures of reading Dickens has long been an essential part of the Dickens Project's mission. We hope students who learn to appreciate Dickens's novels will become lifelong readers of his work and other 19th-century writers.

Since 2015, the Dickens Project has partnered with the Neighborhood Academic Initiative in South Los Angeles to support a program that introduces high school AP English students to the book we study each year at the Dickens Universe. 

For the first-generation students who attend the Dickens Universe scholarly conference, it's a unique opportunity to taste the college experience at UC Santa Cruz alongside international faculty, graduate students, and Victorian literature aficionados.

Help us expand this amazing partnership to reach high school students and teachers!

Professor John Jordan mentoring high school senior during the Dickens Day of WritingPhoto by Doriana Hammond
In April of 2022, the Dickens Project piloted a new outreach initiative for high school students in the Santa Cruz area. "A Dickens Day of Writing" is an educational enrichment program designed to help high school juniors and seniors improve their critical thinking and writing skills. 

Working with local teachers, the Project developed a curricular unit centered on Dickens's essay "Night Walks." The unit included classroom discussions and observational fieldwork exercises encouraging students to reflect on issues of homelessness and poverty in Santa Cruz.

The program culminated in a dedicated writing retreat at the Museum of Art and History in Santa Cruz that brought students together with mentors from the community for a day of focused essay writing and revision. Winning essay writers received prizes and became eligible for scholarships to attend the Dickens Universe. 

"One of the things I appreciate most at the Dickens Universe is its mix of younger and older participants—high schoolers, teachers, Road Scholars, and more. With their excitement and fresh ideas about Dickens, high school students are an important part of that mix," notes Dickens Project Director John O. Jordan.

Your gift will provide critical support to these students and teachers and allow us to expand this unique program to more students at high schools throughout the Monterey Bay Area and beyond.

Thank you for joining the Friends of the Dickens Project in making a difference in the lives of these high school students!

2
Match
Friends of the Dickens Project--MATCH
Two anonymous donors are generously matching all Dickens Project donations, dollar for dollar, up to $10,000. The more you are able to donate, the further your donation goes!
Completed
Success!
Best in Show
Congratulations to the Younger Lagoon Reserve Rain Gear Replacement project for winning Best in Show! They will take home an extra $1,000.
Completed
Leaderboard
Early Riser
The project with the most individual donors between 7 and 8 am will receive $1,000. 2nd place will receive $500. Generously sponsored by an anonymous donor.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,000 NCAA Women's Basketball Team 36
2 $500 Tech4Good Student Programs 28
3 Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) 24
4 Center for Agroecology: Chadwick Garden 7
5 KZSC Radio 2022 6
Ended
Leaderboard
Mid-day Motivator
The project with the most individual donors between 12 noon and 2 pm will receive $2,500, 2nd place will receive $1,000 and 3rd will receive $500. Generously sponsored by UC Santa Cruz Foundation Trustee Richard Moss, and a consortium of anonymous donors.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $2,500 "Finding Ma": Uplifting Incarcerated Voices 99
2 $1,000 City on a Hill Press 95
3 $500 Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) 80
4 Slugbotics 48
5 Adventure Rec 44
Ended
Leaderboard
Final Frenzy
The project with the most individual donors on Giving Day (12am-12am) will receive $10,000, 2nd place will receive $5,000 and 3rd place will receive $2,000.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $10,000 "Finding Ma": Uplifting Incarcerated Voices 281
2 $5,000 Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) 261
3 $2,000 City on a Hill Press 192
4 Adventure Rec 177
5 Alumni Association Scholarship Fund 167
Ended
Leaderboard
Indie 500
The project with the most individual donors giving $500 or more will receive $2,500. 2nd place will receive $1,000.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $2,500 Alumni Association Scholarship Fund 21
2 $1,000 Cal Teach Fund for Future Math or Science Teachers 16
3 Smith Internships and Research Fellowships 14
4 Academic Excellence (ACE) Program 13
5 Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative 12
Ended
Leaderboard
Slug Surprise
The project with the most individual donors between 10 and 11 p.m. will receive $1,500, 2nd place will receive $750 and 3rd will receive $500.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,500 "Finding Ma": Uplifting Incarcerated Voices 34
2 $750 UCSC SACNAS Chapter 26
3 $500 Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) 25
4 UCSC Fencing Club 10
5 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers 9
Ended
Success!
Social Butterfly
Congratulations to Society of Physics Students for wining the Social Butterfly competition! They will receive an extra $1,000.
Completed
Leaderboard
Night Owl
The project with the most individual donors between 12 midnight and 1 am will receive $1,000. 2nd place will receive $500. Generously sponsored by an anonymous donor.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,000 Formula Slug 30
2 $500 Society of Physics Students (SPS) 30
3 Pilipino Cultural Celebration 22
4 Grupo Folklorico Los Mejicas de UCSC 22
5 UCSC Triathlon 19
Ended
Leaderboard
Morning Mania
The project with the most individual donors between 10 and 11 am will receive $1,000. 2nd place will receive $500.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,000 Formula Slug 42
2 $500 Make Seymour Center free to low-income families 20
3 Adventure Rec 11
4 WiSE (Women in Science and Engineering) 9
5 Grupo Folklorico Los Mejicas de UCSC 8
Ended
Leaderboard
Mad Dash
The project with the most individual donors between 6 and 8 pm will receive $2,500, 2nd place will receive $1,000 and third place will receive $500. Generously sponsored by Assistant Vice Chancellor Meg Corman, Director of Annual Giving Marissa Fullum-Campbell, and a consortium of anonymous donors.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $2,500 Rocket Team at UCSC 89
2 $1,000 Alumni Association Scholarship Fund 78
3 $500 "Finding Ma": Uplifting Incarcerated Voices 62
4 Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) 61
5 City on a Hill Press 45
Ended
Leaderboard
Indie 100
The project with the most individual donors giving $100 or more will receive $1,000. 2nd place will receive $500. Generously sponsored by Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Lori Kletzer and an anonymous donor.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,000 Alumni Association Scholarship Fund 67
2 $500 Smith Internships and Research Fellowships 50
3 UCSC Rugby Club 49
4 Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) 46
5 Cal Teach Fund for Future Math or Science Teachers 40
Ended
Leaderboard
Happy Hour
The project teams with the most donors between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. will take home extra challenge funds! $1,000 for first place and $500 for second place. Generously sponsored by Mary E. Doyle (Porter ’74) and David E. Greenwood.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,000 Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) 30
2 $500 SlugMUN (Model United Nations) 24
3 PBSci Peer Mentoring Coalition 12
4 Surfing Club 11
5 Adventure Rec 11
Ended
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