Gattaca and the questions of bioethics

The Haas Institute's Disability Studies and Diversity & Health Disparities clusters hosted a March 6 film screening to revisit the 1997 sci-fi movie Gattaca and discuss its impact on the public imagination and how we think about the ethical and social questions around human reproductive and gene-editing technologies. The event was organized by Bioethics Professor Osagie Obasogie and Professor Karen Nakamura of Cultural Anthropology, and took place at the Brower Center in Berkeley, and was followed by a panel discussion on the moral themes of the movie. Read a reflection by the Haas Institute's Takiyah Franklin on the movie and the discussion here.

Kerner conference videos

Videos from the first day of our "Race and Inequality in America: The Kerner Commission at 50 Conference" are now online. The videos include a keynote speech by Haas Institute Director john a. powell with an opening by Oscar Dubon of UC Berkeley's Equity and Inclusion Division, a speech by former housing chief Shaun Donovan, a reading by Bay Area poet Chinaka Hodge, and a panel on housing which includes Ian Haney López, Julian Zelizer, Eric Tang, and Shantel Buggs. We'll be posting all the videos once they become available on this page.

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Check out the videos below:

Young Justice Nerds Competition

The Center for Policing Equity is launching a new competition in collaboration with Google and the NFL Player’s Coalition called the Young Justice Nerds. The competition will honor at least one high school team and college student who are using science and technology to advance criminal justice reform. The application deadline is April 9, which consists of a short essay and a video. Watch a video by Anquan Boldin speaking about the competition, and check out the application page for more details here.

In the Media

Rachel Morello-Frosch of the Haas Institute's Diversity and Health Disparities Cluster, is quoted in a New York Times article published this week that explains how segregated neighborhoods are exposed to more pollution than integrated neighborhoods. “In more segregated cities, communities of color and the poor might be less able to have civic engagement power and influence land-use decision making,” Morello-Frosch, who is also a Professor of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley, is quoted as saying. The story also links to her research that shows how levels of noise pollution are also higher in segregated cities. Read the New York Times piece here.

Director john a. powell is cited in a column authored by Kriss Deiglmeier, the Chief Executive Officer at Tides, about the concept of bridging. In the piece, titled "2018: A Year to Bridge," Deiglmeier cites an example of bridging in action when powell co-authored a piece with Arthur Brooks, the head of the right-wing American Enterprise Institute, about the need to address poverty. Read Deiglmeier's perspective here, powell's article with Brooks here, and a video where powell talks about the importance of bridging here. 

Thursday, April 19: The American Cultures Center is organizing an interactive symposium called "'Breathe For Me, Sing for Me': Hip Hop and the Black Lives Matter Movement," from 5-8 PM at 125 Morrison Hall. It's free and open to the public, and will feature Mistah F.A.B., Donte Clark, BLK MGK, and others. For more click here.
 

Thursday, April 19: Sheldon Danziger, President of Russell Sage foundation, will be speaking on "Anti-Poverty Programs That Work" in an event co-sponsored by the Haas Institute and others. More details on the talk here.

Friday, April 20: The Haas Institute is sponsoring a talk by Noliwe Rooks, Associate Professor of African American Studies at Cornell University, on her book, titled Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education. View details of the talk here.

 

Friday, April 27: Authors Damien M. Sojoyner, Assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at UC Irvine, and Sabina E. Vaught, an associate professor in the Department of Education at Tufts University, will discuss their new books and engage the audience in critical questions about race, power, discipline, and the prison and educational institutions in the United States. Find out more here.

Thursday, May 3: The US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty will be hosting a day-long conference, called "Dramatically Increasing Mobility from Poverty," which will include a keynote by Haas Institute Director john a. powell, and talks by Ai-jen Poo, Raj Chetty, and more. Read more here.

See our Events page for latest details on all our upcoming events.