Gender/Sexuality Workshop: In the Gender/Sexuality workshop, we take a broad view of the study of gender and sexuality, placing it into conversation with studies of race and ethnicity, immigration, religion, labor, work, development, social theory, crime and punishment, culture, aging and the life course, social movements, education, medicine, and other subfields. The group was formed by sociology graduate students in 2009 to create a space to discuss graduate student and faculty work on gender and sexuality in the department as well as to support and connect students. We meet several times throughout the semester to workshop papers and read books of interest.
We meet at the beginning of the semester to see who wants to present work and to decide on a schedule collectively. For each session, we have one or two people perform their work and assign a discussant to provide thorough feedback, although everyone is expected to have read the work before we meet. Although it is okay if participants have to miss a couple of sessions, we appreciate it if people come to as many sessions as they can, particularly during semesters that they are presenting work. Meets regularly throughout the semester.
The Gender/Sexuality Workshop typically met every 3 weeks in Spring '25 for about an hour+/- 15 minutes. Activities included: shared readings & discussions, feedback on ASA submissions, feedback on works-in-progress, sharing resources/opportunities.
Fall 2025 Meetings:
Thursday, September 11, 1:00 - 2:00 PM in SSB 691
Thursday, September 18, 1:00 -2 :15 PM in SSB 691
Thursday, October 2, 1:00 - 2:15 PM in SSB 691
Thursday, October 16, 1:00 - 2:15 PM in SSB 691
Thursday, October 23, 1:00 - 2:15 PM in IEH, Conference Room 103
Thursday, November 6, 12:00 - 1:30 PM in IEH, Conference Room 103
Thursday, November 13, 1:00 - 2:15 PM in IEH, Conference Room 103
Thursday , December 4, 1:00 - 2:15 PM in IEH, Conference Room 103
Thursday, December 11, 1:00 - 2:15 PM in IEH, Conference Room 103
Our first meeting will largely be introductions, selecting workshop activities/signing up to present on available days. Feel free to invite folks who might be interested!
If you would like to participate, contact one of the grad student organizers who will add you to the mailing list and send you the zoom link: Colby Fortin (colbyfortin@berkeley.edu), Hasan Henry (m-henry@berkeley.edu) & Alex K. Torrez (atorrez1000@berkeley.edu)
Job Market Workshop: These workshops for Sociology grad students are held throughout the academic year. All students who are considering entering the job market should attend the spring workshop (introduction to the job market), which will show them how to find job openings, prepare application materials, and request and submit letters of recommendation. All students who are on the job market should attend the fall workshops (the job talk, the campus visit, negotiating the job offer), which collectively will reveal how the job market process works post-application. Contact Assistant Professor Eliza Brown at elizaclairebrown@berkeley.edu.
Fall Workshops scheduled:
Academic Job Market Overview
Friday, September 5th, 12 - 1:30 pm, Zoom
Speaker: Eliza
Target audience: All grad students, especially those who are ABD (all but dissertation)
Campus Visits and Job Talks
Friday, September 19th, 12 - 1:30 pm, Zoom
Speaker: Eliza and guest (TBD)
Target audience: Grad students who are on the job market this year or next
Job Offers and Negotiation
Friday, November 7th, 12 - 1:30 pm, Zoom
Speaker: Eliza and guest (TBD)
Target audience: Grad students who are on the job market this year or next
Politics, Culture & Society: In this space we'll share works in progress across a set of broadly defined and interconnected subfields, including (but not limited to) political sociology, sociology of culture, economic sociology, and social movements/collective behavior. The more diversity of methods and empirical topics, the better. I am imagining and hoping that participant interest will further shape the scope of this workshop.
Workshop purpose & format: Each month we'll meet up to discuss graduate and faculty writing, with the aim of collectively shepherding our work toward publication. One volunteer will share their work in progress (e.g., MA paper, dissertation chapter, conference paper, draft journal article), which participants will read in advance of meeting. We'll spend the hour discussing the work and providing constructive feedback.
Where & when? To start, we will meet in SSB 420 according to the following monthly schedule, and we can make changes based on participant interest and needs. A Zoom link will also be available.
- Thursday, September 18, 4-5pm
- Thursday, October 16, 4-5pm
- Thursday, November 13, 4-5pm
- Thursday, December 11, 4-5pm
If you're interested in participating and/or sharing your work, please fill out this form by Friday, August 29 so that I can add you to our email list and start filling out our lineup.
Contact graduate student Kristin Krusell at kirstin_krusell@berkeley.edu for more information.
Race/Ethnicity and Inequality (REIW) Workshop: REIW is a student-led workshop in which members share research in progress on topics related to race/ethnicity and inequality. This workshop has included work related to race theory, empirical work on racial/ethnic disparities in the U.S. and internationally, and work on inequality more broadly (for example, related to housing, education, or incarceration). We welcome both qualitative and quantitative work and read papers at all stages, from paper proposals to MA papers to dissertation chapters and R&Rs. Participants circulate their work a week before the meeting, and we have an informal discussion about the article, with an eye to whatever type of feedback the presenter would find most useful. We do not have formal presentations. Non-presenters are always welcome to attend, and all presenters are asked to participate throughout the semester to offer feedback to all other presenters. Non-presenting participants may participate in the meetings according to their schedule/interest, but presenters are asked to attend regularly. As a student-led workshop, formal enrollment is not required.
REIW Fall 2025 Dates:
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Tuesday, September 30, 2025 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
We are meeting in Room 420 in Social Sciences Building. Zoom link for those attending online is TBD. We will send out calendar invites soon. Contact graduate student Jenae Carpenter at jmcarpenter@berkeley.edu for more information.
The Anticolonial Workshop: Workshop centers anticolonial projects in the Caribbean, its global diaspora and anticolonial traditions and struggles around the world. The workshop brings together UC Berkeley students and faculty across disciplines to ground our understanding of what “anticolonial” means in our theory, methods, and praxis. The workshop is a space for knowledge exchange and feedback on work-in-progress, including papers, grant proposals, abstracts, and other materials.
Lead Organizer: Adriana Ramirez
Co-Lead: Anna Palmer, Meriam Salem
Fall 2025 Meeting Dates:
Monthly on Tuesdays, from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm at SSB 420 (unless otherwise noted)
Dates: Starts September 17 at 12:00 pm – Special Event
Location: The Matrix (8th floor of SSB)
Dr. Marlene Daut’ talk: “From Slavery to Freedom: An Anti-Colonial Perspective of Abolition”. Hosted by the Anticolonial Lab
This talk reframes the story of slavery and freedom, showing Haiti at the vanguard of abolition and challenging the idea that Africans and Black Americans were mere passengers on a seemingly linear road from slavery to freedom. As underscored in Dr. Daut’s book Awakening the Ashes: An Intellectual History of the Haitian Revolution, Atlantic World leaders perpetuated slavery until Haiti’s revolutionaries redefined it as a “crime against humanity.”
Tuesday, September 23 – Reading & Discussion Group
Tuesday, October 28 – Writing Feedback Session
Tuesday, November 18 – Methods Workshop with UC Berkeley Faculty
Thursday, December 4 - Workshop Social
We'd love to have you join us for any or all of these events! Whether you're interested in sharing your work, engaging in discussion, or simply learning more about anticolonial approaches, there's a place for you in our community.
Please take a few minutes to fill out this form to RSVP for the events you'd like to attend.
For more information, please contact graduate student graduate student Adrianna Ramirez at apramirez@berkeley.edu
Global South and East Asia Working Group: The Global South and East Asia Working Group will primarily be a reading group for this semester, and meet once a month to discuss a book that includes non-Western areas of study, scholarship, and schools of thought. The goal is to create a space to engage more deeply with scholarship from the Global South and East Asia, and encourage more international social science research. In the future, we hope to potentially include speaker events to highlight current social science research and theorizing from the Global South and East Asia.
Lead Organizer: Zhehang Zang
Co-Organizer: Alfred DiLissio
Contact: alfreddilissio@berkeley.edu
Fall 2025 Dates:
Friday, September 26: The Specter of Global China - Chin Kwan Lee
Friday, October 24: Disabling Globalization - Gillian Hart)
Friday, November 21: Unfree: Migrant Domestic Work in Arab States - Rhacel Parrenes
Friday, December 19: Colonialism and Modern Social Theory - Bhambra and Holmwood
(depending on how people feel around finals, we may move this date)
Morning Writing Accountability Group (WAG)
Co-Organizers: Xavier Durham, Emily Ruppel, Jacqueline Brown
Contact: xavier_durham@berkeley.edu
Topic: Department of Sociology Writing Accountability Group (WAG)
Time: Daily starting: Aug 25, 2025 09:00 Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Every week on Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, until Dec 5, 2025, 75 occurrence(s)
Location: https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/93663446897
Sociology GradTalks
Lead Organizer: Sociology Graduate Student Assembly
Co-Organizer: Sociology GradTalks
These sessions showcase new, ongoing, or completed research, providing an engaging space to foster scholarly engagement and strengthen the department's commitment to collegial support.
Dates and Location: Bi-weekly, Starting September 11th at 2:00 PM, SSB RM 420, until December 4th, 2025.
Sociology Scholarship Support Group (3SG)
Lead Organizer: Dori-Taylor Carter
Contact: dori-taylor@berkeley.edu
Location: Zoom Meeting Link
Every week, we co-write for 1 hour; every fourth week, we conduct a peer swap to gain feedback. If you want to do a peer swap sooner than that, let’s coordinate!
Here’s the schedule
Here's the plan