New Directions
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Event Date: March 10th, 2026
12:00 PM to 1:30 PM PT
New Directions: Colonial Legacies, Post-Colonial Perspectives
Colonial legacies continue to shape political, social, and intellectual life. While colonialism is often treated as a historical period, its structures and logics persist in contemporary debates around race, territory, knowledge, and power. This panel — part of the Social Science Matrix New Directions series — will bring together UC Berkeley graduate students from anthropology, geography, and sociology to examine how colonial histories are reproduced, contested, and reimagined across different contexts.
Learn More >Book Talk
Recap
Published April 17, 2023
The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to Democracy
Recorded on March 23, 2023, this talk featured Phil Gorski, Frederick and Laura Goff Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies at Yale University, discussing his new book (co-authored with Samuel Perry), The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to Democracy. The respondent was David Hollinger, Preston Hotchkis Professor Emeritus of History at UC Berkeley. Carolyn Chen, Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion and Professor of Ethnic Studies, moderated.
Learn More >Matrix On Point
Recap
Published April 17, 2023
Matrix on Point: Wealth and Taxes
Recorded on April 3, 2023, this panel featured Duncan Wigan from Copenhagen Business School and UC Berkeley's Gabriel Zucman discussing aspects of the global ecosystem of tax avoidance, including how corporations and individuals move across multiple legal jurisdictions to maintain wealth and avoid paying taxes. Moderated by Marion Fourcade, Director of Social Science Matrix.
Learn More >Social Science / Data Science
Recap
Published April 15, 2023
Jo Guldi: Towards a Practice of Text Mining to Understand Change Over Historical Time
Recorded on March 8, 2023, this video features a lecture by Jo Guldi, Professor of History and Practicing Data Scientist at Southern Methodist University. Co-sponsored by Social Science Matrix, the UC Berkeley Department of History, and D-Lab, the talk was presented as part of the Social Science / Data Science event series.
Learn More >Lecture
Recap
Published April 15, 2023
Jo Guldi, “The Long Land War: The Global Struggle for Occupancy Rights”
Most nations in Asia, Latin America, and Africa experienced some form of “land reform” in the 20th century. But what is land reform? In her book, The Long Land War: The Global Struggle for Occupancy Rights, Professor Jo Guldi approaches the problem from the point of view of Britain’s disintegrating empire. She makes the case that land […]
Learn More >Panel
Recap
Published April 15, 2023
Economics and Geopolitics in US International Relations: China, Europe, and the Global South
The pandemic and the war in Ukraine have reshaped global geopolitics, trade, and security. How will these changes affect the relationship between the US and China, Europe, and the Global South? How will they impact US firms operating globally, and how might foreign leaders — and notably the Chinese leadership — respond? Recorded on […]
Learn More >Matrix On Point
Recap
Published April 15, 2023
Matrix on Point: Myths and Misinformation
In this panel, recorded on March 15, 2023, a group of scholars who study false histories and conspiracy theories discussed how misinformation circulates, and the effects of such myths and stories on society.
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