Faculty

UC Berkeley lecturer Melanie Acosta remembers when everything changed for her. She was working as a professional singer in New York City at the time of the September 11, 2001, attacks. At the time, Acosta felt the only people doing meaningful work were the first responders.

Not long after, Acosta got a job on the “Broadway Celebrates America” tour. The cast would travel to different towns, perform a concert about...

Linguistics Professor Gašper Beguš was featured in an article in The Guardian titled, "Sperm whales change ‘vowel’ sounds when boats are nearby, scientists discover."

Sperm whales produce a specific pattern of clicking noises when they hear the noise of boats, researchers have found. The pattern is so distinct that the scientists who identified it said they can now use it to predict when ships are nearby.

Researchers from...

Beyond the barbecues, fireworks and other festivities, the United States’ 250th birthday was cause for many Americans to reflect on the nation’s founding, identity and future.

While many stories retold around the Fourth emphasize gritty colonists fighting for the ideals of freedom against a vast British Empire — stories populated with tri-corner hats, hand-sewn flags and crates of dumped tea — historians continue to examine the more complex histories behind the founding and the events that followed for the next 250 years. They challenge us to...

History Professor Mark Brilliant authored an op-ed in The Mercury News titled, "America is always a work in progress."

The U.S. celebrated its 250th birthday with the level of patriotism at a new low and the partisan divide over who feels it at a new high. This growing sense of “national shame,” ...