Since 1904, hundreds of lecturers, from world-renowned theoretical physicists to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists to respected philosophers and celebrated Nobel laureates, have visited Berkeley to share their research and thoughts. These lectures are free and open to the public.

Ann Swidler
Ann Swidler

In mid-November, Ann Swidler will present the Bernard Moses Memorial Lecture.

Can We Create Good Institutions?

Ann Swidler, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley

November 15, 2016, 4:10 pm, Alumni House, Toll Room

Ann Swidler’s work is highly influential in how scholars think about culture, religion, and social institutions. Her lecture first inquires as to what makes institutions good before questioning how such institutions might be created given our current political, social, and economic conditions.


Can’t Attend but Still Want to Hear a Lecture? Watch and Listen Online!

The Graduate Council Series video- and audio-recordings are available online. Lectures are also available for viewing or listening at the Berkeley Language Center, located in B-40 Dwinelle Hall. The Berkeley Graduate Lectures and Tanner Lectures are open to the public and admission is free.

Annette Gordon-Reed
Annette Gordon-Reed

In late September, Annette Gordon-Reed, the Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History at Harvard University, lectured on Thomas Jefferson’s vision for the United States of America, and how race and slavery complicated his views of what kind of society was possible on the American continent. You can listen to the audio online.

“Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination”

 

 

 

 

Ralph Cicerone
Ralph Cicerone

Last spring, Dr. Ralph Cicerone, President of the National Academy of Sciences, lectured on the current state of affairs in the study of climate change and global warming. You can watch Cicerone’s video online.

“Contemporary Climate Change as Seen Through Measurements”

 

 

 

 

V.S. Ramachandran
V.S. Ramachandran

VS Ramachandran, Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at UC San Diego, lectured on questions pertaining to the self — the metaphysical and empirical — approaching them through neurology. You can watch Ramachandran’s video online.

“Embodied Souls — Lessons in Neurobiology”

 

 

 


For more information, and to sign up for lecture announcements, visit Berkeley Graduate Lectures. Or join the conversation online at Facebook.