Social Sciences

The complex story of how the pandemic impacted the Asian American diaspora

March 25, 2025

In mid-March five years ago, President Donald Trump tweeted about the threat of a “Chinese virus.” That month marked the official beginning of a pandemic that went on longer and took a larger toll in the U.S. — on lives, the economy, mental health and our social fabric — than a naive public could anticipate. And it sparked a...

UC Berkeley study challenges the importance of listening in political persuasion

March 24, 2025

It is widely believed that receptive listening, or demonstrating openness to someone’s point of view, is key to political persuasion.

But a new study co-led by UC Berkeley Political Science Professor David Broockman suggests that signalling receptiveness during a persuasive conversation may not be as important as previously thought.

The study, titled “Listen for a change? A longitudinal field experiment on listening’s potential to enhance persuasion,” was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)...

Geography and conservation studies student awarded funding for senior honors project

March 24, 2025

In their multimedia project, por vida // for life, UC Berkeley Geography and Conservation Studies senior Jacqueline Canchola-Martinez documents the lived experiences of Latinx communities facing environmental injustice in the Central Valley. The College of Natural Resources Travel Grant, a LIFT Arts Development Grant, and the Brian Gialketsis SERQueer Scholarship helped make the project possible.

Canchola-Martinez noted that the funding is special in recognizing art as a research tool, since it is still...

WILC Co-Chair Cynthia Larsen: “It's all about finding your passion and purpose”

March 18, 2025

Cynthia Larsen ’88 J.D. ’91 is a big Cal fan. The former teacher and current academic support director met her husband at a punk show at Cal, and the couple named their daughter after architect and famous alum Julia Morgan.

When Larsen returned to the Bay Area from living in Virginia for 25 years, one of the first things she did was reconnect with UC Berkeley. This connection led Larsen to join and eventually co-chair...

Giving back to UC Berkeley Social Sciences is my family tradition

January 6, 2025

Stephan and I met in 1989 as undergraduates at UC Berkeley’s Social Sciences Division, just before the destructive Loma Prieta earthquake struck. It’s an easy anniversary to remember.

He was a political science major, and I was studying history. Stephan had plans to attend law school, but I was uncertain about my path after graduation. People often asked me, "What will you do with a history degree?" Back then, it seemed like people assumed history majors could only go into teaching.

Our time at Cal reshaped our...

AAC Brings “What is Understanding?” Conversation to L&S Staff

October 22, 2024

Aileen Liu (left), Jennifer Johnson-Hanks (middle), and Hernan Garcia speak in a panel.

On Wednesday, October 9, the College of Letters & Science Administrative Advisory Committee (AAC) hosted its inaugural L&S Brown Bag Lunch and Learn. One of several new initiatives by the recently revamped AAC, the Lunch and Learn provides L&S staff members an opportunity to connect with their colleagues and...

UC Berkeley's Stephen Small and the representation of slavery in contemporary heritage tourism

March 18, 2025
Stephen Small, African American Studies professor, speaks about his book, In the Shadows of the Big House.

In this interview, Stephen Small shares the inspirations behind In the Shadows of the Big House, a compelling and deeply researched work that examines the representation of slavery in contemporary heritage tourism. Drawing from decades of scholarly inquiry and on-the-ground research at plantation sites across the American South, Small investigates the ways in which...

With AI and linguistics, this professor is decoding how animals and humans communicate

March 13, 2025

When Gašper Beguš began studying linguistics, he spent his time deciphering ancient, largely dead languages. “Nobody cared about linguistics,” he says in this episode of 101 in 101, a series from UC Berkeley that challenges professors and other experts to distill the basics of their field of study into only 101 seconds.

But today, linguistics sits at the crossroads of numerous disciplines, including biology, law and...

Social Sciences budget director reflects on her humanitarian journey to help orphaned children in Ghana

March 12, 2025

Group picture

Group photo with kids, staff and volunteers on their last day in Ghana.

UC Berkeley Social Sciences Budget Director Zahra Rezapour embarked on a humanitarian mission to Ghana in January as part of a group with Volunteers for International Medical Aid (VIMA), an organization dedicated to supporting orphaned children and underserved communities....

Investigating the psychedelic blue lotus of Egypt, where ancient magic meets modern science

March 11, 2025

a close-up image of an Egyptian blue lotus being held by hands with black glovesFew plants are more celebrated in Egyptian mythology than the blue lotus, a stunning water lily that stars in some of archaeology’s most significant discoveries. Researchers found its petals covering the body of King Tut when they opened his tomb in 1922, and its flowers often adorn ancient papyri scrolls. Scholars have long hypothesized that the lilies, when...