Events

Events

2025 Diversity and Entrepreneurship Undergraduate Research Symposium

October 3, 2025 9:30am - 2:00pm Creating Opportunity in the Midst of Crises; Strategies for Increasing Access, Reducing Disparity, & Strengthening Diverse Small Businesses in California

In Spring of 2021, the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) at the University of California, Berkeley, was awarded a grant of more than $333,000 from the Wells Fargo Foundation to launch a two-year Diversity and Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program. The new initiative expands Berkeley undergraduate research, advocacy and internship experiences that focus on how small...

REI Colloquium: The Violence of Illegibility: How Detention Transforms Asylum Seekers From Victims to Suspects

Thursday, October 2, 2025 12:00pm - 1:30pm

There are approximately 150 detention facilities across the United States, with plans to construct more in the future. Though the law maintains that detention is "non-punitive," facilities function as total institutions where almost all daily activities are overseen by authorities, and those detained are not guaranteed legal representation. Based on participant observations and multiple interviews with 41 immigrants in detention from Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean collected at two detention centers, I show how legal...

California Democracy in Peril? IGS Poll Results Presentation and Panel

September 16, 2025, 4:00pm - 5:30pm

Join us at the Institute of Governmental Studies LibraryonTuesday, September 16th at 4:00pm for "California Democracy in Peril?: Voting Rights, Redistricting, and Accountability in the Trump Era - IGS Poll Results Presentation and Panel." This event will feature new IGS Poll data, conducted in partnership with the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, followed by a moderated discussion on the...

2026 Democracy Camp Info Session

September 16, 2025 6:30pm - 8:00pm Are you a UC Berkeley undergraduate student who is driven to serve others and be a change-maker? Seeking a career path to public service? Attend our Democracy Camp info session to learn more! 2026 DEMOCRACY CAMP IN BERKELEY

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2026 Cal-in-Sacramento and Schaeffer Fellows Info Session

September 15, 2025 6:30pm - 7:00pm Interested in public service? Apply for one of our internship programs today!

Information Session: Cal-in-Sacramento Fellowship and Leonard D. Schaeffer Fellows in Government Service | September 17 | 6:00-7:30 p.m. | 119 Philosophy Hall

Speaker: Megan Collins, Institute of Governmental Studies

Sponsor: Institute of Governmental...

Institute of Governmental Studies Fall 2025 Welcome Reception

Tuesday, September 9, 2025 4:00pm - 5:30pm Join us in welcoming new and returning students, faculty, staff and visiting scholars!

Enjoy sweet and savory bites and toast to the new year, while catching up on summer adventures with fellow IGS affiliated faculty, graduate students, student assistants, staff, and fellows. We'll also hear from IGS co-directors Cristina Mora and Eric Schickler about the exciting year of events and programs we have in store!

2025 Barbara Boxer Lecture: Meeting the Moment Reimagining Civic Engagement to Protect Democracy

Thursday, April 17, 2025 4:00pm - 5:15pm Please join us in conversations with Former Senior Adviser to President Biden, Julie Chávez Rodriguez, '00

The 2025 Boxer Lecture will be a thoughtful conversation between Julie and Former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, with a focus on women in public service leadership. As a Cal alum, the granddaughter of American labor leader, César Chávez and American labor activist Helen Fabela Chávez, and an accomplished political strategist in her own right, Julie can offer valuable insights into political coalition building and public engagement...

2025 Matsui Lecture: Lessons From A Lifetime of Public Service

Monday, March 17th, 2025 The Robert T. Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service is pleased to announce that Former United States Representative Anna Eshoo will be the 2025 Matsui Lecturer.

Please join us for Lessons from a Lifetime of Public Service, a conversation with former U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo and moderator Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean (‘01), Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at DoorDash and Matsui Center Advisory Committee Member.

About the Speaker:

Anna Eshoo, a Democrat, served as a Member of...

REI Colloquium: The Manufacturing of Job Displacement: How Racial Capitalism Drives Immigrant and Gender Inequality in the Labor Market

Friday, March 14, 2025 12:00pm - 1:30pm

In The Manufacturing of Job Displacement: How Racial Capitalism Drives Immigrant and Gender Inequality in the Labor Market (NYU Press, 2024), Dr. Laura López-Sanders investigates the structural mechanisms by which employers shape labor market inequalities through practices of “racialized orchestrated displacement.” Drawing on nearly two years of participant observation as both a laborer and supervisor, as well as in-depth interviews, Dr. López-Sanders offers a nuanced analysis of how employers in low-turnover industries...