Matrix On Point
Recap
Published April 10, 2025
Mainstreaming Psychedelics
Psychedelics are steadily moving from the fringes of counterculture to the heart of mainstream society, driven by a growing body of research and shifting public perception. As psychedelics shed their stigma, they are catalyzing a broader conversation about mental health, spirituality, and the boundaries of human consciousness. Recorded on March 6, 2025, this panel featured Diana Negrin, David Presti, Charles Hirschkind, and Graham Pechenik, with Poulomi Saha moderating.
Learn More >Other Events
News
Published May 1, 2021
2021 Social Sciences Fest and Matrix Open House
On April 9, faculty members and graduate students from across the UC Berkeley Division of Social Sciences joined together online for the 2021 Social Sciences Fest and Matrix Open House, a celebration of the past year's accomplishments of the division.
Learn More >Authors Meet Critics
Recap
Published April 26, 2021
“Redistributing the Poor: Jails, Hospitals, and the Crisis of Law and Fiscal Austerity”
Recorded on April 19, 2021, this panel featured a conversation about the book, "Redistributing the Poor: Jails, Hospitals, and the Crisis of Law and Fiscal Austerity," by Armando Lara-Millán, Assistant Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Sociology at UC Berkeley. Co-sponsored by the Center for Study of Law and Society (CSLS).
Learn More >Matrix On Point
Recap
Published April 15, 2021
The Long History and Present Surge of Anti-Asian Violence
Recorded on April 1, 2021, this panel — presented as part of the Berkeley Conversations and Matrix on Point series — considered the long history of anti-Asian racism and present-day patterns linked to the pandemic and to cultural anxieties about Asian ascendancy and Western decline.
Learn More >Solidarity and Strife
Recap
Published April 13, 2021
Beyond Competition: Alternative Discovery Procedures & The Postcapitalist Public Sphere
On March 19, 2021, Matrix presented a lecture by Evgeny Morozov, author of The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom. Presented as part of the SSRC-sponsored research initiative, "Solidarity and Strife: Democracies in a Time of Pandemic.”
Learn More >Podcast
Interview
Published April 12, 2021
Matrix Podcast: Interview with Rebecca Herman
In this podcast, Michael Watts interviews Rebecca Herman, Assistant Professor of History, UC Berkeley. Professor Herman's research and writing examine modern Latin American history in a global context. Her first book, forthcoming from Oxford University Press, reconstructs the history of U.S. military basing in Latin America during World War II.
Learn More >Podcast
Interview
Published March 30, 2021
Matrix Podcast: Interview with Brittany Birberick
In this episode, Professor Michael Watts interviews Brittany Birberick, an anthropology PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley — and a former Matrix Dissertation Fellow. Birberick's dissertation project focuses on urban transformation in Johannesburg, South Africa. More broadly, she writes and thinks about economies, migration, temporality, and aesthetics within an urban context.
Learn More >