Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, UC Berkeley

ISSI graduate student @lauramardiaz.bsky.social has a new publication out now in the Journal of Agromedicine ‼️

Towards a Community-Driven Framework to Promote Justice for Agricultural Workers:
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/AXDEV...

#environmentaljustice #communityengagedresearch #EJ #UCBerkeleyISSI

A new study co-authored by Cristina Mora, faculty affiliate, found that among Republicans in CA, a significant share of Latinos, younger voters, and self-described political moderates, especially women, disagree with many of Trump’s immigration enforcement tactics. latino.ucla.edu/wp-content/u...

Sea level rise and flooding of hazardous sites in marginalized communities across the United States - Nature Communications Socially marginalized communities in the U.S. are at higher risk of contaminant releases due to sea level rise-related flooding of hazardous sites. By 2100, 5500 facilities are at risk of a 100-year f...

Rachel Morello, faculty affiliate, is co-author of a new article in Nature that is an environmental justice examination of how projected 2050 and 2100 sea-level-rise related surface flooding threatens hazardous sites in coastal areas in the US and Puerto Rico. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Joshua G. Acosta, Asian American Research Center graduate student, published an article in the journal of Philippine Studies. Across 5 essays, this issue examines the circulation of medical knowledge spanning from the US colonial period to the COVID-19 pandemic. muse.jhu.edu/pub/146/arti...

Travis J. Bristol & Tolani Britton, faculty affiliates, received a 3 year UC-HBCU Initiative grant to bring students to UC Berkeley each year for a research immersion. Students in the program will participate in ISSI's Summer Qualitative Methods Workshop. creeo.berkeley.edu/news/expandi...

For 20 years, this UC Berkeley program has helped students who’ve been in foster care succeed - Berkeley News Hope Scholars started with one employee and one student. It has since grown to offer hundreds of students holistic support, including mentorship, emergency funds and move-in day supplies.

UC Berkeley's Hope Scholars program is celebrating 20 years of providing support to students who have experienced foster care/childhood homelessness. A news article shines a light on this important campus program & features Alexis Wood, a graduate student affiliate. news.berkeley.edu/2025/12/16/f...

Starting soon! Don't miss Professor Stuart's talk on policing at noon today!

Berkeley Talks: The Page Act and the making of racialized US immigration control - Berkeley News A panel of UC Berkeley scholars unpack how the 1875 law helped institutionalize racially targeted exclusion at the border and laid the groundwork for the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and later U.S. immi...

In this podcast of an event co-sponsored by the Asian American Research Center, Berkeley scholars unpack how the Page Act helped institutionalize racially targeted exclusion & gendered surveillance at the border & laid the groundwork for later immigration laws. news.berkeley.edu/2025/12/12/b...

Atiba Ellis, Laura B. Chisholm Distinguished Research Scholar and Professor of Law at Case Western Reserve University, gives an account of the American "vicious voter" myth, examining how it perpetuates a racial authoritarian dynamic in American democracy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=txZm...

A new book by Loïc Wacquant, Center for Ethnographic Research affiliate, includes an analytical history of 100 years of urban ethnography. The book offers a distinctive approach to ethnography grounded in the work of Pierre Bourdieu. global.oup.com/academic/pro...

ISSI's Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues awarded grants to four Berkeley doctoral students: emmawardgriffin.bsky.social and three natureatcal.bsky.social students: Michelle Katuna, Sydney Moss, and roygbivv.bsky.social. Learn more about their work: issi.berkeley.edu/crnai/resear...

Based on long-term ethnographic research and in-depth interviews with labor and social movement activists, "Against Abandonment" (@stanfordpress.bsky.social) follows the protests of minoritized workers, especially women, as they contend with what it takes to resist.

On Feb 26-27, join us for Women on the Right in U.S. History. This conference will feature talks by Kathleen Blee, Jennifer Burns, @drkatiegaddini.bsky.social @whitmcintosh.bsky.social @sammyraeroth.bsky.social, and more!

Check out the program and register: bit.ly/WomenOntheRight

Sponsored by CRWS

Advancing Peace As COVID-19 took hold, urban gun violence exploded—but not in four cities in California. What did these cities have in common? The Advance Peace gun vi...

Jason Corburn, affiliate of the Berkeley Center for Social Medicine, co-authored Advancing Peace, a new book discussing the end of gun violence in America's Black & Brown communities. The book reveals how community-based approaches work & holds out genuine hope. mitpress.mit.edu/978026255221...

Against Abandonment: Repertoires of Solidarity in South Korean Protest Jennifer Jihye Chun and Ju Hui Judy Han will discuss their new book, Against Abandonment: Repertoires of Solidarity in South Korean Protest, which ...

Join us on Feb 18 for a conversation with ISSI alums Jennifer Chun & Judy Han!
Learn more & register: bit.ly/AgainstAbandonment
Sponsors: ISSI, Center for Korean Studies
Cosponsors:@ucbgeography.bsky.social, Sociology, Asian American & Asian Diaspora Studies Program, Center for Ethnographic Research

YouTube video by ESPM Berkeley ESPM Seminar | Nov. 13: Food Circuits

The video of "Food Circuits: Hidden Connections between Migrants and Societies" is now available. The work investigates the connections between migrant food laborers & societies, and the ways in which these connections are invisibilized. @natureatcal.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUer...

ISSI grad student Aukeem Ballard recently co-authored an article in Education Sciences on teachers' sensemaking of equity and social & emotional learning (SEL). The article's findings highlight the promise of integrating equity-centered SEL within STEM teacher preparation. www.mdpi.com/3603990

YouTube video by issi Populism and the Far Right: Global Frameworks and Local Crises

Check out the video of our fall 2025 event featuring Amy Skonieczny, Professor of International Relations at San Francisco State University and Valentina Nava, PhD candidate in Political Sociology at Université Paris Cité who discuss their respective papers. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbni...

New location!
So many of you want to attend so we switched to a bigger venue: Room 1102 Berkeley Way West, 2121 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA

Beyond Policing: How Streetcorner Mediators Keep the Peace Without State Violence This talk introduces the concept of streetcorner mediation—a new model of public safety that has quietly emerged on some of America’s toughest ...

Join us on Wed, Feb 11 at 12pm for “Beyond Policing: How Streetcorner Mediators Keep the Peace Without State Violence” with @forrestdstuart.bsky.social.

📍2111 Bancroft Way #104, Berkeley & Zoom

Register: bit.ly/Forrest2026

Sponsored by ISSI's Center for Research on Social Change

YouTube video by issi Public Defenders, ICE, and Deportations: AAPIs in the Crosshairs

Manohar Raju, San Francisco Public Defender, and Ali Saidi, Contra Costa County Deputy Public Defender, discuss how have aggressive, militarized ICE deportation tactics impacted the rights of AAPI & marginalized communities?@sfpublicdefender.sf.gov youtu.be/uoCUQH6f4_U

Join us on Th, Feb. 5 at 5pm for a screening of “Making Waves: The Rise of Asian America” and panel discussion with Joemy Ito-Gates, Jon Osaki, Donald Tamaki, and Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales.

📍2111 Bancroft Way #104, Berkeley

Register: bit.ly/MakingWavesUCB

We're proud to be home to @ucberkeleycrws.bsky.social and the Journal of Right-Wing Studies - check out the latest issue on the history of the far right in the US. Always open access!

📢 Call for Abstracts:
11th Biennial Conference of the Society for Humanities, Social Science, and Medicine
📍 San Francisco, CA
🗓️ April 11 and 12, 2026

To submit an abstract, please visit the link below and fill out the form by 11:59PM (Pacific Time) on Friday, January 9, 2026
🔗 www.shssm.net

Read the full message here and get a glimpse into what we have been up to this fall: mailchi.mp/berkeley.edu.... Happy Holidays from all of us at AARC!

As we wrap up 2025, we're grateful for the community that made our work possible. A recent letter from the Asian American Research Center (AARC), based at ISSI, reflects on both the challenges and opportunities shaping AANHPI communities and what they mean for the year ahead.

Read the full message here and get a glimpse into what our community has been up to this fall: mailchi.mp/berkeley.edu...

Happy Holidays from all of us at CRWS!

YouTube video by issi Rhummanee Hang: "Khmae Amathak: Grounded & Guided by Ancestral Wisdom"

The video of @rhummanee.bsky.social's talk is now available. This event included powerful dance performances by Khmer Amathak Dance Troupe and moving poetry recitations by Hang, Critical Southeast Asian American Studies Artist-in-Residence. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RHy...

Berkeley Talks: The complicated role of media in motherhood - Berkeley News Berkeley Professor Hannah Zeavin explores how 20th-century ideals of motherhood and new media technologies became deeply intertwined, shaping and surveilling American family life.

In this Berkeley Talks episode, Hannah Zeavin, a faculty affiliate, discusses how defining the “perfect mother,” substituting media for maternal presence, and punishing deviations from the norm continue to influence American family life today. news.berkeley.edu/2025/11/14/b...

Merri Lopez-Keifer, affiliate of the Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues, is featured in this Thriving Community Snapshots interview. A member of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians, her work bridges law, education, and community. thriving.berkeley.edu/news/thrivin...