Social Sciences (Faculty & Staff)

Daylight saving time has started. Here's how to adjust

March 10, 2025
By Sarah Boden, NPR

This story was originally published by NPR.

Like many Americans, Pittsburgh-area resident Josh Lucas wishes the time change didn't have to happen.

"You get acclimated to a way of being, and then all of a sudden the sky is a different color, and you have to still function in the normal way," said Lucas.

And it's not always easy to keep functioning normally. In fact, most sleep researchers and clinicians say that the spring-forward time change is bad for our health.

In the days following the time change, the country sees a higher incidence of...

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/09/nx-s1-5320160/time-change-daylight-saving-spring-…

Economics and Cognitive Science student shares how Social Sciences internship program prepares her for the job market

March 6, 2025
By Jessica Park

Economics and Cognitive Science junior Pilar Capdevila gravitated towards the UC Berkeley Social Sciences Career Readiness Internship Program (SSCRIP) seeking mentorship and valuable industry insights. The program prepares Social Sciences students for meaningful careers through professional development training and paid summer internships.

Growing up in Madrid, Spain, Capdevila came to Cal after completing her first two years at Sciences Po Paris in Reims, France, through the Science Po-UC Berkeley dual degree program. She is now finishing her last two years...

In Memoriam Professor Nelson H.H. Graburn (1936-2025)

March 6, 2025

Professor Graburn began his academic journey at King's School, Canterbury from 1950 to 1955. He earned his B.A. in Natural Sciences and Social Anthropology at Clare College in 1958 and his M.A. in Anthropology at McGill University, Montreal in 1960. He completed his Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Chicago in 1963.

His groundbreaking doctoral research was conducted in 1959 in the Inuit hamlet of Salluit (then known as Sugluk) in Quebec, Canada, with subsequent fieldwork in Kimmirut (then Lake Harbour) on Baffin Island. This research was supported by fellowships from the...

https://anthropology.berkeley.edu/memoriam-professor-nelson-hh-graburn-1936-2025

Cal economics professor named Sloan Fellow

March 5, 2025
By Jessica Park

UC Berkeley Economics Professor Chen Lian has recently been awarded a two-year, $75,000 fellowship from the Sloan Foundation. Since 1955, the prestigious fellowship has been awarded annually to U.S. and Canadian researchers excelling in “creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments.”

Lian was inspired to pursue economics by the East Asian economic miracle — a period of rapid economic growth between 1965 and 1990. Lian’s research focuses on macroeconomics, behavioral economics and finance. He plans to use the $75,000 grant to further...

During campus visit, U.S. representatives vow to fight freeze on federal research funding

February 27, 2025
By Robert Sanders

Amid a government freeze on funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal agencies, two California representatives paid a visit to the the University of California, Berkeley’s Innovative Genomics Institute on Friday, Feb. 21, to hear about the importance of NIH-funded basic research. Both Democratic representatives vowed to contest the Trump administration’s attempts to drastically cut biomedical funding.

President Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 27 freezing payment on all federal grants and loans — a freeze still in effect, despite a temporary...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/02/24/during-campus-visit-u-s-representatives-vow…

'A very bad idea': Two economists respond to White House citing them on 20% tariffs

January 27, 2025
By Andrés Rodríguez-Clare and Arnaud Costinot

The wrong tariff for the wrong reason.

The incoming Trump administration is gearing up towards imposing substantial tariffs on all US imports. The new Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, has used the optimal tariff argument to justify such actions. The new head of the Council of Economic Advisors, Stephen Miran, citing our own work, proposes 20% as a "benchmark" for the US optimal tariff. We think this is a very bad idea.

The optimal tariff argument

The optimal tariff argument is hardly new. It is about as old as David Ricardo's famous...

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2025/01/23/a-very-bad-idea-two-economi…

Social Sciences students among Cal team to win first ACC Championship in swimming and diving

February 25, 2025
By Cal Athletics

UC Berkeley’s Men’s Swimming and Diving Team has won its first ACC Championship, with several Berkeley Social Sciences students on the team, including Economics student Robin Hanson (Swimming/Free/Fly/IM); Psychology students Colby Hatton (Swimming/Free), Hank Rivers (Swimming/Breast/Free/IM) and Jacob Soderlund (Swimming/Breast); and Political Economy student Jack Alexy (Swimming/Free/Back), who also picked up a win in the 100 freestyle.

The No. 3 California men's swimming & diving team introduced itself to ACC country this week in Greensboro, N.C., letting the folks...

https://calbears.com/news/2025/2/22/mens-swimming-diving-mission-accomplished.as…

Berkeley Talks: Does democracy work?

February 25, 2025
By Public Affairs

If someone asked you to describe democracy in one word, what would you say? An October 2024 survey by the Political Psychology of American Democracy Policy Project, led by UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy Dean David Wilson, asked people just that. Many respondents said, “freedom,” but a lot of others said, “broken.”

In Berkeley Talks episode 220, Berkeley political scientist Henry Brady discusses how we got to a place of growing disillusionment with democracy, where so many mistrust the U.S. government...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/02/21/berkeley-talks-does-democracy-work/

Anthropology Professor Christine Hastorf wins 2025 Pomerance Award for scientific contributions to archaeology

February 24, 2025
Jessica Park

UC Berkeley Anthropology Professor Christine Hastorf was awarded the Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology.

Each year, the Archaeological Institute of America—the oldest and largest professional archeology association in North America—chooses one scholar to honor with the prestigious Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology.

Over the past 45 years, Hastorf has engaged in archaeobotanical research. Her work covers a range of topics, such as agricultural production, cooking...

Political Science Teaching Professor Terri Bimes receives James A. Thurber Article of the Year Award

February 25, 2025
By Aubrey Spowart

UC Berkeley Political Science Professor Terri Bimes was recently awarded the James A. Thurber Article of the Year Award from the journal Congress & the Presidency for her co-authored piece, “Hyperpartisanship and the First Hundred Days.” The award recognizes exceptional scholarship on Congress, the presidency, their interactions and national policymaking, with a particular focus on pressing issues in current affairs.

Bimes’ research centers around populism, political parties and presidential elections in the United...