Special Event
Recap
Published October 29, 2021
Music, the Diaspora, and the World: A Conversation with Angélique Kidjo
In this conversation, recorded on October 28, 2021, the University of California, Berkeley's Social Science Matrix, together with the Townsend Center for the Humanities, Cal Performances, and the Black Studies Collaboratory, took advantage of the precious artist-in-residency of Angélique Kidjo on the UC Berkeley campus to open a conversation about the global circulation of African musical forms and musicians, its worldwide significance, and its social power.
Learn More >Podcast
Interview
Published October 12, 2021
Politics of Indigeneity in El Salvador
In this episode of the Matrix podcast, Julia Sizek, PhD candidate in anthropology, interviews Hector Callejas, a PhD candidate in Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley and a 2021-2022 ACLS/Mellon Dissertation Completion fellow. Sizek and Callejas discuss how Indigeneity is understood in El Salvador, as well as contemporary Indigenous movements in El Salvador.
Learn More >Matrix On Point
Recap
Published September 13, 2021
Matrix on Point: Leaving Afghanistan
On September 7, 2021, UC Berkeley’s Social Science Matrix and the Institute of International Studies (IIS) hosted a panel discussion, “Matrix on Point: Leaving Afghanistan,” that featured a group of scholars examining the geopolitical and humanitarian consequences of the end of the 20-year war in Afghanistan. The panel featured Omar Sharifi, from American University of Afghanistan; Robert Crews, from Stanford University; Dipali Mukhopadhyay, from the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs; and Georgi Derluguian, from NYU Abu Dhabi. UC Berkeley's Daniel Sargent, moderated. Watch the video, or listen to the discussion as a podcast.
Learn More >Podcast
Interview
Published September 9, 2021
Matrix Podcast: Interview with Juliana Friend, PhD Candidate, Anthropology
In this podcast, Julia Sizek interviews Juliana Friend, a PhD candidate in the UC Berkeley Department of Anthropology, whose research focuses on the intersection of technology, privacy, and culture. Her dissertation, “Don’t Click Here! Porn, Privacy, and Digital Dissidence in Senegal,” examines how digital dissidents are transforming the idea of sutura (discretion or modesty), a concept used to describe the appropriate relationship between private and public life in Senegal.
Learn More >Cities
Interview
Published September 1, 2021
A Photographic Interview: Kaily Heitz on Black Oakland
Kaily Heitz, who earned her PhD from the UC Berkeley Department of Geography in 2021, studies how concepts of Blackness and Black culture are deployed in the making and marketing of Oakland, California. Her dissertation, entitled “Oakland is a Vibe: Blackness, Cultural Framings and Emancipations of The Town,” draws on Black feminist geographies and media studies to understand contemporary conflicts over gentrification in “The Town.” This interview by Julia Sizek, a PhD candidate in the UC Berkeley Department of Anthropology, revolves around images from Kaily’s work that help reveal the arguments of her work.
Learn More >Matrix On Point
Recap
Published April 15, 2021
The Long History and Present Surge of Anti-Asian Violence
Recorded on April 1, 2021, this panel — presented as part of the Berkeley Conversations and Matrix on Point series — considered the long history of anti-Asian racism and present-day patterns linked to the pandemic and to cultural anxieties about Asian ascendancy and Western decline.
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Interview
Published March 30, 2021
Matrix Podcast: Interview with Brittany Birberick
In this episode, Professor Michael Watts interviews Brittany Birberick, an anthropology PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley — and a former Matrix Dissertation Fellow. Birberick's dissertation project focuses on urban transformation in Johannesburg, South Africa. More broadly, she writes and thinks about economies, migration, temporality, and aesthetics within an urban context.
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Interview
Published September 30, 2020
Matrix Podcast: Interview with Leigh Raiford
In this episode, Michael Watts interviews Leigh Raiford, Associate Professor of African American Studies at UC Berkeley and author of "Imprisoned in a Luminous Glare: Photography and the African American Freedom Struggle," finalist for the 2011 Berkshire Conference of Women Historians First Book Prize.
Learn More >COVID-19
Article
Published May 6, 2020
Disaster Preparedness and Seeking Equity Amidst COVID-19
An interview with Sarah Vaughn, Assistant Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Anthropology, on how different communities prepare for and respond to pandemics and disasters.
Learn More >Health
Published April 13, 2020
Hand-washing in the Time of COVID-19
In the era of COVID-19, the public health directive to "wash your hands" is a challenge for people with limited access to clean water, writes UC Berkeley researcher Isha Ray.
Learn More >Cities
Article
Published April 8, 2020
Gangs, Labor Mobility, and Development
A Q&A with Carlos Schmidt-Padilla, PhD Candidate in the UC Berkeley Department of Political Science, on his research showing the staggering economic toll of living within gang-controlled territory.
Learn More >Other Events
Recap
Published March 16, 2020
Immigration and the American Ethos
A panel discussion on the book Immigration and the American Ethos, by Morris Levy, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Southern California, and Matthew Wright, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia.
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