New Directions
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Event Date: October 14th, 2026
4:00pm-5:30pm
New Directions: Green Transitions
This panel will bring together advanced graduate students from UC Berkeley whose research examines the forces shaping green energy transitions around the world. Drawing on emerging scholarship spanning energy systems, technological change, environmental policy, and social equity, the discussion will explore how societies can navigate the opportunities and tradeoffs of decarbonization, and what is at stake for communities, economies, and the future of the planet.
Learn More >Book Talk
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Event Date: October 15th, 2026
2:00pm-3:30pm
“Forced by Circumstance” by Dr. Norma Alarcón: A New Book Presentation and Conversation
Please join us on October 15 as the Latinx Research Center will host a book presentation by Norma Alarcón, Professor Emerita of Chicanx Latinx Studies at UC Berkeley, a groundbreaking Chicana theorist and feminist scholar.
Learn More >Matrix Teach-In
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Event Date: October 20th, 2026
4:00pm-5:15pm
Desmond Jagmohan: “Two Concepts of Patriotism: Nationalist and Civic”
Join us on October 20 for a Matrix Teach-In by Desmond Jagmohan, Assistant Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley. The Matrix Teach-In series brings some of UC Berkeley’s most engaging social science lecturers into a public setting.
Learn More >Book Talk
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Event Date: October 26th, 2026
4:00pm-5:15pm
An American Problem: The Rise and Fall of the Voting Rights Act
Join the Goldman School and Social Science Matrix for a discussion with Kevin Morris, senior research fellow and voting policy scholar at the Brennan Center for Justice, on the history of the Voting Rights Act, the role of the Supreme Court, and the current state of voting rights across the United States.
Learn More >Matrix On Point
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Event Date: October 28th, 2026
3:30pm-5:00pm
Matrix on Point: The State of U.S. Immigration Enforcement and Surveillance
Federal immigration enforcement in the United States is increasingly shaped by the convergence of surveillance technologies, data systems, and on-the-ground policing practices. This panel will bring together a group of scholars from diverse disciplines to examine the social and political consequences — and the stakes for rights in an era of technological governance.
Learn More >Matrix On Point
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Event Date: November 5th, 2026
4:00pm-5:30pm
Matrix on Point: Propaganda Machines
AI is an increasingly powerful force in the current U.S. landscape of knowledge, mis- or disinformation, media, and politics. This panel will bring together scholars who examine questions related to AI, influence, and information in journalism, media, and California’s universities to discuss the implications of these developments for information and knowledge politics today. Featuring Matyas Bohacek, Martha Kenney, Martha Lincoln, and Edward Wasserman.
Learn More >Panel
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Event Date: November 12th, 2026
4:00pm
California and the Nation Vote: A Post-Mortem on the 2026 Midterm Election
On Thursday, November 12th, the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) presents "California and the Nation Vote: A Post-Mortem on the 2026 Election," to be held at the IGS Library, 109 Philosophy Hall, #2370. Nine days after Election Day, two moderated panels will examine the results through this year's theme: maps, money, and the movements reshaping the parties.
Learn More >Book Talk
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Event Date: November 23rd, 2026
3:30pm-5:00pm
Unsettling Sovereignty: International Law, Nuclear Weapons, and US Extraterritorial Power in Postwar Oceania
Register to attend a November 23 book talk by Mary Mitchell, Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers Newark. Mitchell’s work centers on the intersections of science and technology with law and environmental social movements in the nuclear era. This event will be held in 223 Philosophy Hall.
Learn More >Authors Meet Critics
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Event Date: November 24th, 2026
4:00pm-5:30pm
Until the Last Ton: Fossil Fuels in India from Empire to the Climate Crisis
This Authors Meet Critics panel will focus on the book "Until the Last Ton: Fossil Fuels in India from Empire to the Climate Crisis," by Matthew Shutzer, Assistant Professor of History at UC Berkeley — the first history of fossil fuels in colonial and post-colonial South Asia. Professor Shutzer will be joined in conversation by Youjin Chung and Daniel Aldana Cohen, with Michael Watts moderating.
Learn More >California Spotlight
Recap
Published October 14, 2026
California Spotlight: Wealth & Poverty
California is one of the wealthiest states in the country, yet it also faces persistent poverty, stark economic inequality, and some of the highest costs of living in the nation. Recorded on October 7, 2026, this panel brought together leading scholars to examine the forces shaping wealth and poverty across the state. Featuring David Grusky and Samuel Trachtman, with Evan White moderating.
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Recap
Published October 14, 2026
Authors Meet Critics: “Demos: How the People Ruled Athens”
Recorded on October 1, 2026, this video (and podcast) features an Authors Meet Critics panel on the book "Demos: How the People Ruled Athens," by Daniela Cammack, Assistant Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley. With comments by James Porter and Kinch Hoekstra. Moderated by Dylan Riley.
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Recap
Published September 22, 2026
Normalizing Inequality: How Californians Make Sense of the Growing Divide
Watch the video (or listen to the podcast) of our Authors Meet Critics panel on "Normalizing Inequality: How Californians Make Sense of the Growing Divide," by UC Berkeley scholars G. Cristina Mora, Professor of Sociology, and Tianna Paschel, Associate Professor of African American Studies.
Learn More >Matrix News
Article
Published July 10, 2026
Matrix Welcomes Eight Research Teams for 2026-2027
Social Science Matrix is pleased to welcome eight new Matrix Research Teams — three faculty-led teams and five graduate student-led teams — for the 2026-2027 academic year. The teams will address topics such as the political economy of wildfire risk, the global politics of declining fertility, and the use of digital tools for governance and development in South Asia.
Learn More >Matrix News
News
Published July 2, 2026
Cori Hayden to Serve as Director of Social Science Matrix
Cori Hayden, Professor Anthropology at UC Berkeley, has been appointed Director of Social Science Matrix. Hayden previously served as Interim Director during the Spring 2025 semester.
Learn More >Matrix News
News
Published July 2, 2026
A Letter from Marion Fourcade
"I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to serve as Matrix's faculty director for the last seven years...." Read a letter from Professor Marion Fourcade, who recently stepped down from her role as Director of Social Science Matrix following a highly successful term.
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