Social Sciences (Faculty & Staff)

Political Science Administrative Director Serena Groen received Berkeley Social Science’s Distinguished Service Award for her outstanding work in her department.

Leading a team of 12 staffers, Groen’s efforts help achieve political science’s goals and create a more inclusive and supportive environment for faculty, staff and students.

Groen, who comes from a proud family of Cal employees, has been working at UC Berkeley for 17 years. In addition to Social Sciences, where political science is housed, she has worked for the Lawrence Hall of...

Sociology Professor G. Cristina Mora and Ethnic Studies Professor Nicholas Vargas, both of whom are affiliated with UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies (Mora is the co-director), wrote an op-ed that was published today in the Los Angeles Times.

News and social media feeds inundate us with dramatic scenes of immigration policing. Viral videos of immigrant mothers picked up on sidewalks near their homes, news...

Berkeley Economics Professor Edward Miguel has spent his career uncovering the structural forces behind poverty, instability and inequality. As the Oxfam Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics and co-director of the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), he leads groundbreaking research that ties together rural finance, climate change, conflict and human capital — often through long-term fieldwork in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Miguel's research isn't just about diagnosis. It's about evidence-based solutions, such as a recent study on post-harvest loans in Kenya that's...

Since arriving at UC Berkeley from China in the summer of 2021, Yuqi Tian has made an indelible impact on the campus community through her leadership, advocacy and research.

Tian will graduate this semester with three bachelor's degrees in geography, comparative literature and Italian studies. She has also earned a minor in gender and women's studies and a certificate in new media. Overall, Tian has completed 190 units at Cal — often taking 25 units a semester — and will graduate with a 3.991 GPA.

But her brilliance goes far beyond her grades. A wheelchair user herself, Tian...