Events

Book Talk: Policy Making for Realists

Friday, April 3, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Please join us on Friday, April 3rd, for a book talk with Professor Matt Grossmann on his latest book, Policymaking for Realists.

American politics is likely to remain a closely divided, highly polarized two-party system for the foreseeable future. That changes which strategies reliably work, where progress is still achievable, and how reformers should think about their goals. Instead of treating today’s partisan environment as an abnormal detour likely to end soon or reasoning that only a sweeping...

2026 Percy Synar Awards Ceremony and Reception

February 27, 2026 2:00pm - 3:15pm Please join us as we congratulate the 2026 recipients of the Charles H. Percy Undergraduate Grant for Public Affairs Research and the Mike Synar Graduate Research Fellowship.

The Charles H. Percy Undergraduate Grant for Public Affairs Research 2026 Recipients:

Sabrina Hemedez Avenido (Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies; Minor: Public Policy): “Utang na Loob: A Family Affair into Civic Engagement Education in Filipino American Families”

Karla Vicencio Ramirez (Sociology & Legal Studies): “What...

REI Colloquium: Bordering on Indifference: Immigration Agents Negotiating Race and Morality

Thursday, February 26, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm

These days, as has long been the case, there is no shortage of news stories about the United States Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement or “ICE,” the agencies charged with border enforcement, detention, and deportation in the U.S. But despite the notoriety of the agencies themselves, most of us know little about the agents that work for the Border Patrol and ICE. Who are these agents, how do they come into the work, how are they trained and socialized to do their job, and how do they reconcile the political...

REI Colloquium: How Schools Make Race: Teaching Latinx Racialization in America

Thursday, February 12, 2026 12:00pm - 1:30pm

How Schools Make Race shows how a Spanish-English bilingual-education program teaches—implicitly and explicitly—about race. It shows how the program’s practices, pedagogy, and policies construct the Latinx group as an example to illuminate the process through which schools unintentionally reinforce racial ideas and impede their anti-racist efforts. The book frames the program as a racial project and attends to how schools construct Latinidad in relation to Blackness, Indigeneity, Asianness, and Whiteness. Chávez-Moreno...

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!

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...