UCLA Center for the Study of Women

...According to Wikipedia, the free content encyclopedia online, the word “mephisto” refers to at least twenty-four different cultural events and phenomena around the world.

However, the web site overlooks the title’s most recent and relevant significance for the cluster of students and professors gathering at Royce Hall from April 6 to 8. Add “s” to the title “Mephisto” and, for these scholars, the word refers to a twenty-five-year-old academic tradition: a traveling, international, interdisciplinary conference organized annually by and for graduate students. This year it was organized by a group of UCLA graduate students. Based on the conference’s traditional subject matter, its title breaks down into the densely packed acronym, MEPHIEPHISTOS, for MEdicine, Philosophy, HIstory, Science, Technology, and OS for (SO)ciology.