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.

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.

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Affiliated Centers

Recap

Published May 19, 2021

President Biden’s First 100 Days: An Assessment

Recorded on April 22, 2021, and presented by UC Berkeley's Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research, an online panel evaluated the first 100 days of the Biden Administration.

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Matrix Book Salon

Recap

Published May 11, 2021

Matrix Book Salon: “Race to the Bottom: How Racial Appeals Work in American Politics”

Recorded on May 7, 2021, this UC Berkeley Social Science Matrix Book Salon featured the book, "Race to the Bottom: How Racial Appeals Work in American Politics," by LaFleur Stephens-Dougan, Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics at Princeton University, who was joined in conversation by Taeku Lee, Professor of Political Science and Law at UC Berkeley.

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Matrix On Point

Recap

Published May 4, 2021

Truth & Denial: Searching for Information in the Digital Era

On April 22, 2021, a "Matrix on Point" panel discussion focused on questions of objectivity, disinformation, and the construction of truth from a media-consumption (rather than media-production) perspective, focusing on how internet users find information, how algorithms play a deterministic role in search results, and how lies propagate and solidify.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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