Matrix Lecture
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Event Date: December 4th, 2025
4:00pm-5:30pm
Alexis Madrigal: “To Know a Place”
In this Matrix Distinguished Lecture, journalist Alexis Madrigal — host of KQED's Forum and a contributing writer at The Atlantic — turns his attention to the question of how we come to know a place. Drawing on his background as a reporter, writer, and thinker of cities, landscapes, and histories, he will explore different ways of writing about and understanding place, revealing how perspective, memory, and narrative inform the stories we tell about the world around us.
Learn More >Culture
Published April 15, 2015
Thomas Laqueur: “Long Live the Dead”
In a forthcoming book, UC Berkeley Professor of History Thomas Laqueur examines how the peculiar relationship between the living and dead has evolved over time.
Learn More >Research Highlights
Article
Published April 1, 2015
Paul K. Piff: “Are the Wealthy More Narcissistic?”
Psychologist Paul Piff studies the link between wealth and social behavior, and shows how economic inequality shapes—and is shaped by—the mind.
Learn More >Research Highlights
Article
Published March 30, 2015
Kerwin Klein: “Mountain Views”
Europeans used to regard mountains as fearsome and unapproachable, but this perception has shifted over time, says UC Berkeley Professor of History Kerwin Klein.
Learn More >Research Highlights
Article
Published December 29, 2014
Bearing Witness
UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Center has taken a lead role in assessing the International Criminal Court’s groundbreaking witness program.
Learn More >Research Highlights
Article
Published December 27, 2014
Bee Killers
The bodies and behaviors of bees have been dramatically transformed by human beings—including the U.S. military—according to UC Berkeley geographer Jake Kosek.
Learn More >Research Highlights
Article
Published December 20, 2014
Brain Exercise and Alzheimer’s
A postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley investigated whether a lifetime of cognitive exercise could mitigate the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
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