California Spotlight
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Event Date: February 9th, 2026
12:00 PM to 1:30 PM PT
California Spotlight: Higher Education Under Attack
This California Spotlight panel brings together leading scholars to examine the forces challenging public higher education today. Drawing on areas spanning finance, policy, and labor, the discussion will explore how these dynamics are shaping the UC system, and what is at stake for students, employees, the public, and the future of higher education.
Learn More >Matrix On Point
Recap
Published April 15, 2022
The Future of Money: Mobile Money, Social Media, and Cashless Economies
Focusing on forms of cashless payment, such as mobile money and apps, this "Matrix on Point" panel explored questions about how the social connections made through money are changing, and what the implications might be for our understanding of money, trust, and social connection. The panel featured Kevin Donovan, Lecturer in the Centre of African Studies at the University of Edinburgh; Lana Swartz, Assistant Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia; and Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The panel was moderated by Marion Fourcade, Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley and Director of Social Science Matrix.
Learn More >Podcast
Interview
Published April 12, 2022
What Happened to the Week? An Interview with David Henkin
For this episode of the Matrix podcast, Julia Sizek interviewed David M. Henkin, the Margaret Byrne Professor of History, about his book, The Week: A History of the Unnatural Rhythms that Make Us Who We Are. With meticulous archival research that draws on a wide array of sources — including newspapers, restaurant menus, theater schedules, marriage records, school curricula, folklore, housekeeping guides, courtroom testimony, and diaries — Henkin reveals how our current devotion to weekly rhythms emerged in the United States during the first half of the 19th century.
Learn More >California Spotlight
Recap
Published April 12, 2022
The Social and Economic Impacts of Wildfires
Recorded on April 4, 2022, this panel focused on the contemporary social and economic impacts of wildfires in California during another record-breaking fire season. How have fires changed during the last five years, and with what impacts on the economy? How might policy-makers and economists respond to the changing fire season? The panel was co-sponsored by the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) and presented as part of the Social Science Matrix California Spotlight series.
Learn More >Article
Interview
Published March 29, 2022
The Labor Market and the Opioid Epidemic: A Visual Interview with Nathan Seltzer
In this visual interview, Nathan Seltzer, a postdoctoral scholar in the UC Berkeley Department of Demography, discusses his research into the relationship between economic change and population trends. In published and ongoing work, he investigates how the decline of the American manufacturing sector has impacted fertility rates, mortality rates, and economic mobility.
Learn More >Article
Interview
Published March 21, 2022
A Visual Interview with Eric Stanley on “Atmospheres of Violence”
How should we understand violence against trans/queer people in relation to the promise of modern democracies? In their new book, "Atmospheres of Violence: Structuring Antagonisms and the Trans/Queer Ungovernable," Eric A. Stanley, Associate Professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, argues that anti-trans/queer violence is foundational to, and not an aberration of, western modernity. For this visual interview, Julia Sizek, Matrix Content Curator and a PhD candidate in the UC Berkeley Department of Anthropology, asked Professor Stanley about their research, drawing upon images and videos referenced in the book.
Learn More >Matrix On Point
Recap
Published March 16, 2022
Matrix on Point: The War in Ukraine and Its Consequences
In this Matrix on Point event, recorded on March 15, 2022, a panel of UC Berkeley scholars discussed the Ukraine-Russia War conflict and its implications. Panelists included John Connelly, the Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor in the Department of History; Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Quantedge Presidential Professor in the Department of Economics; Gérard Roland, the E. Morris Cox Professor of Economics and Professor of Political Science; and Katerina Linos, the Irving G. and Eleanor D. Tragen Professor of Law. Daniel Sargent Associate Professor of History at UC Berkeley, moderated.
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