UC Berkeley’s flagship institute for social science research

Our purpose is captured in our name: we provide an organizational framework—a “matrix”—that supports cross-disciplinary research pursued by social scientists across the University of California, Berkeley campus and beyond.

Matrix On Point

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Event Date: October 21st, 2024
12:00pm-1:30pm

Matrix on Point: Voices from the Heartland

As the nation braces for a decisive election, this conversation — featuring scholars Arlie Hochschild, Jenny Reardon, and Lisa Pruitt — seeks to illuminate the frequently overlooked yet politically potent voices emanating from America's rural heartlands and small towns. Moderated by Cihan Tuğal.

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Matrix On Point

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Event Date: October 25th, 2024
12:00pm-1:30pm

Matrix on Point: Shifting Alignments in the 2024 Election

This Matrix on Point panel will examine the shifting demographic and political forces that are redefining the traditional bases of the Democratic and Republican parties and their efforts to build new electoral coalitions. The panel will include scholars Ian Haney López, David Hollinger, and Omar Wasow, and will be moderated by G. Cristina Mora.

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Authors Meet Critics

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Event Date: November 13th, 2024
12:00 PM to 1:30 PM PT

Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China

Please join us on November 13 at 12pm for an Authors Meet Critics panel on "Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China," by Yan Long, Assistant Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Sociology. Professor Long will be joined in conversation by Professors Matthew Kohrman and Rachel E. Stern.

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Lecture

Event

Event Date: November 19th, 2024
4:10pm

Edward Miguel: Do Cash Transfers Save Lives?

For the Berkeley Distinguished Faculty Lectures in the Social Sciences, Edward (Ted) Miguel, Distinguished Professor of Economics, will present findings from a development economics research project based on a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) in Kenya.

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Authors Meet Critics

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Event Date: December 3rd, 2024
12:00pm-1:30pm PT

Authors Meet Critics: “Sin Padres, Ni Papeles,” by Stephanie Canizales

Register to join us on December 3 for an Authors Meet Critics panel on "Sin Padres, Ni Papeles: Unaccompanied Migrant Youth Coming of Age in the United States," by Stephanie Canizales, Assistant Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley and Faculty Director of the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative. Professor Canizales will be joined in conversation by Kristina Lovato, Assistant Professor of Social Welfare, and Caitlin Patler, Associate Professor of Public Policy. Sarah Song, Professor at Berkeley Law, will moderate.

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Book Talk

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Event Date: December 5th, 2024
4:00pm-5:30pm

Marion Fourcade: The Ordinal Society

Register to join us on December 5 for a talk by Marion Fourcade, Professor of Sociology and Director of Social Science Matrix, celebrating the publication of her book, "The Ordinal Society," co-authored with Kieran Healy. This event is co-sponsored by the Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative (BESI).

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Podcast

Interview

Published September 27, 2024

Prisoner Labor Legacies: An interview with Elizabeth Hargrett and Xander Lenc

While recent news has highlighted how prisoners have fought wildfires, prison labor is not a new phenomenon. Although incarcerated people have built highways, dams, and buildings, their contributions to American infrastructure are often made invisible. Both Elizabeth Hargrett and Xander Lenc have studied how prisoner labor has shaped America’s infrastructure with a focus on North […]

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Interview

Published September 11, 2024

Agricultural Modernization in China: Interview with Ross Doll and Coleman Mahler 

This episode of the Matrix Podcast features Matrix Postdoctoral Fellow Julia Sizek interviewing Ross Doll and Coleman Mahler, two scholars from different disciplines whose work focuses on the modernization of China. Ross Doll is Ciriacy-Wantrup Postdoctoral Fellow in the UC Berkeley Department of Geography. He researches agrarian change in Asia drawing on political ecology, cultural […]

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Matrix News

Research Teams

Published August 5, 2024

Matrix Welcomes Seven Research Teams for 2024-2025

Social Science Matrix will welcome seven new Matrix Research Teams for the 2024-2025 academic year. This year’s funded teams — three faculty-led team and four graduate student-led teams — will address diverse social science topics, including industrial policy, computational social science, data mining and algorithms, and the language of biomedicine.

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Article

Interview

Published July 22, 2024

K-Beauty in War: A Visual Interview with Claire Chun

Read our interview with Claire Chun, a Ph.D. candidate in the UC Berkeley Department of Ethnic Studies with a Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, whose research explores how modern conceptualizations of “Korean” and “Asian” beauty, wellness, and aesthetics are shaped by overlapping forces of U.S. militarism, tourism, and humanitarianism.

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Alumni

Interview

Published June 25, 2024

Anti-Mining Politics in Colombia: A Visual Interview with Ángela Castillo

What can the battle around a new mine in Colombia tell us about the past and future of environmentalist organizing in Latin America? Matrix Postdoc Julia Sizek interviewed Ángela Castillo, who is a recent PhD graduate from UC Berkeley’s Anthropology Department and is now Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Pitzer College.

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Matrix News

Iris Hui Memorial

Published June 15, 2024

Students Chosen for Iris Hui Memorial Graduate Student Scholarship

Two UC Berkeley graduate students — Emma Bates and Tanya Bertone — have been selected to receive the 2024 Dr. Iris Hui Memorial Graduate Student Scholarship. Established in 2021, this scholarship honors the vision and goals of Dr. Iris Hui, a PhD graduate of Political Science from UC Berkeley.

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