UC Berkeley (Audio)

Doctors have had great success using vaccines to boost the immune system to fight infectious diseases like smallpox and measles, but only recently have immune system boosters been tried against cancer. The growing success of such attempts – a booming field called immunotherapy that was pioneered at UC Berkeley – proves that studying the way the immune system deals with these two types of invaders, cancer cells and pathogens, could greatly improve therapies for both. In this video, Russell Vance and Sarah Stanley talk about the advantages of combining the study of cancer with the study of infectious disease in UC Berkeley's new Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine Research Initiative.

Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 31958]

Traditionally, about 80% of California community college students have been classified “unprepared” upon entry and required to enroll in remedial courses in English, reading, math, and/or English as a second language. These courses are intended to help students be more successful, but the more remedial courses students are required to take, the less likely they are to ever reach their college goals. And because Black and Hispanic students are disproportionately placed into remediation, these policies are a primary driver of racial achievement gaps and a lack of diversity in students transferring to the University of California and California State University systems. Co-Founders of the California Acceleration Project (CAP), Katie Hern and Myra Snell, discuss how the state's 113 community colleges address these problems. Series: "Center for Studies in Higher Education" [Education] [Show ID: 32222]

Distance learning has become a significant method of conducting higher education in recent years, facilitated by enhanced information and visual technologies. Such initiatives as massive open online courses (MOOCs) are now commonplace. Mitchell Stevens, who has studied the Stanford experience, and Diana Wu, a thought leader and implementer of several key programs at UC Berkeley, explore the strengths and weaknesses of this approach and consider how the past might inform the present and the future. Series: "Center for Studies in Higher Education" [Education] [Show ID: 32161]

Economist Robert Reich, the Clinton-era Labor Secretary and prominent Democratic pundit, gives a rousing talk on how the intersection of politics and economics led to the rise of Donald Trump and describes the concerns he shares with Republicans who fear that Trump’s way of governing is harming American institutions. Reich is the featured speaker at UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy’s Board of Advisors Dinner held in March 2017.

Series: "Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 32116]

Nina Jablonski explores the nature and sequence of changes in human skin through prehistory, and the consequences of these changes for the lives of people today. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 32130]

Quality assurance for teaching in higher education could increase student learning (and reduce costs of all kinds) as they have in so many other fields of endeavor, argues Michael O'Hare, Professor of Public Policy, Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley. Series: "Center for Studies in Higher Education" [Education] [Show ID: 32127]

Skin is the primary interface between ourselves and our environment. Nina Jablonski, Pennsylvania State University, looks at what makes our skin unique and, perhaps, more important than we realize. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Science] [Show ID: 32129]

Barbara Boxer, the longtime US Senator from California and author of "The Art of Tough: Fearlessly Facing Politics and Life," speaks on her biggest battles in Congress, including support for AIDS research, voting rights, equal rights, reproductive rights, clean air and water, parental leave and her opposition to the Iraq war, and reminds her audience that all of these are at risk given the results of the 2016 election. Boxer delivers the inaugural speech of the Barbara Boxer Lecture Series, presented by the Institute of Governmental Studies and the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley. Series: "Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley (IGS)" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 32092]

Colleges and universities of all types educate and train a diverse workforce. Michael Kirst and Richard Scott explore the mismatch between higher education and the Bay Area economy. The two developed under different conditions, with different pressures, for different purposes and so it is not surprising that they differ substantially in their values, norms, and pace of change. Series: "Center for Studies in Higher Education" [Business] [Education] [Show ID: 32126]

Is recruitment into corporate and government leadership jobs concentrated among graduates of elite private universities? Steven Brint, UC Riverside Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, presents findings from a study of the backgrounds of nearly 4000 top corporate executives and government officials drawn from 15 sectors (including government). The findings are indicative of corporate and government leaders being drawn disproportionately from elite private institutions.

Series: "Center for Studies in Higher Education" [Education] [Show ID: 32125]