Matrix Lecture
Recap
Published February 28, 2022
The Problem of Trust in the Digital Public Sphere
On February 24, 2022, Matrix was honored to host William Davies, Professor of Political Economy at Goldsmiths, University of London, for a Matrix Distinguished Lecture. Davies explored how the digitization of our public sphere has made trust harder to establish, as the ideal of “facts” has been challenged by that of “real-time data,” and consequently altered the forms of allegiance, organization, and political coalitions that are possible.
Learn More >Black History Month
Article
Published February 16, 2022
Honoring Black History Month at Social Science Matrix
In honor of Black History Month, we've rounded up a selection of 11 Social Science Matrix articles, podcasts, and videos of panel discussions with themes related to understanding Black lives in America.
Learn More >Authors Meet Critics
Recap
Published February 3, 2022
The King and the People: Sovereignty and Popular Politics in Mughal Delhi
On January 26, 2022, Social Science Matrix hosted an “Authors Meet Critics” panel discussion focused on the book, "The King and the People: Sovereignty and Popular Politics in Mughal Delhi" (Oxford University Press), by Abhishek Kaicker, Associate Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of History. Professor Kaicker was joined in conversation by Professors Asad Ahmed and Aarti Sethi. The panel was moderated by Professor Pradeep Chhibber.
Learn More >Article
Interview
Published January 19, 2022
Online Extremism and Political Advertising: A Visual Interview With Laura Jakli
Using data from online advertising, Laura Jakli, a 2020 PhD graduate from UC Berkeley’s Department of Political Science, studies political extremism, destigmatization, and radicalization, focusing on the role of popularity cues in online media. Read a Q&A interview with Jakli, based on political ads and graphics.
Learn More >Podcast
Interview
Published January 11, 2022
Science and Socialism in Cuba
In this episode of the Matrix podcast, Julia Sizek interviews Clare Ibarra, a PhD candidate in history, and Naomi Schoenfeld, a public health nurse practitioner and recent PhD from the joint UC San Francisco/UC Berkeley medical anthropology program. They discuss the history of science and medicine in Cuba and its relationship to the socialist project, as well as how Cuba has developed vaccines during the current pandemic.
Learn More >Matrix On Point
Article
Published January 5, 2022
Matrix on Point: Democracy, Misogyny and Digital Media
On December 13, 2021, Matrix convened a diverse group of speakers to discuss today’s remarkable political moment, marked both by a new kind of women’s activism (centered on #MeToo and related movements) and by the rise of a misogynistic far-right. Panelists included Sarah Sobieraj, an award-winning teacher and researcher with expertise in US political culture, extreme incivility, digital abuse and harassment, and the mediated information environment; C.J. Pascoe, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Oregon and co-editor of Socius Journal; Julia Ebner, a radicalisation researcher and bestselling writer based in London; and Kishonna L. Gray, Associate Professor in the Writing, Rhetoric, Digital Studies program at the University of Kentucky. The panel was moderated by Raka Ray, Dean of the Division of Social Sciences at UC Berkeley.
Learn More >Grad Student Profile
Interview
Published December 10, 2021
Addressing Latinx Social Inequality in Later Life
For this Q&A, Julia Sizek, Matrix Content Curator and a PhD Candidate in the UC Berkeley Department of Anthropology, spoke with two graduate students from UC Berkeley — Isabel García Valdivia and Melanie Z. Plasencia — whose research examines what aging looks like for the Latinx communities in the United States, particularly in California, Mexico, and New Jersey.
Learn More >Authors Meet Critics
Recap
Published November 29, 2021
Shareholder Cities: Land Transformations along Urban Corridors in India
Recorded on November 16, 2021, this video presents an “Authors Meet Critics” panel focused on the book, Shareholder Cities: Land Transformations along Urban Corridors in India (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019), by Sai Balakrishnan, Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, with a joint appointment with DCRP and Global Metropolitan Studies. Professor Balakrishnan was joined in conversation by Sharad Chari, Associate Professor of Geography at UC Berkeley, and Michael Watts, Class of ‘63 and Chancellor’s Professor of Geography Emeritus, and Co-Director of Development Studies at UC Berkeley.
Learn More >Matrix On Point
Recap
Published November 5, 2021
Matrix On Point: Religion in the Age of Information
Religion, as we know it, is being reframed, reshaped, and even replaced. Recorded on November 2, 2021, this online panel discussion focused on how digital technologies are transforming both religious doctrines and practices in contemporary society. Co-organized by the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion and co-sponsored by the Berkeley Center for New Media.
Learn More >Matrix On Point
Recap
Published November 4, 2021
Matrix on Point: The Rights and Lives of Non-Citizens
Recorded on October 29, 2021, this panel discussion considered forms of non-citizenship and marginalization around the world, with a special focus on refugees, stateless people, and undocumented migrants. Panelists included Noora Lori, from the Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University; Itamar Mann, University of Haifa, Faculty of Law; and Cecilia Menjívar, UCLA; Serena Parekh, Northeastern University. Moderated by UC Berkeley's Irene Bloemraad.
Learn More >Podcast
Interview
Published November 4, 2021
Genetic Ancestry Testing and Reconnection: An Interview with Dr. Victoria Massie
In this episode of the Matrix podcast, Julia Sizek, a PhD candidate in Anthropology at UC Berkeley, interviews Dr. Victoria Massie, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology, and Faculty Affiliate for the Center for African & African American Studies (CAAAS), the Medical Humanities Program and the Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality (CSWGS) at Rice University, in Houston. Sizek interviews Massie about her research tracking diasporic connections between the United States and Cameroon, and the wider world of genetic ancestry testing.
Learn More >Grad Student Profile
Interview
Published November 3, 2021
Land, Camps, and the Remains: Heba Alnajada on the History of Syrian Refugee Camps
Heba Alnajada is a Ph.D. Candidate in Architecture History at the University of California, Berkeley, and a 2021-2022 ACLS/Mellon Fellow. Her dissertation project situates the Syrian refugee crisis within an architectural and socio-legal history that spans from the late Ottoman period to present-day Jordan. Social Science Matrix content curator Julia Sizek interviewed Alnajada about her research, using images from her dissertation.
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