Social Sciences

Anthropology Professor Kent Lightfoot receives the Society for American Archaeology’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award

May 28, 2024

UC Berkeley Anthropology Professor Kent G. Lightfoot received the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for American Archaeology for his innovative approach to combining archaeology with contemporary social justice issues which contributes new understandings of the Anthropocene era.

Professor Lightfoot’s research explores the interactions between Indigenous peoples and European settlers, highlighting the history and effects of settler colonialism. He works closely with Native Californian tribes, helping to develop new ways to...

UC Berkeley student Eli Glickman named a 2024 Truman Scholar

May 9, 2024
Eli Glickman '25, a political science and public policy major, was recently named a 2024 Harry Truman Scholar, UC Berkeley's first winner since 2019.

Truman Scholars demonstrate outstanding leadership potential, a commitment to public service, and academic excellence. Selected from 709 candidates nominated by 285 colleges and universities, this year's 60 new scholars will receive $30,000 for graduate studies, leadership training, career counseling, and internship opportunities within the federal government.

Alicia Hayes, Associate Director of National Scholarships...

Tutoring at San Quentin helped UC Berkeley's top senior define his future

May 7, 2024

Growing up in San Francisco's West Portal neighborhood, Christopher Ying had vague plans to become a lawyer and began prepping by joining the speech, debate and mock trial teams at Lowell High School.

But he credits the University of California, Berkeley, and the opportunities it provided — in particular, to report and edit for the Daily Californian and to tutor inmates at the former San Quentin State Prison — with helping him find his true passion in the legal field: giving a voice to marginalized members of society.

Those only-at-Berkeley experiences — plus a 3.981 grade...

UC Berkeley innovators featured in Pathways to Invention film

May 2, 2024

Are inventors born or made? Berkeley engineers explore that question in the award-winning documentary “Pathways to Invention,” set to premiere in May on PBS stations nationwide. The 60-minute special follows eight “modern inventors of diverse backgrounds and their journeys as they develop life-changing innovations.”

Among those profiled are Berkeley...

In tough Oakland neighborhoods, a bold project builds public safety — and hope

May 1, 2024
The Possibility Lab at UC Berkeley is tapping the expertise of hundreds of residents to learn what helps them feel safe in their everyday lives.
Annette Miller has lived much of her life in a two-story clapboard house in West Oakland, and through the decades she has seen the fortunes of her neighborhood rise and fall. But surging violence here has left a devastating personal impact: one son murdered, another son shot in the head and permanently disabled.

It seems impossible, but Miller has built strength from these tragedies, and has emerged as a community leader and educator...

From Uber ratings to credit scores: What’s lost in a society that counts and sorts everything?

April 30, 2024
In her book, UC Berkeley sociology professor Marion Fourcade investigates what our dependence on ratings and rankings means for the future of individuality and society. Have you ever hailed a ride from an unrated Uber driver? Dined at a zero-star restaurant? Made a pricey online order from the lowest-rated Amazon vendor?

Likely not. That's because rating systems have overhauled the way we travel, eat and shop. Born from the early days of e-commerce on sites like eBay, ratings help weed out scammers and lend some semblance of order to a fast-changing online marketplace.

But there...

Innovative course brings startup mentality to cognitive science

April 25, 2024

Launching a startup can be an all-encompassing endeavor, but one UC Berkeley instructor is attempting to streamline and democratize the process.

Against all odds: From the streets to UC Berkeley

April 16, 2024

Growing up in the East Bay, Michael Cerda-Jara faced adversity throughout his hardscrabble childhood. He joined a gang at the age of 13. He got into fights in school and faced expulsion multiple times.

He was lost academically because of the trouble he got into and lack of support from those around him, including his teachers. One of them, his 6th-grade teacher, once told him he “wasn’t going to end up anywhere except for prison or dead.” No one expected Cerda-Jara to amount to much and he had low expectations for himself. ...

History Professor John Connelly wins 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship

April 15, 2024

UC Berkeley History Professor John Connelly has been awarded a prestigious 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship. Connelly, who serves as the Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor of European History, has made significant contributions to the field of European history through his extensive research and publications.

He currently directs Berkeley's Institute for East European, Eurasian, and Slavic Studies. Connelly, who holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University, published works that include “Captive University: The...

Q&A: Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of ‘The Sympathizer,’ reflects on libraries, UC Berkeley, and the class that ‘radicalized’ him

April 12, 2024

Viet Thanh Nguyen emerged from UC Berkeley with more than a diploma.

In fact, he earned three (but who’s counting?) — dual bachelor’s degrees in English and ethnic studies in 1992, and a doctorate in English in ’97.

But his education wasn’t confined by the walls of a classroom.

Nguyen became steeped in activism, leaving Berkeley with “four misdemeanors, three diplomas, two arrests, and an abiding belief in solidarity, liberation, and the power of the people and the power of art,” he recalls in his memoir, 2023’s A Man of Two Faces.