Past Events

Wildfires have grown dramatically over the last five years, both as a result of a century of fire suppression as well as contemporary climate change, which makes fires hotter and more destructive. Join us on April 4, 2022 for a panel discussion focused on the contemporary social and economic impacts of wildfires in California during another record-breaking fire season. Register in advance to attend.

On March 31, the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative will present a talk with Ms. Tsui Yee, a leading immigration lawyer, Dr. Gunisha Kaur, anesthesiologist and human rights researcher, and Ms. Leah Spelman, Executive Director at the Partnerships for Trauma Recovery. Moderated by Prof. Khatharya Um of Ethnic Studies, the panel will assess the extent of this trauma and how it manifests itself in the lives of migrants as they navigate their new realities. The talk will spotlight the need to study, research, and alleviate trauma in a social, economic, political, and legal framework.

This conversation considers the question: which civilizations gave rise to the notion of a shared humanity, and why? As panelist Siep Stuurman writes in his book The Invention of Humanity, "common humanity and equality are not primeval facts" that simply awaited discovery by people in one specific time and place. Instead, such ideas were "novel and potentially disruptive ways" of perceiving a broad range of human relationships.

In this Matrix on Point event, a panel of UC Berkeley scholars will discuss the Ukraine-Russia War conflict and its implications. Panelists include Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Quantedge Presidential Professor in the Department of Economics; Gérard Roland, the E. Morris Cox Professor of Economics and Professor of Political Science; John Connelly, the Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor in the Department of History; and Katerina Linos, the Irving G. and Eleanor D. Tragen Professor of Law. Daniel Sargent Associate Professor of History at UC Berkeley, will moderate.

What role do new and emerging forms of media play in shaping our perceptions of China’s complex contemporary reality? This panel will explore how the formats, origins, and conventions specific to various media platforms affect public opinion about China, both within and outside the Sinosphere. They also offer cautionary tales about the facile analyses, attention-grabbing stories, and truncated sound bites and posts that drive today's media.

Please join us on Monday, March 7th from 12pm-1:30pm PST for an "Author Meets Critics" panel discussion focused on the book, "Precolonial Legacies in Postcolonial Politics: Representation and Redistribution in Decentralized West Africa," by Martha Wilfahrt, Assistant Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Political Science. Professor Wilfahrt will be joined by Scott Strauss, Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley, and Alberto Díaz-Cayeros, Professor of Political Science and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, at Stanford University. Leonardo Arriola will moderate.

This seminar will feature Chris Hoofnagle, Professor of Law in Residence at UC Berkeley and Faculty Director of the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity, discussing the book, "Law and Policy for the Quantum Age" (Cambridge University Press, 2022), co-authored by Simson Garfinkel, Senior Data Scientist in the Office of the Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The book explains the genesis of quantum information science and the development of related technologies: quantum sensing, computing, and communication. It also uses scenario analysis to consider four futures for quantum technologies. It then considers how policymakers might anticipate the benefits and risks of quantum technologies.

This conversation considers the groundbreaking work of University of Hong Kong political philosopher Ci Jiwei, author of "Democracy in China: The Coming Crisis (2019)." Panelists include journalist and author John Pomfret, who formerly served as Beijing bureau chief for the Washington Post, and Yin Shoufu, a faculty member in the Department of History at the University of British Columbia.

Join us on March 2, 2022 for a panel discussion on "Cryptography and the Future of Money," featuring Markus K. Brunnermeier, Edwards S. Sanford Professor in the Economics Department at Princeton University and director of Princeton's Bendheim Center for Finance; Stefan Eich, Assistant Professor of Government at Georgetown University; and Christine Parlour, the Sylvan C. Coleman Chair of Finance and Accounting at Berkeley Haas. The panel will be moderated by Barry Eichengreen, the George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Chair and Distinguished Professor of Economics and Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley.

The Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies at UC Berkeley is convening a panel discussion on recent events in Ukraine, with Professor Steven Fish (Political Science, UC Berkeley), Professor Yuriy Gorodnichenko (Economics, UC Berkeley), and Dr. Edward Walker (ISEEES, UC Berkeley). Each speaker will deliver remarks on the current situation in Ukraine, which will be followed by a moderated Q&A session. Register to attend online.

Join us on February 24 for a Matrix Distinguished Lecture by William Davies, Professor of Political Economy at Goldsmiths, University of London. Drawing on his recent books, "Nervous States: Democracy and the Decline of Reason" and "This Is Not Normal: The Collapse of Liberal Britain," Davies identifies pivotal ways in which liberal visions of the public sphere have been damaged, and what kinds of alternatives take their place.

Please join us (in-person or online) on February 3rd, 2022 from 12-1:30pm PST for an "Author Meets Critics" panel discussion focused on the book, "Bankers in the Ivory Tower: The Troubling Rise of Financiers in US Higher Education," by Charlie Eaton, Assistant Professor of Sociology at UC Merced. Professor Eaton will be joined by Emmanuel Saez, Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Equitable Growth at UC Berkeley, and Jonathan Glater, Professor of Law at the UC Berkeley School of Law. Moderated by Jennifer Johnson-Hanks, Executive Dean of UC Berkeley’s College of Letters & Science. Co-sponsored by the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE). Register to attend.