Social Sciences (Faculty & Staff)

Even in small businesses, minimum wage hikes don't cause job losses, study finds

March 14, 2023

Restaurants, retail stores and other small businesses, long thought to be vulnerable to increases in the minimum wage, generally do not cut jobs and may actually benefit when governments raise minimum pay, according to a new study co-authored at UC Berkeley.

The prevailing wisdom among many business owners and policymakers is that when the minimum wage rises, smaller low-wage employers suffer more from higher labor costs and are more likely to cut jobs. But the...

I say dog, you say chicken? New study explores why we disagree so often

March 17, 2023

Is a dog more similar to a chicken or an eagle? Is a penguin noisy? Is a whale friendly?

Psychologists at the University of California, Berkeley, say these absurd-sounding questions might help us better understand what’s at the heart of some of society’s most vexing arguments.

Research published online Thursday in the journal Open Mind shows that our concepts about and associations with even the most basic...

UC Berkeley Faculty Explores How Canadian LGB Voters' Political Preferences Have Evolved

March 8, 2023
Join us for "The Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Vote in a More Tolerant Canada", a colloquium featuring Berkeley's Dr. Eric Guntermann, and Simon Fraser University's Dr. Edana Beauvais. This presentation analyzes original research on Canadian LGB voters’ political preferences a decade and a half after legalized same-sex marriage. Consistent with prior findings, gay men, and, to a lesser extent, bisexual men, are more left-wing than heterosexual men. A more novel finding is that bisexual women are the most left-wing group. Lesbian women are only slightly to the left of heterosexual...

Geography Professor Emerita Dr. Gillian Hart wins 2023 AAG Presidential Achievement Award

January 11, 2023

Dr. Gillian Hart, Geography Professor Emerita, has won the AAG Presidential Achievement Award, which recognizes individuals who have made long-standing and distinguished contributions to the discipline of geography.

From the American Association of Geographers (AAG): "Professor Gillian Hart is recognized for her foundational work in the critical human...

What does California owe descendants of the enslaved?

February 28, 2023

Berkeley News recently interviewed Jovan Scott Lewis, a University of California, Berkeley, associate professor of geography and chair of the geography department, conducting a Q&A on his idea of reparations and its applicability in the current discussions held by California's Reparations Task Force.

Read More Here

New Berkeley center to explore critical issues at intersection of politics, economy

February 13, 2023

A new UC Berkeley center will convene top scholars and students across a range of disciplines to conduct high-level research on critical social challenges at the intersection of politics and economics.

Funded by a five-year, $10 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the new Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative (BESI) aims to deepen scholarship on the vitally important interplay between economic and political systems in the U.S. and worldwide....

UC Berkeley Economics Faculty Examine Ukraine's Current Situation and its Recovery Efforts

February 10, 2023

Join us for "Book Release: Rebuilding Ukraine: Principles and Policies", a lecture featuring three distinguished UC Berkeley Economics Faculty: Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Barry Eichengreen, and Gérard Roland.

With a clearer outlook and major developments (for example, Ukraine is now a candidate country to join the European Union), there is an urgent need to lay the groundwork for...

Economy and Society Initiative to Launch at UC Berkeley

February 9, 2023

Logos matrix LS

Economy and Society Initiative to Launch at UC Berkeley

A major grant from the Hewlett Foundation will support a new hub for research and teaching focused on the intersection of economics and government.


BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
— The University of California, Berkeley is launching a new research center...

Caleb Dawson, BSC Dissertation Fellow, Discusses the Cost that Black People Face for Caring in the University

February 7, 2023

Join us TOMORROW for "Caught Caring: (Un)freedom and the Costs of Service Labor in the University", a panel discussion about the costs that Black people face for caring in the university.

Panelists

Caleb Dawson, Abolition Democracy Dissertation Fellow, Black Studies Collaboratory and Ph.D. Candidate in Critical Studies of Race, Class, and Gender in the Graduate School of Education, UC Berkeley Adia Harvey Wingfield,Professor of Arts and Sciences and Vice Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity,...