Friday

As the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation celebrates its fifth anniversary, learn how the interdisciplinary hub has transformed hands-on education and inspired students from across the campus.

Virtually tour BAMPFA’s exhibition galleries, including the stunning, abstract quilts by African-American quiltmaker Rosie Lee Tompkins; intriguing postcolonial Indian folk art; Edie Fake’s visionary Art Wall mural: Affordable Housing for Trans Elders; and a new tour of the Himalayan Buddhist art installation: Divine Women, Divine Wisdom. 

Join us for our inaugural Berkelium 5K Run/Walk. Although we will be participating on our own, together we can show our Cal spirit in this new event that supports the Cal Alumni Association’s programs for alums. This event is free. But with a $30 gift, you will receive a Cal swag bag and be entered to win prizes from our sponsors (including Sennheiser headphones, gift cards to Berkeley restaurants, and much more). Enter our two photo contests for “Most Cal-Spirited Run” and “Most Scenic Run” to win a BMW from Weatherford BMW for the weekend or a one-night stay at the Claremont Hotel. Please register in advance through the Cal Alumni Association starting September 1.

Kick off Homecoming festivities early by letting us know the answer to one question: “What does the spirit of California mean to you?” Send a video submission that is no longer than one minute for a chance to be featured in a video montage posted following Homecoming Week! The online form for submissions will be open from Wednesday, October 14 at midnight through Friday, October 16 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

Show your Cal pride, and participate in our social media contests this year during Reunion and Parents Weekend at Homecoming. Contests will be announced as we move closer to the dates. Each social media post gives you a chance to win. One winner will be selected per contest each day and will receive a special prize. Be creative! 

Take a self-guided tour using the Homecoming app through Guidebook. “Walk” the campus at your own pace and listen to campus leaders and students share information about Cal. You can do this any time throughout the weekend! 

Take a fun, virtual tour with revered campus historian Peter S. Van Houten ’56, M.A. ’62, Ed.D. ’73. Van Houten has developed an encyclopedic knowledge of memorable people, buildings, events, and traditions based on his 60-plus years on campus as a student and then as an administrator. Gain a special perspective and “meet” some important historical figures from Cal’s fascinating past.

With more than 2.2 million specimens representing all plant groups from around the world, the herbaria hold the largest collection of their kind at a U.S. public university. The tour will reveal more about these delicately preserved specimens — from marine algae to California flowers — and many other plants of California.

Learn all about the Berkeley campus with our Spanish-speaking student campus ambassadors over the course of an hour on Zoom. Two ambassadors will present for 40 minutes and then answer your questions. They’ll cover history, traditions, academics, housing, safety, student life, athletics, and so much more.

Learn all about the Berkeley campus with our student campus ambassadors over the course of an hour on Zoom. Two ambassadors take you through history, traditions, academics, housing, safety, student life, athletics, and so much more. They’ll also answer questions. 

Professor Andrea Roth will discuss the ways in which COVID-19 has affected criminal trials: the challenges, opportunities, and lessons for the future. Each year, the Prytanean Society awards $25,000 to a nontenured woman faculty member who has been selected on the basis of distinguished teaching, scholarly achievement, and success as a role model for students. The award recipients are among the very best of Berkeley professors in a variety of fields. Founded in 1900 at UC Berkeley, the Prytanean Society is the oldest women’s honor society in the United States. 

Curators Francesco Spagnolo and Shir Kochavi present observations and connections emerging from the holdings of UC Berkeley’s Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, one of the largest Jewish museum collections in the world. Throughout the series, guests will join them to explore Jewish art and culture, one object at a time. This program will feature discussions on prayers shawls, Karaite Jews, and subversive rituals with artist Nicki Green. Please register in advance through the Magnes to experience these captivating insights.

What started off as curiosity-driven research at UC Berkeley has quickly led to a revolution in genome engineering. Scientists around the world are now using CRISPR technology to treat genetic diseases, engineer food systems, and study the world around us. Kevin Doxzen, science communications specialist at the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI), will break down the basics and recent advancements in CRISPR technology and highlight work under way at IGI. Ethics, access, and societal impact will also be discussed. Additionally, you’ll hear about IGI’s rapid COVID-19 response and learn how scientists plan to use CRISPR as viral detection and treatment tools.

Hear from students mentoring youth in local schools, leading students on alternative break trips to explore social justice issues, and interning in government agencies. The Public Service Center (PSC) partners with students, community members, and faculty for programs and courses that support a more just and equitable world. Through the center, students, faculty, and communities work together to promote transformative social change and grow our next generation of civic leaders. Every year, the PSC supports nearly 200 student leaders in programs that support more than 5,000 students in partnership with 250 community-based organizations.

Learn about practical solutions to promote inclusive economies at the local level from the Othering & Belonging Institute’s California Community Partnerships group and the Berkeley Student Cooperative Alumni Association. The California Community Partnerships group works with community-based organizations to ensure that members of marginalized communities have the resources and tools to be meaningfully involved in transforming the structures that shape community opportunity and belonging. Promoting cooperation and the Rochdale Principles, a set of ideals for the operation of co-ops drafted back in 1844, the Berkeley Student Cooperative Alumni Association builds community and promotes connection among co-op students and alums.

Find out about recent research that addresses how two sources of neural activity interact and influence the visual system in this intriguing lecture from Professor Marla B. Feller. Immature neural circuits spontaneously generate correlated activity patterns that are critical for normal development in the nervous systems of vertebrates. Learn about this phenomenon in the mouse retina, where propagating waves have been shown to play a critical role in properly wiring the retina to the brain. In addition to spontaneous retinal waves, light stimulation also plays a role in early retinal function.

Discover how gravitational waves are helping to unlock mysteries of the universe in this can’t-miss lecture from Professor Alex Filippenko. Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicts the existence of ripples in the fabric of space-time. In the past five years, such gravitational waves have been detected from dozens of pairs of merging black holes, an incredible technical feat requiring the most precise measurements ever made. And in August 2017, astrophysicists detected a merging pair of neutron stars with both gravitational waves and light. This cosmic collision produced a gamma-ray burst, gold and other precious metals, and probably a black hole.

This 2020 S.J. Hall Lecture in Industrial Forestry will examine the intersection of industrial and indigenous forest management in California and across the United States. Peter Wakeland will moderate, and Tim Hayden and Dr. Mike Dockery will discuss the aspects of successful and profitable forest management on tribal lands. The program will highlight the unique elements of tribal forest management, explore challenges faced by tribes managing forestland, and identify industrial forest management practices unique to tribal forestry that may have applications beyond tribal forest lands.