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

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.

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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

Published March 15, 2021

Scammer’s Yard: The Crime of Black Repair in Jamaica

Recorded on March 10, 2021, this video features a panel discussion about Scammer's Yard: The Crime of Black Repair in Jamaica, a book by Jovan Scott Lewis, Assistant Professor of Geography at UC Berkeley.

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Matrix On Point

Recap

Published March 15, 2021

Pandemic Lessons: Assessing Educational Inequalities in the Wake of COVID-19

Presented by the University of California, Berkeley's Social Science Matrix on March 9, 2021, this video features an online panel discussion addressing what we have learned about educational inequalities after a year of pandemic-related school closures.

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Solidarity and Strife

Recap

Published February 28, 2021

The True Costs of Misinformation: Producing Moral and Technical Order in a Time of Pandemonium

Recorded on February 19, 2021, this video features a lecture by Joan Donovan, Research Director for the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University.

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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

Published February 19, 2021

Bloc by Bloc: How to Build a Global Enterprise for the New Regional Order

Joined by a panel of scholars, CLTC Faculty Director Steve Weber discussed his book, which outlines a framework for how firms should position themselves for the new economic geography.

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Podcast

Interview

Published February 13, 2021

Matrix Podcast: Interview with Clancy Wilmott

In this episode, Professor Michael Watts interviews Clancy Wilmott, Assistant Professor in Critical Cartography, Geovisualisation, and Design in the Berkeley Centre for New Media and the Department of Geography. Professor Wilmott comes to UC Berkeley from the Department of Geography at the University of Manchester, where she received her PhD in Human Geography with a multi-site study on the interaction between mobile phone maps, cartographic discourse, and postcolonial landscapes.

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Matrix Lecture

Recap

Published February 5, 2021

Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century

Recorded on February 3, 2021, this video features a Matrix Distinguished Lecture by Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University and Director of Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics.

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