Social Sciences (Faculty & Staff)

Fed Gov. to Berkeley econ grads: ‘It’s an exciting time to be an economist’

May 17, 2023
By Kenny Ma

In the afternoon sunshine at the storied Greek Theatre, more than 700 students from UC Berkeley’s Department of Economics gathered this week for their commencement. The momentous occasion marked not just the end of their academic journey, but also the beginning of their new roles in the academic, public and private sectors. Before receiving their degrees, they heard words of encouragement and inspiration from Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, a distinguished Berkeley alumna who received her Ph.D. in economics.

Cook, who was the commencement speaker, is a renowned economist,...

From athlete to advocate: Berkeley graduate gives newcomers a sporting chance

May 17, 2023
Anne Brice, Berkeley News

Benjamin Coleman has always loved being on a team.

The UC Berkeley senior, one of more than 10,000 graduating students walking in Saturday’s commencement ceremony, grew up in Calgary, Canada. At age 5, he joined his first hockey team, the Glenlake Hawks. He played with the same teammates until he graduated from high school. Although he played a lot of other sports growing up — badminton, soccer, skiing, swimming — hockey was his favorite....

https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/05/12/graduating-student-benjamin-coleman/

Entrepreneurship For All: A Conversation with Umair Khan

April 26, 2023
Hagit Caspi

Umair Khan’s mission in life, it seems, is to help budding entrepreneurs. “At Folio3 Software, I help entrepreneurs build out their products. At Mentors Fund, I invest in entrepreneurs. At Berkeley, I teach entrepreneurs. And at Zareen's, the restaurant which my wife established, I feed entrepreneurs.”
Umair’s connection to UC Berkeley began through outreach from the Institute for South Asia Studies. These discussions and interactions...

UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Department Works to Bring Curriculum to Bay Area Schools

May 4, 2023

This summer, the Ethnic Studies Department is partnering with the AC Center and the Berkeley History-Social Science Project to run a series of workshops for high school teachers preparing to offer Ethnic Studies classes. Called the High School Ethnic Studies Initiative, the series will be running from June 12 to 16 and will bring over 25 teachers to Berkeley, to support them in building from the wealth of insight and resources Berkeley Ethnic Studies has to offer.

Explore the initiative....

Deep sleep may mitigate Alzheimer’s memory loss, Berkeley research shows

May 4, 2023

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley have uncovered a significant breakthrough in the fight against Alzheimer's disease. According to their latest study, deep sleep can help protect against memory loss in older adults who are at a heightened risk of developing the disease. The researchers found that deep, non-REM slow-wave sleep can act as a "cognitive reserve factor" that may increase resilience against a protein called beta-amyloid, which is linked to memory loss caused by dementia.

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UC Berkeley's Black Graduation: Celebrating community, culture, and achievement

May 4, 2023
Michelle Phillips

As commencement season kicks off across the U.S., UC Berkeley’s Department of African American Studies is preparing to host the annual Black Graduation ceremony on May 20, 2023, at Zellerbach Hall. Black Grad, as it is affectionately called, honors and celebrates Black-, African-, and African American-identifying students upon completion of their undergraduate, master’s, Ph.D., J.D., and professional degree programs from departments all over campus. Black Grad is more than just a ceremony; it is a celebration of resilience, perseverance, and achievement. Grace Carroll,...

Berkeley history course examines Palestinian history, ‘putting the people first’

April 26, 2023
Ivan Natividad

The jersey hijab Ro’aa Alkhawaja wore in high school drew ire and ill-informed questions from her classmates who sometimes assumed she was a refugee displaced from war, and the headscarf was an oppressive tool she was obligated to wear out of fear. That it somehow limited her physical and intellectual capabilities — her freedom.

But for Ro’aa, the hijab is an empowering symbol that signifies the love she has for her Muslim faith and the modesty and humility of character “I strive for inwardly.”

“But people saw me as a stereotype and never really put the effort into truly...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/04/25/berkeley-history-course-examines-palestinia…

National Academy of Sciences elects seven from UC Berkeley

May 3, 2023
Robert Sanders

The College of Letters & Science is thrilled to congratulate the five L&S faculty members (Marla Feller, Tyrone Hayes, Hilary Hoynes, Donald Rio and Emmanuel Saez) and their campus colleagues recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Seven UC Berkeley faculty members were among 120 new members and 23 new international members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) announced this week, an honor that recognizes their distinguished and...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/05/03/national-academy-of-sciences-elects-seven-f…

2023 Social Sciences Fest Celebrates Faculty and Staff

May 3, 2023

UC Berkeley's Division of Social Sciences recently held its annual celebration, Social Sciences Fest, which highlighted the faculty and staff's remarkable achievements over the past year. From winning various awards to receiving grants and launching new programs, the event showcased the division's continued commitment to producing research that matters and nurturing its students. In addition, two faculty members received the Distinguished Teaching Award, and the department managers were recognized with the Distinguished Service Award. This is just a glimpse of the exciting work being...

People Differ Widely in Their Understanding of Even a Simple Concept Such as the Word ‘Penguin

April 25, 2023
Simon Makin

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word “penguin” as “any of various erect short-legged flightless aquatic birds (family Spheniscidae) of the southern hemisphere.” That description seems simple enough, but definitions are not what people have in mind when they actually use words. Instead people think of concepts: the myriad properties, ideas, examples and associations that spring to mind when we think about a word.

Our concepts are crucial to exactly what we mean when we use language, and new research has found that the concepts people hold, even for a word like penguin,...

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-differ-widely-in-their-underst…