Events

Are we witnessing a backlash to the progress of gender equality around the world? New research reveals a growing gender gap in attitudes across a range of topics, particularly striking among younger generations. From polarized views on social issues to contrasting expectations regarding marriage and family, this divergence in outlook between genders points to deeper societal fissures. This panel brings together experts to discuss the contours and complexities of this "new gender gap" and explore its ramifications for politics, demography, and societal cohesion. This panel will feature Joshua R. Goldstein, Professor of Demography and Director of the Berkeley Population Center..

The Annual R. Kirk Underhill Lecture will feature Sean Gailmard, Herman Royer Professor of Political Economy in the Political Science Department at UC Berkeley How did the core institutions of American government emerge and evolve? What political commitments are embedded in the foundation of these institutions? Drawing on his new book Agents of Empire, Sean Gailmard traces these questions to English colonial governance in North America.

IGS and the Bancroft Library are pleased to announce that Former Senior Advisor to President Biden and Cal alum, Julie Chávez-Rodriguez will be in conversation with former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer as the 2025 Barbara Boxer Lecturer. The Barbara Boxer Lecture is an annual event, sponsored jointly by the Institute of Governmental Studies and The Bancroft Library, that focuses on women in leadership. This event is co-sponsored by the Robert T. Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service.

The innovation, use and experience, and exchange of new and emerging technologies today are influenced by the role that China plays in global politics and economy. This panel brings together experts of the Chinese political economy and law and society in a conversation to discuss the political, economic, security, and social dimensions and complexities of technology in China's internationalization during times of global tensions. Topics covered will include the institutional foundations of China's technological development, technology governance and industrial policy, global technology competition, and legal technology and societal impacts in today's China. This panel will feature Mark Dallas, Professor of..

Drawing on a rich store of new evidence that has emerged in recent years Niall Ó Dochartaigh (University of Galway) examines how and why secret back-channels that linked the British and Irish governments to both the IRA and loyalist paramilitaries were first established and how they operated. This lecture explores the effects of back-channel contact on intra party struggles on all sides and discusses the importance of back-channels in drawing the positions of opposing parties closer at crucial moments. It considers too the prominence of former colonial officials in Britain's 'covert diplomacy' in Northern Ireland.

The Ambassador Frank E. Baxter Lecture 4- 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, 2025 Banatao Auditorium University of California, Berkeley Join Dr. Yuval Levin, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Public Policy; Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies; and Editor in Chief, National Affairs as he presents "Can the Constitution Unify Americans?" In a polarized, divided era, many Americans have grown frustrated with a system of government that feels stuck and unresponsive. More and more on both the right and the left have come to blame the Constitution for the resulting discord. But what if..