UC Berkeley’s flagship institute for social science research

Our purpose is captured in our name: we provide an organizational framework—a “matrix”—that supports cross-disciplinary research pursued by social scientists across the University of California, Berkeley campus and beyond.

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.

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Matrix On Point

Recap

Published October 29, 2019

Matrix on Point: Brexit

The end of October 2019 marks the deadline for Brexit ("British Exit"), when the United Kingdom is scheduled to leave the European Union. Following a revolt from within his own party, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has failed in his efforts to move ahead without a "backstop" and called a General Election for December 12. What's next for Brexit? And how might Brexit transform political and economic life in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the world? On October 24, three distinguished scholars—Mark Bevir, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for British Studies, Akasemi Newsome, Associate Director of the Institute of European Studies, and Ian Duncan, Florence Green Bixby Chair in the English Department—took on this important topic as part of "Matrix On Point," a new brown-bag series that promotes focused, cross-disciplinary conversations on today’s most pressing contemporary issues.

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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

Published October 15, 2019

The Populist Temptation

Recorded on October 3, 2019, this "Authors Meet Critics" panel centered on Professor Barry Eichengreen's book, The Populist Temptation: Economic Grievance and Political Reaction in the Modern Era.

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Other Events

Recap

Published October 7, 2019

Will It Still Be The Economy, Stupid, In 2020?

Recorded on September 24, 2019, this panel discussion featured distinguished political scientists discussing the role the economy is likely to play in the 2020 elections.

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Economy

Article

Published September 16, 2019

Q&A: Professor Barry Eichengreen

A Q&A with Professor Barry Eichengreen, author of The Populist Temptation: Economic Grievance and Political Reaction in the Modern Era.

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Matrix News

News

Published August 27, 2019

Call for Proposals: Pop-Up Writing Workshops

Matrix invites proposals for single-session writing workshops for the 2019-2020 academic year.

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Grants and Opportunities

News

Published July 31, 2019

Erasmus+ Mobility Grants Awarded

EU-funded program supports exchange between faculty, staff, and students from UC Berkeley and Freie Universität Berlin.

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