Grad Student Profile
Interview
Published November 3, 2021
Land, Camps, and the Remains: Heba Alnajada on the History of Syrian Refugee Camps
Heba Alnajada is a Ph.D. Candidate in Architecture History at the University of California, Berkeley, and a 2021-2022 ACLS/Mellon Fellow. Her dissertation project situates the Syrian refugee crisis within an architectural and socio-legal history that spans from the late Ottoman period to present-day Jordan. Social Science Matrix content curator Julia Sizek interviewed Alnajada about her research, using images from her dissertation.
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 >Postcolonialism
Recap
Published March 10, 2020
Eros Ideologies: Writings on Art, Spirituality, and the Decolonial
Recorded on February 27, 2020, this “Authors Meet Critics” discussion focused on Professor Laura Eliza Pérez's book Eros Ideologies: Writings on Art, Spirituality, and the Decolonial (Duke University Press). Pérez, Professor of Ethnic Studies and and Chair of the Latinx Research Center, was joined by Natalia Brizuela and Julia Bryan-Wilson.
Learn More >Solidarity
Published March 22, 2018
Threatened Scholars
Recorded on February 27, 2018, panelists discuss the various types of threats facing scholars around the world, as well as as solutions that have been developed by governments, academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations, including Scholars at Risk, which works to protect threatened scholars and promote academic freedom around the world.
Learn More >Other Events
Recap
Published March 9, 2017
Clair Brown, “Buddhist Economics”
On March 2, 2017, Clair Brown, Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Work, Technology, and Society at UC Berkeley, discussed her new book, Buddhist Economics: An Enlightened Approach to the Dismal Science.
Learn More >Grants and Opportunities
News
Published October 10, 2016
Matrix Welcomes 2016-2017 Dissertation Fellows
Social Science Matrix is honored to welcome our inaugural group of Matrix Dissertation Fellows, five Ph.D. students whose research has strong potential to generate effective solutions to critical global challenges.
Learn More >Interview
Article
Published September 6, 2016
Karen Barkey: “Shared Sacred Sites”
Dr. Karen Barkey, a sociologist joining UC Berkeley in Fall 2016, directs the Shared Sacred Sites initiative, which uses digital humanities methods to present fieldwork on sacred sites shared by different religious communities.
Learn More >Grants and Opportunities
Published October 4, 2015
Hanks Receives Staley Book Prize
Congratulations to William F. Hanks, UC Berkeley Distinguished Chair in Linguistic Anthropology and Director of Social Science Matrix, for receiving the 2015 J.I. Staley Book Prize, one of the most prestigious prizes in the field of anthropology.
Learn More >Culture
Published April 15, 2015
Thomas Laqueur: “Long Live the Dead”
In a forthcoming book, UC Berkeley Professor of History Thomas Laqueur examines how the peculiar relationship between the living and dead has evolved over time.
Learn More >Research Highlights
Article
Published March 30, 2015
Kerwin Klein: “Mountain Views”
Europeans used to regard mountains as fearsome and unapproachable, but this perception has shifted over time, says UC Berkeley Professor of History Kerwin Klein.
Learn More >