Social Sciences (Faculty & Staff)

Samir Hooker’s path to higher education was anything but easy. He grew up in a neighborhood surrounded by instability and violence, and at just nine years old, he lost his father to gun violence. Not long after, his mother began a years-long struggle with chronic illness. Despite his hardships, however, Samir’s perseverance and dedication to his family drove him to keep working towards his goals.

Now, as he prepares to graduate from UC Berkeley next week with a degree in political economy, Samir is rewriting his future. Motivated by the health...

On Sundays, I used to stand in front of my Mormon congregation and declare that it all was true.

I’d climb the stairs to the pulpit and smooth my long skirt. I’d smile and share my “testimony,” as the church calls it. I’d say I knew God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, prayer, spirits and miracles were all real. I’d express gratitude for my family and for my ancestors who had left lives in Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway to pull wagons across America and build a Zion on the plains. When I had finished, I’d bask in the affirmation of the congregation’s “amen.”

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Today, we are living increasingly longer lives compared to 150 years ago. However, the question is, can that trend go on?

The Human Mortality Database (HMD), operated jointly by Berkeley Demography researchers, processes data that can help answer that question.

Co-led by Demography researcher Magali Barbieri, HMD is a collaboration between Berkeley and two other organizations, the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany and the French Institute for Demographic Studies in Paris....

There’s been a long standing debate why living standards are so different around the world. Even with talented workers, labor and capital investment, for example, there are clear economic disparities between East Africa and the United States.

UC Berkeley economics Professor Miguel’s research indicates that part of the answer could be something called “slack.” This occurs when workers or resources are underutilized due to low or inconsistent customer demand.

Professor Miguel focused his research on Kenya in...