All events

Heated Debates: Conversations about Climate Change

Panel Discussion | April 16 | 3-9 p.m. | ASUC Stores (King Student Union), Pauley Ballroom

Featured Speakers:  Jameson McBride, Energy and Climate Analyst, Breakthrough Institute; Steven Greenhut, Western Region Director, R-Street Institute; Wynn Tucker, Senior Program Associate, Climate Leadership Council; Spencer Smith, Founder, Jefferson Center for Holistic Management; Dr. Lynn Huntsinger, Professor of Rangeland Ecology and Management, UC Berkeley; Kevin Bayuk, Senior Fellow, Drawdown; Paige Stanley, PhD Student, UC Berkeley; Dan Kreeger, Executive Director, Association of Climate Change Officers; Dr. Kristina Hill, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning and Urban Design, UC Berkeley; Dr. Michael Mascarenhas, Associate Professor in Environmental, Science, Policy and Management Department, UC Berkeley; Mel Krnjaic, Graduate Student, UC Berkeley; Mitch Hescox, President/C.E.O., The Evangelical Network; Debbie Dooley, Founder, Conservatives for Energy Freedom; Benji Backer, Founder and President, American Conservation Coalition; Nina Jhunjnuwala, ASUC Senator, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  BridgeUSA

Bridge USA at Berkeley is incredibly excited to bring you Heated Debates: Conversations about Climate Change. This event will serve to highlight solutions to climate change consistent with a diversity of political leanings and empower Cal students to be able to engage in constructive discourse on this divisive issue with their political opposites.

Heated Debates will feature panels of speakers...   More >

Attendance restrictions:  Free admission for students with ID.

Tickets required: FREE UC Berkeley Students/Faculty/Staff, $15 General Admission

Ticket info:   Buy tickets online

Elephant's Dream

Film - Documentary | April 16 | 6-8 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Featured Speaker:  Kristof Bilsen, Filmaker, Director, Co-Producer

Moderators:  Dr. Ann A. Laudati, Ciriacy-Wanthrup Research Fellow, Department of Geography, UCB; Adam Clemons, Librarian for African and African American Studies, UC Berkeley Library

Sponsors:  Center for African Studies, Free Speech Movement Café Educational Programs, Department of Geography

The Republic of Congo is a country mainly represented by stories of violence, rape, rebels and crime. In Elephant’s Dream, director Kristof Bilsen takes us beyond these usual reports and provides poetic and compassionate insight into a country in transition.

Kristof Bilsen (Director, Co-Producer) completed a filmmaking BA in Brussels (2002) and then worked as a cinematographer, editor and...   More >

Elephant's Dream: A Film by Kristof Bilsen

Film - Documentary | April 16 | 6-8 p.m. | Doe Library, Room 180

Featured Speaker:  Kristof Bilsen, Director/Producer

Sponsors:  Free Speech Movement Café Educational Programs, Department of Geography, Center for African Studies

Set in war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Elephant's Dream is a breath-taking documentary that captures the daily lives of Congolese street-level civil servants in Kinshasa and Bas-Congo. Discussion with the director/producer to follow. Free to the public. For more information please contact us: fsmprograms@lists.berkeley.edu, 510-768-7618.

ISF 110 - Free Speech in the Public Sphere: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Course | January 16 – May 3, 2018 every Tuesday & Thursday | 2-3:30 p.m. | 102 Wurster Hall

Sponsor:  Division of Undergraduate Education

In this spring 2018 class, we shall take up the nature of public speech from Socrates' public dissent to social media messaging today. The course reading will combine classic philosophical statements about the value of free, subversive and offensive speech; histories of the emergence of public spheres; and sociologies of technologically-mediated speech today.

Why the Status of Women Matters for National Progress: Rachel Vogelstein at the Berkeley Forum

Lecture | April 17 | 6-7:30 p.m. | 125 Morrison Hall

Speaker/Performer:  Rachel Vogelstein, Council on Foreign Relations

Sponsor:  The Berkeley Forum

With the resurgence of women's rights movement, thanks to the #MeToo campaign and the Women's March on Washington, the status of women has risen to the top of the national and global dialogue. Rachel Vogelstein has spent her career working to elevate the status of women both at home and abroad, as an official at the State Department, the White House Council for Women and Girls, and as a senior...   More >

Tickets recommended: Free

Ticket info:   Buy tickets online

ISF 110 - Free Speech in the Public Sphere: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Course | January 16 – May 3, 2018 every Tuesday & Thursday | 2-3:30 p.m. | 102 Wurster Hall

Sponsor:  Division of Undergraduate Education

In this spring 2018 class, we shall take up the nature of public speech from Socrates' public dissent to social media messaging today. The course reading will combine classic philosophical statements about the value of free, subversive and offensive speech; histories of the emergence of public spheres; and sociologies of technologically-mediated speech today.

Parties and Partisanship in the Era of Twitter and Trump: 21st Annual Travers Conference on Ethics and Accountability in Government

Conference/Symposium | April 20 | 10:15 a.m.-4:30 p.m. |  The Bancroft Hotel

Location:  2680 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA

Sponsor:  Institute of Governmental Studies and the Commonwealth Club of California

An exploration of how social media and societal trends have challenged the power of American political parties and re-shaped the nature of the American’s partisan attachments.

ISF 110 - Free Speech in the Public Sphere: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Course | January 16 – May 3, 2018 every Tuesday & Thursday | 2-3:30 p.m. | 102 Wurster Hall

Sponsor:  Division of Undergraduate Education

In this spring 2018 class, we shall take up the nature of public speech from Socrates' public dissent to social media messaging today. The course reading will combine classic philosophical statements about the value of free, subversive and offensive speech; histories of the emergence of public spheres; and sociologies of technologically-mediated speech today.

ISF 110 - Free Speech in the Public Sphere: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Course | January 16 – May 3, 2018 every Tuesday & Thursday | 2-3:30 p.m. | 102 Wurster Hall

Sponsor:  Division of Undergraduate Education

In this spring 2018 class, we shall take up the nature of public speech from Socrates' public dissent to social media messaging today. The course reading will combine classic philosophical statements about the value of free, subversive and offensive speech; histories of the emergence of public spheres; and sociologies of technologically-mediated speech today.

Erwin Chemerinsky and Nadine Strossen: Resisting Hate with Free Speech

Panel Discussion | April 28 | 10-11:15 a.m. |  Freight & Salvage

Sponsor:  Arts + Design

The question of limits on free speech has recently occupied our nation’s consciousness—as well as the physical streets of Berkeley. The American Civil Liberties Union has worked for nearly 100 years to arbitrate this question in times of intense political division, and now Nadine Strossen, former president of the ACLU, joins us to to present “HATE: Why We Should Resist it With Free Speech, Not...   More >

ISF 110 - Free Speech in the Public Sphere: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Course | January 16 – May 3, 2018 every Tuesday & Thursday | 2-3:30 p.m. | 102 Wurster Hall

Sponsor:  Division of Undergraduate Education

In this spring 2018 class, we shall take up the nature of public speech from Socrates' public dissent to social media messaging today. The course reading will combine classic philosophical statements about the value of free, subversive and offensive speech; histories of the emergence of public spheres; and sociologies of technologically-mediated speech today.

ISF 110 - Free Speech in the Public Sphere: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Course | January 16 – May 3, 2018 every Tuesday & Thursday | 2-3:30 p.m. | 102 Wurster Hall

Sponsor:  Division of Undergraduate Education

In this spring 2018 class, we shall take up the nature of public speech from Socrates' public dissent to social media messaging today. The course reading will combine classic philosophical statements about the value of free, subversive and offensive speech; histories of the emergence of public spheres; and sociologies of technologically-mediated speech today.

Zuguleaiñ - We Will Speak: Film Screening and Discussion

Film - Documentary | June 14 | 6-8 p.m. |  Hearst Museum of Anthropology

Speakers/Performers:  Kelly Baur; Carolina Kürrüf

Sponsors:  Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, Wallmapu Support Committee

In 2015, a group of Mapuche university students organized the first ever Mapuche language revitalization camp. Over 50 students from across Chile came together for one month to be a part of the struggle to learn and preserve the indigenous Mapuche language. This documentary follows the stories of four participants over the course of three years in their process of decolonization by way of...   More >

Navigating Bureaucracy and Generating Vulnerability at an Agri-environmental Research Institute

Colloquium | September 10 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker:  Tim McLellan, Center for Chinese Studies Postdoctoral Fellow, 2018-2019

Panelist/Discussant:  Rachel Stern, Professor, School of Law, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

Conducting research in China throws up numerous headaches, from acquiring official invitation letters and securing permissions for field research to navigating the anti-corruption measures that govern the use of research funding. One well-documented strategy for overcoming such challenges is to leverage informal social relationships (guanxi) with government officials to circumvent formal rules...   More >

Roxane Gay: With One N: Presented by Berkeley Center for New Media

Lecture | September 10 | 6:30-8 p.m. |  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Speaker/Performer:  Roxane Gay

Sponsors:  Arts + Design, Berkeley Center for New Media

Roxane Gay is an author and cultural critic whose writing is unmatched and widely revered. Her work garners international acclaim for its reflective, no-holds-barred exploration of feminism and social criticism. With a deft eye on modern culture, she brilliantly critiques its ebb and flow with both wit and ferocity.

Words like “courage,” “humor,” and “smart” are frequently deployed when...   More >

Investing in People: Jefferson Memorial Lecture featuring Michael Tubbs

Lecture | September 13 | 4:10 p.m. | International House, Chevron Auditorium | Canceled

Speaker:  Michael Tubbs, Mayor, City of Stockton

Sponsor:  Graduate Division

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
Mayor Michael Tubbs will present the Jefferson lecture on Thursday, September 13, 2018, in conjunction with the observance of Constitution Day. The lecture, entitled "Investing in People," will be held in the Chevron Auditorium of International House and is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

Patricia Williams in Conversation with Ramona Naddaff: When Not to Write Like a Lawyer: The Art of Genre Transgression

Lecture | September 14 | 4 p.m. | Stephens Hall, Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall

Sponsor:  Townsend Center for the Humanities

Patricia Williams is the James L. Dohr Professor of Law at Columbia University. A scholar of race, gender, and law, she is a prolific writer across a variety of genres. Her books include The Alchemy of Race and Rights and Open House: Of Family, Food, Piano Lessons, and The Search for a Room of My Own. She is a columnist for the Nation.

Presidential Power and Individual Rights: a discussion with Prof. Daniel Farber in Honor of Constitution Day

Lecture | September 25 | 6-7:30 p.m. |  Free Speech Movement Café (Moffitt Library)

Speaker/Performer:  Prof. Daniel Farber, Berkeley Law

Sponsor:  Free Speech Movement Café Educational Programs

Presidential power is always a hot topic, but never more so than today. This lecture will explain the constitutional limits on the President and how individual rights are affected. The President is uniquely powerful -- but not above the law. Come to learn about the expansion and limits of presidential power and its impact on American people.

Dan Farber, Berkeley Law

Dan Farber is the Sho...   More >

Townsend Center's Berkeley Book Chat: Francine Masiello: The Senses of Democracy: Perception, Politics, and Culture in Latin America

Lecture | September 26 | 12-1 p.m. | Stephens Hall, Geballe Room

Sponsor:  Townsend Center for the Humanities

Masiello explores the textual and visual representation of the senses during moments of crisis in Latin America from the early nineteenth century to the present.

Revolutionary Blackness in the Soviet Imagination

Lecture | September 27 | 3:30-5 p.m. | 300 Wheeler Hall

Speaker:  Jonathan Flatley, Professor of English, Wayne State University

Sponsors:  Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ISEEES), Department of English, Townsend Center for the Humanities, Department of Comparative Literature

In the present moment, amidst a global rise of white supremacy and racism, this paper recalls a moment of state supported global anti-racism. It focuses on the work of Soviet artist Victor Koretsky, whose posters from the from the 1930s to the 1970s present black revolutionaries combating racist imperial capital around the world. My hope is that his work may stimulate our political imaginaries,...   More >

Why Free Speech Matters Now: Lauren Cooley at the Berkeley Forum

Lecture | October 1 | 6-7:30 p.m. | 125 Morrison Hall

Speaker/Performer:  Lauren Cooley, Red Alert Politics Editor at the Washington Examiner

Sponsor:  The Berkeley Forum

While freedom of speech is upheld legally by the Constitution and the Supreme Court, the First Amendment is on trial in American culture - especially on campus. Join Lauren Cooley, editor at the Washington Examiner, at the Berkeley Forum as she speaks about the need for civil discourse and deep conversations, especially in higher education. In this talk, Lauren Cooley will separate emotion from...   More >

Tickets recommended:  Free

Ticket info:   Buy tickets online

Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America

Colloquium | October 4 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 2538 Channing (Inst. for the Study of Societal Issues), Wildavsky Conference Room

Speaker:  Kathleen Belew, Assistant Professor, Kathleen Belew, Assistant Professor of History and the College, University of Chicago

Sponsors:  Center for Right-Wing Studies, Department of Sociology, Department of History

The white power movement in America wants a revolution. It has declared all-out war against the federal government and its agents, and has carried out—with military precision—an escalating campaign of terror against the American public. Its soldiers are not lone wolves but are highly organized cadres motivated by a coherent and deeply troubling worldview of white supremacy, anticommunism, and...   More >

Why the Common Good Disappeared and How We Get It Back

Lecture | October 12 | 1-2 p.m. |  Hertz Concert Hall

Sponsor:  Goldman School of Public Policy

The Class of '68 50th Reunion Lecture
HOMECOMING WEEKEND, OCTOBER 12-14, 2018

PROFESSOR ROBERT B. REICH ignites a discussion of the good we have had in common, what happened to it, and what we might do to restore it. His goal is not that we all agree on the common good. It is that we get into the habit of thinking and talking about it, listening to each other’s views and providing a means for...   More >

“I don't want to be a publisher!” Regulating liability for the sticky parts: An exploration of CDA Section 230, sex work, and user content

Seminar | October 12 | 3:10-5 p.m. | 107 South Hall

Speaker:  Peter Brantley

Sponsor:  Information, School of

Threats to information sharing, users, and free speech

2018 CAL Ballot Breakdown: Boots on the Ground: Your Vote Counts

Special Event | October 23 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 150 University Hall

Speaker/Performer:  Dan Morain, Senior Editor, CALmatters

Sponsor:  Public Health, School of

Do you want to make a real impact on important issues of health and social justice in California? Do you care about affordable housing, mental health, access to safe and clean drinking water, treatment of farm animals?

Come to University Hall 150 on Tuesday, October 23 from 4:00-5:30 PM to learn about the 2018 California ballot initiatives at this session led by Dan Morain from CALMatters, an...   More >

We the People: Raising Our Voices: with Erwin Chemerinsky and Jeffrey Edleson

Panel Discussion | October 23 | 7 p.m. |  JCC East Bay, Berkeley Branch

Location:  1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA, CA 94709

Panelist/Discussants:  Jeffrey Edleson, Dean, School of Social Welfare; Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, Boalt Law School

Sponsor:  Social Welfare, School of

An intimate discussion with Erwin Chemerinsky (dean of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law) and Jeffrey Edleson (dean and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Social Welfare)
The foremost authority of the first amendment and free speech (Chemerinsky) and a leading expert on domestic abuse (Edleson) discuss the rights and privileges of our voices—how...   More >

Registration recommended: $12.00 Members $15.00 Public

Townsend Center's Berkeley Book Chat: Hertha Sweet Wong: Picturing Identity: Contemporary American Autobiography in Image and Text

Lecture | October 24 | 12-1 p.m. | Stephens Hall, Geballe Room

Sponsor:  Townsend Center for the Humanities

Wong explores the intersection of writing and visual art in the autobiographical work of Art Spiegelman, Faith Ringgold, Leslie Marmon Silko, and other American writers-artists who experiment with hybrid forms of self-narration.

Free Speech Movement Cafe Educational Programs Presents… 50 Years of 1968: A Conversation with Bobby Seale, Max Elbaum, and Watson Ladd

Panel Discussion | October 25 | 6-7:30 p.m. |  Free Speech Movement Café (Moffitt Library)

Speakers/Performers:  Bobby Seale; Max Elbaum; Watson Ladd

Sponsor:  Free Speech Movement Café Educational Programs

For half a century, 1968 has represented a high-water mark of social and political transformation, a year of social upheaval that spanned the entire globe. Ushered in by a New Left that sought to distinguish itself from the Old Left that emerged in the 1920s and ’30s, the monumental events of 1968 set the tone for everything from protest politics to academic leftism.

Today, with the U.S....   More >

Attendance restrictions:  The Library attempts to offer programs in accessible, barrier-free settings. If you think you may require disability-related accommodations, including sign-language interpretation, please contact the event sponsor, fsmprograms@lists.berkeley.edu, ideally

2018 Human Rights Fellowship Conference

Conference/Symposium | October 26 | 12-5 p.m. | 215 Boalt Hall, School of Law

Panelist/Discussants:  Heba Alnajada; Safa Ansari-Bayegan; Pieter Baker; Karin Bashir; Tania Docarmo; Derrika Hunt; Seigi Karasaki; Jennifer Jones; Bernadette Lim; Sammy Mehtar; Sophie Perl; Raed Rafei; Olivia Rempel; Aleksandra Simonova; Mavis Siu; Yasemin Taskin-Alp; Levi Vonk

Sponsor:  Human Rights Center

Our 2018 Fellows have returned from their summer fieldwork and will discuss pressing human rights topics at our annual Human Rights Fellowship Conference. Enjoy brief TED-style talks and panel
discussions related to racial injustice and the death penalty, child
labor, the mental health effects of separating families at the
U.S./Mexico border as well as inspirational lessons from human rights...   More >

RSVP recommended 

RSVP info:   RSVP online

Book Talk: Power Shift: How Latinos in California Transformed Politics in America

Lecture | October 26 | 3-4:30 p.m. | 109 Moses Hall

Panelist/Discussants:  David R. Ayón, Author; George L. Pla, Author

Moderator:  Lisa García Bedolla, IGS Director

Sponsor:  Institute of Governmental Studies

Come join us for a dialogue among authors David R. Ayón and George L. Pla and IGS Director Lisa García Bedolla.

Register at: bit.ly/PowerShiftBook

Organized by the Institute of Governmental Studies and the Matsui Center.

Free Speech and Voting Rally

Special Event | October 29 | 12-1 p.m. | Sproul Plaza, Savio Steps

Speakers:  Lynne Savio, widow of Free Speech activist Mario Savio; Leon Wofsy, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry; Leon Litwack, Professor Emeritus of History; Charles Sellers, Professor Emeritus of History; Malcolm Burnstein, Free Speech Movement Attorney

Introduction:  Carol Christ, Chancellor

Sponsors:  Department of History, Division of Student Affairs

“Free speech doesn’t come from a simple declaration. It is a process of engagement.” - Chancellor Carol Christ

Revisit the 1964 Free Speech Movement with remarks by UC Berkeley emeriti who lived through it. Prepare to exercise your right to vote on November 6 with remarks by current faculty and students.

Bernard Moses Memorial Lectures featuring Wendy Brown: Neoliberalism’s Scorpion Tail: Markets and Morals Where Democracy Once Was

Lecture | October 30 | 4:10 p.m. | Alumni House, Toll Room

Speaker:  Wendy Brown, Class of 1936 First Chair Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

Sponsor:  Graduate Division

Wendy Brown will present the Bernard Moses Memorial Lecture on Tuesday, October 30, 2018 titled "Neoliberalism’s Scorpion Tail: Markets and Morals Where Democracy Once Was." The lecture is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

Immigration, Imprisonment and Deportation: Movie Night at the IGS Library

Film - Series | November 1 | 6 p.m. | 109 Moses Hall

Speaker/Performer:  Institute of Governmental Studies, Institute of Governmental Studies

Sponsor:  Institute of Governmental Studies

Join us for popcorn and movies to help us celebrate our new library exhibit: "Immigration, Deportation & Citizenship, 1908-2018"! Featuring four videos from Brave New Films’ Immigrant Prisons Series: Immigrant Prisons, Immigrants for Sale, No More Detention: Free Pastor Noe, and Trauma at the Border.

The IGS Library exhibit "Immigration, Deportation & Citizenship, 1908-2018" contains items...   More >

MENA Salon: The Jamal Khashoggi Case and Regional Rivalries

Workshop | November 2 | 3-4 p.m. | 340 Stephens Hall

Sponsor:  Center for Middle Eastern Studies

The Jamal Khashoggi case has had an enormous impact on international relations in the Middle East. Turkey has been at the center of the investigation, providing key evidence to the global audience, pinning Saudi Arabia and MBS to the crime. This has given them a moral high ground despite their abysmal track record with protecting journalists and securing free speech. Given the irony of the...   More >

Avenali Lecture: Todd Gitlin: The Other 1968s: Counterrevolution, Communism and Desublimation

Lecture | November 5 | 6:30 p.m. |  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Sponsor:  Townsend Center for the Humanities

In his exploration of the political culture of the 1960s, Todd Gitlin (Columbia University) questions the popular image of that era as a politically progressive one. He traces the resurgence of white supremacy, rule by a wealthy elite, and other signs of a repressive “counterrevolution” which, in his view, led to the current political moment.

2018 Election Night Watch Party

Social Event | November 6 | 4:30-8:30 p.m. | 109 Moses Hall

Sponsor:  Institute of Governmental Studies

The Matsui Center, the Institute of Governmental Studies and Cal Undergraduate Political Science Association are hosting an Election Night Watch Party.

Come watch the election results! Join us for a fun night of games and prizes. Food and Drinks will be provided.

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1893761134053392/

Summary Execution: The Seattle Assassinations of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes: Book Talk with Michael Withey

Reading - Nonfiction | November 13 | 6-7:30 p.m. | 2521 Channing Way (Inst. for Res. on Labor & Employment), Large Conference Room

Speaker/Performer:  Human rights lawyer Michael Withey

Sponsor:  UC Berkeley Labor Center

Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes were Filipino American labor activists and officers of ILWU Local 37 who were murdered in their Seattle union office in 1981. Mike Withey, lead attorney on the case, demonstrates in his book the legal twists and turns of citing the Philippine government as the culprit.

“Some lawyers shamelessly seek attention. And some lawyers deserve attention because they...   More >

A Conversation Across the Divide: David French and Erwin Chemerinsky Discuss the National Climate

Panel Discussion | November 14 | 2-3:30 p.m. |  Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center

Speakers/Performers:  David French, Senior Fellow, National Review Institute; Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, Berkeley Law

Sponsor:  Office of Chancellor

We are thrilled to welcome students, staff, faculty, alumni, and friends of the campus to the second event in the Conversations Across the Divide speaker series we are continuing to host this year. You can view the first in this series between Robert Reich, Chancellor's Professor and Carmel P. Friesen Chair in Public Policy and former Secretary of Labor and Stephen Moore, Distinguished Visiting...   More >

"How Deep the Rabbit Hole Goes": The Alt-Right's Infatuation with Stoic Philosophy

Lecture | November 14 | 5-7 p.m. | 142 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker/Performer:  Donna Zuckerberg

Sponsors:  Townsend Center for the Humanities, Department of Classics

The Tumultuous Sixties: 1968 Around The Globe

Lecture | November 19 | 12-1 p.m. | 202 UC Berkeley Extension (Golden Bear Center)

Featured Speaker:  Christina Gerhardt, Visiting Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley and Associate Professor of Film and German Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa

Sponsor:  UC Berkeley Extension

In 1964, the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley achieved national visibility with a series of student protests responding to the administration’s decision to ban information tables regarding the Civil Rights Movement. They mark the first time that the civil disobedience tactics of the Civil Rights Movement were brought to a college campus and served as a foundation for future protests such as...   More >

Registration required: $0

Registration info:   Register online

CANCELED: Mario Savio Memorial Lecture and Young Activist Award: Free Speech in Angry Times

Lecture | November 19 | 8-10 p.m. | Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, Pauley Ballroom | Canceled

Speaker:  Robert Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, UC Berkeley

Sponsors:  College of Letters & Science, Goldman School of Public Policy, Library

This event has been postponed until the spring semester due to poor air quality.

The Mario Savio Memorial Lecture and Young Activist Award are presented annually to honor the memory of Mario Savio (1942-
1996), a spokesperson for Berkeley's Free Speech Movement of 1964, and the spirit of moral courage and vision which he and
countless other activists of his generation exemplified...   More >

Attendance restrictions:  Free admission. Open to the public; first come, first served.

Rally to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Third World Liberation Front

Lecture | January 22 | 12-1 p.m. | Sproul Hall, Mario Savio Steps

Speakers:  Paola Bacchetta, Faculty Member, Gender and Women's Studies; Hatem Bazian, Faculty Member, Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, UC Berkeley, http://ethnicstudies.berkeley.edu/faculty-profile/hatem-bazian, Provost, Co-founder and Faculty Member of Islamic Law and Theology at Zaytuna College; Oliver Jones, 1969 TWLF Student Striker, Member of the Afro-American Students Union, and Civil Rights Attorney; Jeff Leong, Poet, Author, 1969 TWLF Student Striker, and Member of the Asian American Political Alliance; Ysidro Macias, Poet, Author, Artist, Retired Attorney, Tortilla Maker, 1969 TWLF Student Striker, and Member of Mexican-American Student Confederation; Lulu Matute, Artist and Undergraduate Scholar, UC Berkeley; LaNada War Jack, 1969 TWLF Student Striker, Member of Native American Students Union, and Shoshone-Bannock Nation Activist, Writer, Educator and 1969 TWLF Student Striker, Indigenous Visions Network; Eddie Zheng, Former San Quentin incarceree, and Founder of Asian Prisoners Support Committee, Asian Prisoners Support Committee; Marcelo Garzo Montalvo, Artist, Musician, Ph.D. Candidate, The Department of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley, Graduate Student Researcher, Center for Race and Gender; Floyd Huen, 1969 TWLF Student Striker and Member of Asian American Political Alliance; Cynthia Ledesma; Abraham Ramirez, PhD. Candidate, The Department of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley; Vicci Wong, 1969 TWLF Student Striker and Member of the Asian American Political Alliance

Speakers/Performers:  Blake Simons, Assistant Director, Fannie Lou Hamer Black Resource Center; Joanne Yi, UC Berkeley Undergraduate, and Director of External Affairsm REACH!, REACH!

Sponsors:  American Cultures, TWLF 1969/twLF veterans, TWLF Research Initiative, Asian Pacific American Student Development, Department of African American Studies, Chicanx Latinx Student Development, Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, Asian Prisoner Support Committee, Islamophobia Research & Documentation Project, Native American Studies, Department of Ethnic Studies, REACH!

Rally to celebrate the first day and 50th anniversary of the Third World Liberation Front strike.

Townsend Center's Berkeley Book Chat with Allan deSouza: How Art Can Be Thought: A Handbook for Change

Lecture | January 30 | 12-1 p.m. | Stephens Hall, Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall

Sponsor:  Townsend Center for the Humanities

What terms do we use to describe and evaluate art? How do we judge if art is good, and if it is for the social good? DeSouza investigates the terminology through which art is discussed, valued, and taught.

Book Talk: The Feminist Awakening in China

Colloquium | February 1 | 3-5 p.m. | UC Berkeley Extension (Golden Bear Center), IEAS Conference Room (510A)

Speaker:  Leta Hong Fincher

Panelist/Discussant:  Lü Pin

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, the Chinese government arrested five feminist activists and jailed them for 37 days. The Feminist Five became a global cause célèbre, with Hillary Clinton speaking out on their behalf, and activists inundating social media with #FreetheFive messages. But the Feminist Five are only symbols of a much larger feminist movement of university students,...   More >

Reimagining Labor Law

Lecture | February 13 | 12:30-1:30 p.m. |  Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse

Location:  2020 Addison St, Berkeley, CA 94704

Speaker:  Catherine Fisk, Berkeley Law

Sponsor:  Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI)

Transformation of work through the gig economy and through the decline of unions presents unprecedented challenges for regulating work for the common good. But it also presents opportunities for a fresh start. This lecture will examine some of the recent radical changes in the law of the workplace in California and nationwide.

Townsend Center's Berkeley Book Chat with Joyce Carol Oates: Hazards of Time Travel

Lecture | March 6 | 12-1 p.m. | Stephens Hall, Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall

Sponsor:  Townsend Center for the Humanities

Oates’s latest novel is the dystopian story of a young woman living in a bleak future dictatorship, who is punished for her transgressions by being sent back in time.

Townsend Center's Berkeley Book Chat with Anthony Long: How to Be Free: An Ancient Guide to the Stoic Life

Lecture | March 13 | 12-1 p.m. | Stephens Hall, Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall

Sponsor:  Townsend Center for the Humanities

Born a slave, the ancient Roman Stoic philosopher Epictetus taught that mental freedom is supreme, since it can liberate one anywhere, even in a prison. Long presents a new edition of Epictetus’s famed handbook on Stoicism.

Hate Speech, Algorithms, and Digital Connectivity

Lecture | April 15 | 6:30-8 p.m. | Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Osher Theater

Speaker/Performer:  Zeynap Tufekci, Independent Writer and Public Scholar

Sponsors:  D- Lab and Digital Humanities at Berkeley, Berkeley Center for New Media, The Center for Technology and Society at the Anti-Defamation League, Digital Humanities Working Group, The Library, Office of the vice Chancellor for Research, The Visual Resources Center

Since the launch of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, reports of hate speech targeting various minority groups have risen dramatically. Although this surge is well-reported, it remains difficult to quantify the magnitude of the problem or even properly classify hate speech, let alone identify and measure its effects. Keyword searches and dictionary methods are often imprecise and overly blunt...   More >

Townsend Center's Berkeley Book Chat with Timothy Hampton: Bob Dylan's Poetics: How the Songs Work

Lecture | April 17 | 12-1 p.m. | Stephens Hall, Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall

Sponsor:  Townsend Center for the Humanities

Hampton’s close examination of Bob Dylan's songs locates the artist’s transgressive style within a long history of modern (and modernist) art.