Social Sciences (Faculty & Staff)

Most Californians oppose cash reparations for slave descendants, IGS Poll finds

September 12, 2023
Edward Lempinem

California voters are broadly opposed to paying the state’s Black residents to compensate for the longstanding harms of slavery, with opposition extending across party lines, according to a new poll released by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies.

The IGS Poll found that 60% of Californians acknowledge the deep and continuing human damage caused by centuries of slavery and the segregation and persecution of Black people that continued long after slavery legally ended in 1865. But strong...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/09/12/Most-Californians-oppose-cash-reparations-f…

UC Berkeley historian of science ponders AI's past, present and future

September 11, 2023
Jason Pohl

Headshot of Cathryn CarsonIt doesn’t take long for a conversation about artificial intelligence to take a dark turn.

New technology poses a greater threat than climate change, some have said. It poses...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/09/11/UC-Berkeley-historian-of-science-ponders-AI…

Social Sciences welcomes new faculty

August 24, 2023
Kenny Ma

Headshot of Tianna Bruno

Twelve new scholars have joined the Berkeley Social Sciences faculty as assistant professors in political science, anthropology, gender and women’s studies, sociology, history, ethnic studies, economics and geography. They bring passion, brilliance and commitment to the Social Sciences. Learn more about them ...

“This program is truly a gift:” CogSci Career Catalyst offers professional opportunities for students

September 6, 2023
by Alexander Rony

"This program created a real impact in my career trajectory." - Angel Xu '23

Students from around the world have returned to UC Berkeley to start the fall semester, and many are bringing lessons from summer internships with them. These valuable...

Berkeley history professor receives NEH grant for groundbreaking project on Istanbul's Greek Orthodox communities in the 19th and 20th centuries

August 15, 2023
Kenny Ma

UC Berkeley History Professor Christine Philliou has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for a 3-year research project to create a comprehensive, public-facing website to build new types of knowledge and raise public awareness about Istanbul and its constituent Orthodox Christian communities in the 19th and 20th centuries. The project, titled "Visualizing...

https://www.neh.gov/news/neh-announces-413-million-280-humanities-projects-natio…

UC Berkeley launches AI training program to address criminal justice system inequalities with support from $3M NSF grant

August 24, 2023
Kenny Ma

Working with technology

UC Berkeley researchers launched a pioneering interdisciplinary training program this week that will blend criminal justice and computer science in ways that experts say will help reduce long-standing, systemic inequities in the criminal legal system.

The program, called Computational...

https://new.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/nrt/nsf-invests-63-million-stem-research…

Anthropology professor publishes two papers that offer key insights into mental health equity in Africa

August 11, 2023
Kenny Ma

Two groundbreaking research papers by UC Berkeley Anthropology Professor Andrew Wooyoung Kim reveal transformative insights into mental health, focusing on the intergenerational effects of mental well-being in Uganda and resilient coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic in metro Johannesburg, South Africa.

Titled ...

Student Sofia Liashcheva: Honoring my Russian culture through art and activism

March 15, 2022
Ivan Natividad

As a Russian immigrant experiencing economic woes, Sofia Liashcheva expressed herself through art. As a UC Berkeley student, she speaks out against the war in Ukraine: “There is no excuse for the war, and I will do what I can to speak out against it. Because I stand with Ukraine.”

This I’m A Berkeleyan feature was written as a first-person narrative from an interview with student Sofia Liashcheva, a first-year cognitive science major. Have someone you think we should write about? Contact news@berkeley.edu...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2022/03/15/student-sofia-liashcheva-honoring-my-russia…

Economic Power amid Geopolitical Competition—A Conversation with Barry Eichengreen

August 10, 2022
Jeff Rathke

In a stark display of their economic power following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States and its allies deployed an array of sanctions aimed at curtailing Russia’s access to global financial markets and industrial supply chains. These unprecedented economic sanctions are intended to diminish the resources Russia has available to prosecute its war. While the moves have demonstrated a high degree of allied cooperation, they have also heightened debate about the relative effectiveness of economic measures aimed to induce peaceful behavior or to deter hostilities vs. as punishment...

https://aicgs.org/by-author/barry-eichengreen/

Nine UC Berkeley faculty members, seven of whom are L&S faculty, have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

May 3, 2022
Hagit Caspi

Nine UC Berkeley faculty members, seven of whom are L&S faculty, have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), bringing the total number of living AAAS members at Berkeley to about 275. This year, the following L&S members were elected:

Wendy Brown, Berkeley professor emerita of political science and currently the UPS Foundation Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey

Lauren Edelman, the...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2022/04/28/nine-faculty-members-elected-to-american-ac…