Social Sciences

Social Sciences in the News: Economics and Political Science Professor Barry Eichengreen in Financial Times

January 20, 2026

Economics and Political Science Professor Barry Eichengreen was featured in an article titled "Lawfare comes for the dollar with attack on the Fed" in Financial Times.

Trump administration attacks on Federal Reserve independence threaten the dollar's global dominance, as every leading reserve currency in the past 800 years has required central banks insulated from executive interference, writes Barry Eichengreen, a professor of economics and political science.

https://www.ft.com/content/574da56b-bc58-40c8-a3c4-9662dad79e5d?FTCamp=engage/CA…

Social Sciences in the News: History Chair Cathryn Carson in The Chronicle of Higher Education

January 20, 2026
By Leonard Cassuto, The Chronicle of Higher Education

History Chair and Professor Cathryn Carson was quoted in an essay titled "It’s Time for Ph.D. Programs to Partner With Industry" in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

American wartime industry originated a “coordination of academic and industrial” researchers, said Cathryn Carson, a professor of history.

https://www.chronicle.com/article/its-time-for-ph-d-programs-to-partner-with-ind…

Economics and cognitive science student discusses AI startup to solve global blackouts with UC Regents

January 20, 2026
By Jessica Ballardo

For millions of people, reliable electricity is not a guarantee. In many communities powered by solar mini-grids, evening demand surges routinely trigger blackouts, pushing operators to fall back on costly, polluting diesel generators.

Evardi Energy, a startup co-founded by economics and cognitive science student Diva Bhartesh Shah, aims to transform this broken system into one with reliable power that is resistant to blackouts. Their solution involves using AI to predict demand surges before they occur, allowing operators to adjust usage as needed.

Shah co-founded Evardi in...

New course brings Harry Edwards’ sociology of sport to the next generation

January 13, 2026
by Alexander Rony

UC Berkeley is launching a new course this spring to engage students in the work of famed sociologist and civil rights icon Harry Edwards. For 30 years, Edwards captivated students at UC Berkeley, where he developed the sociology of sport as a field. After retiring from campus,...

11 things UC Berkeley AI experts are watching for in 2026

January 13, 2026
By Jason Pohl

In just a few years, AI has gone from a tech novelty to a society-altering force. It has revolutionized scientific research, classrooms and workplaces. People...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2026/01/13/what-uc-berkeley-ai-experts-are-watching-fo…

New psychology study challenges the belief that humans learn by getting rewards

January 12, 2026
By Jessica Ballardo

For decades, scientists believed that humans learn mainly by getting rewards — when a choice leads to a good outcome, we stick with it; when it doesn’t, we try something new.

But a new UC Berkeley study challenges that long-standing assumption, suggesting that the brain’s learning system is far more complex and far less dependent on rewards than previously thought.

Conducted by Psychology Professor Anne Collins and titled ...

Stone Center sets dates for 2026 Summer Institute

January 9, 2026
by Alexander Rony

The James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center on Wealth and Income Inequality announced its plans for its 2026 Summer Institute. Each year, UC Berkeley’s prestigious institute organizes an intensive four-day program at UC Berkeley to introduce outstanding Ph.D. students from around the world to frontier research on economic inequality.

Participants attend small-group lectures and seminar presentations by UC Berkeley...

From ‘too much’ to just right: How one student found a home at Berkeley

January 7, 2026
Yesenia Ochoa

Growing up in Sonoma, California, Victoria Hernandez Padilla always felt like she was too much. Too curious, too loud, too bold. She was always asking questions. As a toddler before she’d learned English, she’d spend hours arranging bright magnetic letters on the fridge, asking her mom again and again if it spelled a word.

In school, her classmates would whisper about her, saying she talked too much. She felt she couldn’t ask questions, otherwise she’d be cast into the “loud Latina” stereotype. But Victoria wanted answers and would push until she got them.

“I never felt...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2026/01/06/from-too-much-to-just-right-how-one-student…

Cognitive Science students pitch health tech, AI assistants to investors

January 9, 2026
By Jessica Park

From stroke rehabilitation to supply chain resilience and diabetes care, Cognitive Science student entrepreneurs pitched their startups to potential investors at the Berkeley Accelerator & Startup Incubator in Cognitive Science’s (BASICS) Fall Pitch Day.

Students pitched their projects (developed as part of the BASICS course) to a panel of investors and startup experts including Aman Verjee of Practical Venture Capital; Dermot Mee of Fourier; Frank Barcellos of Maple Bear Global Schools Association; Sudarshan Sridharan of SF1; Lucas Miller of Berkeley Haas...

Berkeley Talks: How do we make better decisions (revisiting)

January 5, 2026

A panel of UC Berkeley professors in the College of Letters & Science discuss how they view decision-making from their respective fields, and how we can use these approaches to make more informed choices.

Today we are revisiting a Berkeley Talks episode in which a cross-disciplinary panel of UC Berkeley professors, whose expertise ranges from political science to philosophy, discuss how they view decision-making from their respective fields, and how we can use these approaches to make better, more informed choices.

Panelists include:

Wes Holliday,...
https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/12/26/berkeley-talks-decision-making-revisiting/