spring 2016 lecturers

The spring 2016 Berkeley Graduate Lectures series were quite a thought-provoking collection — including a peek into the history of gold and wine in the early days of California, how to best measure and communicate climate change, recent studies of neurology and the brain, how we view animals as selves, and a consideration of what is punishment and why we punish.

Did you miss the spring Lectures? We are happy to report that they are now available online. Scroll down and click to see and hear these amazing talks and interviews.


Frances Dinkelspiel, HarvEst Distinguished Women Lecture

The Intrigue of Wine, Gold, and California Today


Ralph J. Cicerone, Charles M. & Martha Hitchcock Lectures

Lecture 1: Contemporary Climate Change as Seen Through Measurements

Lecture 2: Why We Have Effective Agreements to Protect the Ozone Layer But Not to Stabilize Climate


VS Ramachandran, Foerster Lectures on the Immortality of the Soul

Embodied Souls — Lessons from Neurology


Christine M. Korsgaard, Howison Lectures in Philosophy

Animal Selves and the Good


Didier Fassin, Tanner Lectures on Human Values

The Will to Punish

Lecture 1: What is Punishment?

Lecture 2: Why Punish — and Whom?

Seminar & Discussion


Since 1904, hundreds of lecturers, from world-renowned theoretical physicists and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists to respected philosophers and celebrated Nobel laureates, have visited Berkeley to share their research and thoughts as part of the Berkeley Graduate Lectures. For more information, and to sign up for future lecture announcements, visit Berkeley Graduate Lectures. Or join the conversation online at Facebook.

The Tanner Lectures advance and reflect upon the scholarly and scientific learning related to human values. American scholar, industrialist, and philanthropist Obert Clark Tanner founded the Tanner Lectures in 1978. For more information, and to sign up for future lecture announcements, visit Berkeley Tanner Lectures.

All lectures are free and open to the public. No tickets are required.