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: February 3rd, 2026
4:00pm-5:30pm

Matrix on Point: Corruption in America

This panel will bring together leading scholars from business, political science, and law to examine the many facets of corruption in the United States and the ways it is identified, constrained, and addressed. The panel will feature Sarah Anzia, Ernesto Dal Bó, and Erwin Chemerinsky, with Sean Gailmard moderating.

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Lecture

Recap

Published February 18, 2023

Citrin Award Lecture: “Does Political Propaganda Work,” Donald P. Green

Recorded on February 10, 2023, this video features the 2022 Citrin Award Lecture, presented by Donald P. Green, J.W. Burgess Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. Professor Green's lecture, "Does Political Propaganda Work?", was presented by the Jack Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research at UC Berkeley.

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Podcast

Interview

Published February 14, 2023

The Scandal of Access: An Interview with Zahra Hayat

Listen to an episode of the Matrix Podcast featuring Zahra Hayat, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, who obtained her PhD in Anthropology at UC Berkeley. Matrix Content Curator Julia Sizek spoke with Hayat about her research on pharmaceutical access in the global South, particularly in Pakistan, and the regimes of price and property on which such access is contingent.

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Affiliated Centers

News

Published February 9, 2023

Economy and Society Initiative to Launch at UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley is launching a new research center dedicated to political economy, a cross-disciplinary field focused on the interplay of markets and government. Funded through a generous seed grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative (BESI) will be housed within the UC Berkeley College of Letters & Science, and will be supported by Social Science Matrix.

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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

Published February 9, 2023

Dylan Riley, “Microverses: Observations from a Shattered Present”

Watch the video (or listen to the podcast version) of our Authors Meet Critics panel on "Microverses: Observations from a Shattered Present," a book by Dylan Riley, Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley. Professor Riley was joined by Professors Colleen Lye and and Donna Jones from the UC Berkeley Department of English.

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Alumni Interview

Podcast

Published December 6, 2022

Alumni Interview: Adriana Kugler, World Bank Executive Director for the US

This episode of the Matrix Podcast features an interview with Adriana D. Kugler, the World Bank Group Executive Director for the United States, who graduated with a PhD from the Department of Economics in 1997. Professor Danny Yagan conducted the interview.

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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

Published December 1, 2022

Authors Meet Critics: How the Clinic Made Gender

Watch a video (or listen to a podcast) of our recent “Authors Meet Critics” panel on "How the Clinic Made Gender: The Medical History of a Transformative Idea," by Sandra Eder, Associate Professor of History at UC Berkeley. Eder was joined in conversation by Laura Nelson, Danya Lagos, and Catherine Ceniza Choy.

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