Past Events

Almost two decades on from the financial crisis of 2007 that helped unleash a wave of authoritarian, populist, and nativist movements in democracies around the world, a panel of faculty will consider what new social and political forces have shaped the elections in 2024. What do those election results tell us about the health or fragility of global democracy, and how might we better understand the outcome of the American election as part of a broader global process?

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.

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. The panel will be moderated by Tom Gold.

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.

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.

Can predictive algorithms serve the public interest? Join us on Oct. 10 for a talk by Anne Washington, Assistant Professor of Data Policy at the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

Register to join us on October 9 for an Authors Meet Critics panel on "Partisan Nation: The Dangerous New Logic of American Politics in a Nationalized Era," by UC Berkeley Professors Paul Pierson and Eric Schickler. The authors will be joined in conversation by Stanford University's Francis Fukuyama and Didi Kuo. Mark Danner will moderate.

Presented by the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion, Dr. Bradley Onishi will come to Matrix for the Berkeley Lecture on Religious Tolerance, titled, “Project 2025, Christian Nationalism, and November Elections.” Dr. Onishi s a member of the faculty of the University of San Francisco and co-host of the podcast, “Straight White American Jesus.”

In this Matrix on Point panel, UC Berkeley experts will discuss the recent surge in warfare in Ukraine, Gaza, and other regions. The panel will feature Michaela Mattes, Associate Professor of Political Science; Andrew W. Reddie, Associate Research Professor at UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy; and Daniel Sargent, Associate Professor of History and Public Policy at UC Berkeley. Moderated by Vinod Aggarwal.

Register to join us on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 for a lecture by Jacob Faber, Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Service in New York University's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, with a joint appointment in NYU's Sociology Department. Professor Faber's talk will focus on the role of inequality across lending institutions in racial discrimination in mortgage lending.

Join us on Sept. 16 for an Authors Meet Critics panel on the book "Puta Life: Seeing Latinas, Working Sex," by Juana María Rodríguez, Professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. Professor Rodriguez will be joined in conversation by Clarissa Rojas, Associate Professor of Chicana/o Studies at UC Davis, and Courtney Desiree Morris, Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at UC Berkeley. The discussion will be moderated by Alberto Ledesma, Assistant Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in the Division of Arts & Humanities at UC Berkeley.

UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff are invited to join us on May 8, 2024 from 2:00pm-3:00pm for a town hall meeting with Gita Gopinath, the First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. The event will feature an interview of Dr Gopinath conducted by current UC Berkeley students on topics ranging from debt sustainability to economic fragmentation and the role of the dollar in the global economy, followed by an open question period.