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TechEquity AI Summit 2026 features keynote talks and hands-on AI agent workshops. The event explores applications of generative AI across industries and skill-building in emerging AI tools and methodologies. Free to attend.

A mission-driven summit for founders building defense tech and dual-use startups, alongside government officials and investors. The conference aims to highlight early- and growth-stage companies, foster public-private collaboration, and equip founders with insights and community to succeed in defense innovation. Includes a pre-conference Founder Bootcamp on November 3rd with tactical guidance and direct engagement opportunities. November 4, 9:00 AM–5:30 PM PT.

A two-day conference on AI's impact on data infrastructure and organizational decision-making, featuring workshops and talks from engineering and data leaders at MotherDuck, OpenAI, Stripe, Clay, Vercel, Braintrust, and other major AI and data companies. Designed for technologists, data engineers, and leaders building with modern data and AI systems.

The annual conference of the Apache Kafka, Flink and Iceberg community, the event that grew out of Kafka Summit: two days at Moscone West with about a hundred sessions and 126 listed speakers. Most of it is engineers on their own systems: Netflix on surviving traffic surges, Slack on change-data-capture pipelines, Dropbox on serving millions of events a second, plus speakers from LinkedIn, Apple, McDonald's, JPMorgan Chase and Brazil's B3 exchange, a 2026 Flink community checkpoint, and sessions on agents acting on live data. The opening keynote pairs Confluent's product chief Shaun Clowes and head of AI Sean Falconer with Together.AI's Charles Zedlewski and an Indeed reliability engineer. Workshops, Data Streaming Engineer certification and an expo hall round it out. Confluent organizes it, so keynote and expo lean to its products; capacity is limited and registration is required.

A free, one-day technical conference on AI-powered data platforms for developers, SREs, security analysts, and technical leaders. Sessions cover Search, Security, Observability, and real-world AI integrations, with expert-led demos on Elasticsearch, ES|QL, and real-time AI agents. In-person attendees receive a three-month Elastic Certification extension.

Participants translate handmade patterns into digital geometry and three-dimensional forms through computational design and digital fabrication. Led by computational designer Stepan Drunks, this workshop bridges traditional craft and emerging technology, exploring how new tools can transform cultural and personal patterns while preserving the stories behind them. Attendees will learn to move from 2D pattern to digital design to 3D printing, experiment with generative pattern-making, and investigate connections between craft, culture, and technology. New participants welcome; those from earlier sessions can continue developing their work.

An in-person tutorial on using WAVE, Santa Clara University's High Performance Computing Center. The session begins with an informational presentation followed by hands-on practice time and Q&A with the WAVE support staff. Bring a laptop to access the system.

A public forum reviewing California's tech policy developments from the past legislative session. Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Chair of the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, leads discussion with an expert panel of civil society leaders on landmark legislation addressing AI transparency, consumer data privacy, algorithmic accountability, and online safety. Speakers examine how recent state laws protect individuals, hold tech platforms accountable, and establish ethical standards for emerging technologies, while exploring future legislative priorities and the collaboration between lawmakers and advocates.

Felix Haas, design and brand lead at Lovable, discusses how great design gives founders a competitive edge in an era when building software has become cheap and fast. Drawing on a decade spent shaping companies like Gorillas and Lovable, and his work as an angel investor and Scout at Sequoia Capital, Haas explores designing your first product, lessons from scaling one of the fastest-growing AI companies, brand strategy from scratch, and what will set the best companies apart as anyone can now create software. Hosted by the Stanford GSB Entrepreneurship Club.

Discover how U.S. Census, National Archives, Angel Island immigration, and USCIS records reveal family histories and ancestral experiences. Ron Chan, Executive Director of the Bay Area Chinese Genealogy Group and published genealogy author, explores navigating Census records, military and immigration documentation, and transforming archives into meaningful family stories through a multimedia presentation combining genealogy, AI, oral history, photographs, and video.

Clinical Mind AI is a Stanford-developed international platform that uses AI-simulated patient encounters to strengthen clinical reasoning education across health professions. Marcos Santiago Rojas Pino and Thomas Caruso discuss the platform's design principles, its implementation across institutions and languages, and how it supports instructor-centered clinical simulation. The talk also explores Clinical Mind AI as research infrastructure for studying learning processes—examining how learner interactions generate evidence about reasoning, hypothesis formation, and feedback integration—and addresses broader questions about building AI systems that preserve educator agency, enable multilingual collaboration, and advance the evidence base for AI-supported health professions education.

Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá (Not From Here, Not From There) is a multidisciplinary exhibition by artist Victor 'Marka27' Quiñonez exploring the experience of living between worlds. The show features altars, an immersive botanica, paintings referencing textiles and graffiti traditions, and brightly colored resin sculptures of melting Mexican paletas. Accompanying the exhibition, Elevar la Cultura—a twenty-two-foot-tall pyramid built from ice coolers adorned with ancestral textiles and sacred symbols—will be installed at Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos. The cooler sculptures symbolize immigrant labor and survival in the United States, transforming everyday objects into monuments of resilience and cultural pride.

How do educators sustain schools when governments fail? This talk examines educational provision in rural Myanmar during prolonged armed conflict, drawing on life-history interviews with teachers across four Montessori initiatives. Speaker Maw Maw Khaing, a DPhil researcher at the University of Oxford, explores how educators navigate civil society networks, women's religious congregations, and informal institutional arrangements to keep schools open. She argues that understanding continuity in non-state welfare requires attention to who holds authority, whose knowledge is recognized, and how professional beliefs reconcile with formal rules and scarce resources.

Art historian Atreyee Gupta examines modernism in India through the lens of decolonization and the Non-Aligned Movement. Gupta traces how Indian artists engaged with the Third World project and anti-colonial politics in the mid-twentieth century, revealing modernism not as a Western export but as a site of postcolonial resistance and nation-building. A lecture on art history, political struggle, and cultural sovereignty in the postwar era.

Christopher Gardner, a Stanford nutrition scientist, presents three decades of rigorous research comparing popular diets to identify what actually works. Gardner's twin study became the basis for a Netflix docuseries. Part of the Stanford Department of Medicine's Grand Rounds series.

Historian Timothy Stewart-Winter (Rutgers University) discusses his book *Outed: LBJ's Confidant and the Arrest That Transformed a Presidency*, exploring how the exposure of a close adviser's homosexuality became a turning point in both LGBTQ history and American presidential politics during the Johnson administration.

Carolina Valdivia, Assistant Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at UC Irvine, discusses her book *Sanctuary Making: Immigrant Families Reshaping Geographies of Deportability*. As U.S. immigration enforcement expands into neighborhoods, workplaces, hospitals, and homes, undocumented and mixed-status families employ strategies to shield themselves from deportation. Valdivia explores the emotional and material labor of young adults who take on parental responsibilities, broker legal processes, and provide emotional support while navigating these terrains of enforcement. The talk examines how policymakers, organizers, educators, and communities can better support these young people in creating sanctuary for their families.

Emmy Award–winning investigative journalists Michael Rey and Oriana Zill de Granados of 60 Minutes discuss their book investigating the Havana Syndrome attacks that have wounded hundreds of U.S. intelligence officers, diplomats, and special operators. Drawing on nearly a decade of reporting, more than 70 victim interviews, and evidence of Russian intelligence operations, the authors reveal whether a mysterious energy weapon was deployed or whether the U.S. government has covered up a multi-year mystery. A tour de force of investigative journalism examining how government prioritizes its own interests over those who serve the country.

El Niño conditions are expected to increase heavy rain and flooding this winter. Hear from Bay Area leaders working to protect communities before, during, and after storms. Local jurisdictions, community organizations, and advocates discuss flood preparation, response coordination, resilience efforts, gaps in current planning, and sustained investment in emergency preparedness.

Daniele Valisena, Visiting Fellow at the German Historical Institute, UC Berkeley, discusses his book *Italian Lives, Belgian Coal*, which examines the 1946 'men in exchange for coal' agreement between Italy and Belgium. Drawing on archival documents, primary sources, and oral histories, Valisena traces how labor migration, coal extraction, and environmental transformation intersected in the Belgian Walloon coalfields, exploring the agency of states, industry, miners, and ecosystems. The book reveals the environmental and corporeal injustice inflicted by capitalist institutions on workers' health, society, and nature.

Members of the County of Marin Financial Abuse Specialist Team (FAST) will present on prevention and detection of financial abuse targeting seniors. The presentation covers common scams including imposter fraud, identity theft, grandparent scams, sweetheart scams, and tech support scams. FAST is a community education initiative of volunteers and public sector employees who track emerging financial abuse patterns and provide training to help older adults recognize and protect themselves from fraud.

A presentation on the outcomes and methods of UC Berkeley's Archaeological Research Facility Field School, which ran its third iteration in summer 2026 at Peralta Hacienda Historical Park in Fruitvale. Speakers Emily McKenzie and Karla Saracay will discuss student projects, excavation results, and reflections on field school pedagogy, including approaches to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and current directives for reform in archaeological education.

A lecture examining how data are constructed rather than discovered—exploring the philosophical, methodological, and political dimensions of data creation in research and society. Hosted by UC Berkeley.

What more-than-human modes of knowing and world-making can guide ecological thought and practice in an era of ecological crisis? This panel brings together art, science, and environmental philosophy to explore field-based knowledge, speculative science, and critical aesthetics beyond human exceptionalism. Dimitris Papadopoulos (UC Santa Cruz, History of Consciousness) and María Puig de la Bellacasa (UC Santa Cruz, environmental humanities and science studies) lead the conversation, joined by philosopher and artist Mark Nash discussing Felix Guattari's ecosophy and art as singularization, alongside Donna Haraway, Karolina Karlic, and Kriti Sharma. Field Notes emphasizes place-based observation, relationality, and post-Anthropocene ecological thinking.

A conversation on Israeli theatre's role in contested political speech. Theatre director Ronnie Brodetzky discusses her bold reinterpretations of canonical plays and experimental works drawing from digital media — including *Typing…*, created from WhatsApp conversations, and *How to Get Up from a Chair*, inspired by YouTube tutorials — and what live performance reveals about contemporary Israeli society. Hosted by Helen Diller Institute for the Study of Jewish Texts, Culture, and Intellectual Life at UC Berkeley.

Katrina Lee, John C. Elam/Vorys Sater Professor in Law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, examines democracy and the resilience of large law firms. Lee is an award-winning teacher and author of *The Legal Career: Knowing the Business, Thriving in Practice* (third edition, 2026), and teaches Business of Law, Legal Negotiation, and Legal Analysis and Writing. She chairs the AALS Alternative Dispute Resolution Section and previously practiced complex litigation in San Francisco as a law firm equity partner.

Catherine Johnson, a Professor at the University of British Columbia and Senior Scientist in Planetary Science, presents research on Mercury's unique magnetic field and interior structure. Mercury's large metallic core, unusual dynamo, and complex crustal magnetization offer insights into planetary formation and evolution. Johnson will discuss how Mercury's field constraints inform dynamo models, the role of core composition and solidification history, and what upcoming BepiColombo data may reveal about these open questions in planetary magnetism.

How does animal agriculture impact water resources, and what policy and practice changes could move toward a more sustainable and humane food system? The Water Law Society at Berkeley Law and Animal Legal Defense Fund of Berkeley explore the intersection of water law, environmental science, and animal welfare.

A discussion on prosecutors' role in criminal justice reform and public safety, featuring Martha Boersch, former Assistant U.S. Attorney and federal criminal defense lawyer, and Mike Schmidt, former District Attorney of Multnomah County, Oregon and General Counsel of the Urban League of Portland. Hosted by the UC Berkeley Criminal Law & Justice Center.

A hands-on afternoon hackathon where participants build a Company Brain—an AI-powered knowledge system that connects organizational documents, tools, and institutional knowledge. The program opens with a keynote by Stephen Chin (VP of Developer Relations, Neo4j) on GraphRAG patterns and production systems, followed by two hackathon rounds with live demonstrations and judging. Designed for developers, engineers, startup founders, students, and anyone exploring agent-based AI systems. Hosted by TechEquity AI at Snowflake's Silicon Valley AI Hub in Menlo Park.

Part of the TechEquity AI Summit, this half-day program combines a keynote on GraphRAG patterns with a hands-on 90-minute workshop on AI Gateway architecture and governance. Learn core concepts including build-vs-buy tradeoffs, cost visibility, rate limiting, and sensitive data redaction using Snowflake AI Gateway as a primary case study, with comparison to alternatives like LiteLLM, Kong, and Cloudflare AI Gateway. Speakers: Okhtay Azarmanesh, Principal AI/ML Architect at Snowflake, and Stephen Chin, VP of Developer Relations at Neo4j. No prerequisites beyond familiarity with AI agents and LLMs.

A discussion of photographer Norma Ibarra's work documenting Indigenous skateboarders and the decolonial potential of skateboarding as a challenge to settler-colonial property regimes. Ibarra's photographs from the Museum of Vancouver's 2021–22 exhibition *Skate for Change* capture self-fashioned Indigenous skaters, exploring how her collaborative practice reveals skateboarding's cultural resistance to imposed spatial discipline. The presentation examines tensions between skateboarding's liberatory practice and photography's settler-colonial legacy, articulating possibilities for decolonial praxis. Presented by Miguel Fernandez, Ph.D. student in History of Art/Visual Culture at UC Santa Cruz and 2025 Lionel Cantú Memorial Awardee.

A workshop on integrating AI tools into academic work, career planning, and daily life. Designed for students navigating rapid AI development and seeking practical guidance on deploying these resources effectively.

StopScamsSF, the nation's first city-led program dedicated to protecting residents from financial scams, is hosting a Listen and Learn Session to educate the community on common scams and tactics scammers use to target residents. Led by Mandy Ngu, Community Engagement Specialist for the Office of Financial Empowerment, participants will learn how to recognize scams while sharing their own experiences and feedback — input that helps shape the city's response to financial exploitation. Cantonese translation provided.

Builders and technologists gather in person to explore robotics, Physical AI, and real-world applied AI applications. The event brings together engineers, researchers, and practitioners working at the intersection of AI and physical systems, offering insights into emerging tools, methodologies, and industry trends shaping how AI is deployed in robots and autonomous systems.

A panel discussion on craft, materiality, and digital technology in the age of computation. MacArthur Fellows Katherine Behar, Nick Benson, Hideo Mabuchi, and Camille Utterback—artists and technologists working at the intersection of making, robotics, and digital systems—explore what traditional craft offers in a moment of paradigm-shifting technological change, and what is gained or lost when embodied creative practice meets machine intelligence. Moderated by Vanessa Chang. Part of the MacArthur Fellows at 45 series.

A symposium exploring how digital technologies reshape craft, making, and embodied creativity. Speakers include artist Katherine Behar, engineer Nick Benson, physicist Hideo Mabuchi, and media artist Camille Utterback, moderated by Vanessa Chang. Part of the MacArthur Foundation X-Grant project Digital Mirrors of Materiality, the event examines what craft offers makers, what is lost or gained through digital augmentation, and whether traditional creative practices can assimilate computational expansion. Accompanied by the exhibition Tangling the Digital: Weaving, Printmaking, Computing (September 29 – December 4). Reception follows.

An examination of Arab Shi'a communities, Iran's political influence across the region, and transnational geopolitical connections shaping the Middle East and U.S.-Iran relations. The program explores how Shi'a networks and Iranian power projection affect regional stability and U.S. foreign policy.

Rebecca Tarlau, Associate Professor of Education at Stanford University, discusses her ethnographic research on teacher organizing strategies across Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. Drawing from her book *Occupying School, Occupying Land*, Tarlau examines why teachers' unions in São Paulo, Oaxaca, and New York have pursued radically different approaches—leftist party politics, autonomist politics, and rank-and-file caucuses—and what these divergent strategies reveal about transforming institutions for educational and social justice. The talk explores how teachers' political choices shape both schools and society, offering lessons for scholars and activists working toward more equitable education systems.

A conversation on the racist legacy of eminent domain and redlining in the Bay Area, and legal strategies for remedy. Zoe Polk, Executive Director of the East Bay Community Law Center, and Arnold E. Brown II, Berkeley Law alumnus and attorney for Seyfarth Shaw LLP, discuss Ackerman v. Piedmont, a case concerning the first Black family in Piedmont driven from their home in 1924 by racial terror and government fraud. Their great-granddaughter is now pursuing legal claims for apology and remedies.

A screening of the documentary 'Jesus was a Migrant' examining the contradiction at the heart of American Christianity — how the same faith compels some to welcome migrants while others oppose immigration. The film follows NYT bestselling author and historian Dr. Jemar Tisby to the U.S.-Mexico border. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Dr. Roberto Mata and Dr. Jaime Wright from Santa Clara University's Department of Religious Studies.

Stanford researchers Jon Saad-Falcon and Avanika Narayan present their work on Intelligence per Watt (IPW), a unified metric measuring how efficiently AI models deliver capabilities relative to power consumption. As data center energy demands surge, the research examines which tasks require frontier-scale cloud models versus local alternatives, tested across 20+ models and 8 accelerators on 1M real-world queries. Learn how efficiency measurements help researchers, builders, and policymakers decide where AI should run when supply outpaces power availability, and which queries create genuine value versus where gaps remain. Followed by research discussion and networking.

Wildfires and smoke are the fastest-growing environmental threat in the US and globally. Marshall Burke, professor of Global Environmental Policy at Stanford's Doerr School of Sustainability, reviews advances in measuring smoke constituents and quantifying short- and long-term health impacts from smoke and fire exposure. He estimates that short-run smoke exposure causes tens of thousands of deaths annually, with that number likely to grow due to climate change. Burke discusses prescribed burning as a leading intervention strategy, presenting evidence that meeting California's prescribed burning targets could meaningfully reduce smoke exposure.

A roundtable discussion on democracy and civic engagement in Silicon Valley, part of SF Democracy Week. Location details will be provided to registered guests.

Richard Louv, author of the influential *Last Child in the Woods*, discusses his new book *Noticing: Intimate Encounters with the Natural World*. Louv explores how paying attention to nature restores focus, reduces stress, and deepens our connection to the living world—a counterpoint to the nature-deficit disorder he documented in his earlier work. Drawing on research and personal observation, he reflects on the power of noticing as a practice and a path to well-being.

A comparative literature talk examining how Natsume Sōseki drew on Murasaki Shikibu's *The Tale of Genji* despite claiming indifference to the work. Keith Vincent traces echoes of the Genji in Sōseki's *Sanshiro*, *The Gate*, *Kokoro*, and *Light and Dark*, arguing that Sōseki learned from Lady Murasaki about how fiction illuminates the emotional depths of human experience. Vincent is Associate Professor of World Languages & Literatures at Boston University and directs the MFA Program in Literary Translation; he will be in conversation with Alan Tansman, Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at UC Berkeley.

Khiara M. Bridges, Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at UC Berkeley, discusses her book *Expecting Inequity: How the Maternal Health Crisis Affects Even the Wealthiest Black Americans*, which examines why wealthy Black Americans face dramatically higher maternal mortality than their white counterparts. Drawing on ethnographic research at a San Francisco obstetrics clinic serving affluent patients, Bridges explores the reproductive choices and healthcare decisions class-privileged Black people make to survive the ongoing maternal health crisis. A nationally recognized expert on race, class, and reproductive rights, Bridges brings legal scholarship and anthropological insight to this urgent public health challenge. Moderated by Charles Briggs, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Co-Chair of the Berkeley Center for Social Medicine.

A technical lecture on quantum interconnects and modular quantum processors. William D. Oliver, Henry Ellis Warren Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and Chief Engineer at Google Quantum AI, presents recent advances in entanglement distribution via directional photon emission and absorption in superconducting qubit systems coupled to microwave waveguides. The talk covers demonstrations of high-fidelity single-photon control, remote entanglement generation between physically separated qubit modules, and driven dissipative entanglement schemes designed to enable scalable, modular quantum information processing.

A panel discussion on AI-powered vulnerability discovery and how security organizations evolve in the AI era. Speakers include Notion's Head of Application & Infrastructure Security, CISOs and security executives from Notion, Vercel, and Amazon, moderated by Clover co-founder Or Chen. Practical focus on emerging security challenges and strategies for enterprise teams navigating AI deployment.

A lecture on the paradox of Tunisia's democratic collapse following its post-Arab Spring success. Sharan Grewal, Associate Professor of Government at American University and author of *The Rise and Fall of Tunisian Democracy*, examines how an overemphasis on power-sharing and consensus institutions—designed to ensure inclusion—ultimately frustrated voters and enabled the rise of populists, leading to democratic breakdown in 2021. Drawing on interviews with senior Tunisian officials and nationally representative surveys, Grewal tests his theory against all democratic transitions from 1942–2020, revealing the dark side of compromise and offering new insights into the causes of populism and polarization.

Naomi Caffee of Reed College explores how Indigenous diplomacy functioned as cultural work during the Cold War and its aftermath, examining the politics of recognition and representation across this historical period.

A design conversation with Ian Silber, former Head of Product Design at OpenAI, where he led design for ChatGPT and Codex. Silber will share perspectives from his work at OpenAI, Instagram (including Reels), and Artifact, offering insight into how design shapes AI products at scale.

A weekly seminar on AI and data-driven methods across the sciences. Ruijiang Li (Stanford University) presents this week as part of a series organized by Emmanuel Candès, Balasubramanian Narasimhan, Brian Wandell, and Gordon Wetzstein. Open to Stanford and non-Stanford attendees.

Celine Halioua, founder and CEO of Loyal, a clinical-stage veterinary medicine company developing drugs to extend healthspan and lifespan in dogs, discusses her path to founding and scaling a biotech startup. Part of Stanford's Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders series, which features founders, investors, and industry leaders on disruption and startup building.

A tribute to Milorad Drašković, the Hoover Institution's librarian and archivist for a decade who shaped its collections and strengthened connections between Serbian, Yugoslav, and international scholarly communities. The event marks the thirtieth anniversary of his passing and features remarks by Dennis Bark, Hoover emeritus senior fellow and historian of European-American relations, and Jasmina Bojić, lecturer in Stanford's International Relations program and founder of the UN Association Film Festival. Attendees will have exclusive access to the newly reopened Polich Library, renamed to honor Todor and Andja Polich and dedicated to the study of Yugoslav history.

A lecture and communal meal exploring food and community within artistic practice and arts education. David Silver, author of *The Farm at Black Mountain College* and professor at the University of San Francisco, examines how students, faculty, and farmers established and sustained a campus farm at Black Mountain College from the 1930s through 1950s—stepping past the college's famous luminaries to illuminate the renegade figures who built and nurtured this infrastructure. The program includes a 5–6:30 pm lecture followed by a 6:30–7:30 pm community soup dinner with Susanne Cockrell's classes.

Data for AI meetup exploring open versus proprietary approaches to data infrastructure in the age of AI agents. Topics include open table formats (Iceberg, Delta, Hudi), semantic standards, catalog federation, and the trade-offs between interoperability and vendor lock-in. Practitioner talks and case studies from data engineers, AI/ML engineers, and platform architects on production experiences with open standards, agent deployment patterns, and when walled gardens make sense.

How do world models and visual learning translate into reliable robotic manipulation? This meetup explores robot learning through demos, panel discussion, and networking with practitioners building world models, vision-language-action models (VLAs), and dexterous manipulation systems. Topics include world representations and their relationship to planning and control, learning manipulation from demonstrations and video data, and building datasets for training and evaluation in physical AI. Hosted by HackerSquad and Bright Data.

A live demonstration of dong-ahn (youthful) makeup technique with Aurelia Kim, founder and makeup artist of Aube Hair & Makeup. Kim will showcase Korean beauty's foundation method on a live model, exploring how subtle changes in placement, texture, and balance shape facial contours and create polished, natural looks. The event examines the artistry and intricacies of K-Beauty and how intentional details transform overall appearance. Hosted by the Center for Asia Pacific Studies at University of San Francisco.

A conversation on technology and startups hosted by the a16z College Talent Program. Technical and product leaders from ambitious companies share their career journeys, breakthroughs, and advice for the next generation of engineers and founders. Attendees can ask questions about careers, startups, and what to build next.

A live conversation with Gergely Orosz, author and host of The Pragmatic Engineer, exploring how software is built today, AI's impact on engineering craft, and implications for engineers and their teams. Orosz sits down with Bryan Cantrill and Diogo Almeida for a candid discussion on the future of engineering in an AI-driven era.

A book launch celebrating Stanford in Haus Cramer: A Berlin Microhistory, which documents the 50th anniversary of the Stanford Berlin Bing Overseas Studies Program. The book examines the history of Haus Cramer as a witness to Berlin modernity, Jewish-German life between the wars, and as a refuge for residents, faculty, and students. Featuring presentations from editors Karen Ruoff Kramer and Cheryce von Xylander, and Faculty Emeritus Larry Friedlander, with reception to follow.

Frontier Research Club examines whether generated world models can provide stable, useful training grounds for agents and whether learned skills transfer to reality. OpenAI Research Scientist Bonnie Li, whose work at Google DeepMind included Gemini, Genie, and SIMA 2, leads a technical discussion of methods and failure modes at this dinner and paper-discussion event.

A screening of *Elevating Untold Stories & Native Resilience Through Art & Placemaking in Yelamu*, a documentary honoring Indigenous cultures, histories, and resilience in San Francisco, produced by the American Indian Cultural District as part of the Mapping Genocide Project and Indigenize SF Initiative. The film centers Native perspectives to examine which histories have been celebrated and erased in San Francisco's public realm, inviting audiences to reimagine Yelamu's future through an Indigenous lens. Followed by Q&A with Sharaya Souza (Executive Director, AICD) and Dianne Albright (Operations Manager, AICD).

Aryeh Green, who has lived in Israel for over 40 years, explores themes of peace and place in an intimate setting at Book Passage. The event features Green discussing his experience and insights on life in Israel.

A 6-session monthly reflective practice group for practicing mediators, beginning January 2026. Led by Howard Herman, an experienced mediator and trainer currently at JAMS who pioneered practice groups at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the group creates a confidential space for mediators to present cases, explore their interventions, and learn collaboratively. Limited to 12 in-person participants committed to stable membership. Hosted by UC Law San Francisco's Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution.

Peter Yang, founder of Behind the Craft, co-hosts a Codex community meetup on building self-improving products. The session features live demos and practical AI workflows using Codex and Amplitude's analytics platform, with audience Q&A on product strategy and AI capabilities. Designed for product leaders, engineers, founders, and builders interested in AI-driven product development.

A community gathering to discuss the 2026 election results and their implications for the nation's future. Hosted at Manny's Cafe, the event brings people together to learn from one another and reflect on what comes next. Manny's offers free tickets to those who cannot afford the $10 entry and encourages supporters to purchase 'Pay It Forward' tickets for others.

A hands-on workshop exploring how biological signals can be translated into robotic movement and synthesized sound. Artists Scott Kildall and Kal Spelletich—collaborating with over 50 years of combined experience in experimental art and technology—will demonstrate their bio-art practices: Kildall transforms environmental data and fungal signals into sculptural sound installations, while Spelletich creates interactive robotic sound machines from plants. Participants will engage with working prototypes, learn electronics and data harvesting techniques, and develop strategies for their own bio-related art projects. No technical prerequisites required. Part of Gray Area's Patch Bay weekly series for media artists and creative technologists.

Join Kristen Naiman, Chief Brand Officer at The RealReal and co-author of *Real Style*, for a discussion of her book. Rather than a traditional style guide, *Real Style* reimagines how we think about fashion and personal expression in the contemporary moment.

Julie Riley, inaugural Creedon Fellow at UC Berkeley's Department of Architecture, discusses her design research examining materials, production tools, and historical narratives. Riley is a designer and educator whose work bridges contemporary design methods with critical historical inquiry, informed by her experience as a project designer at Welcome Projects and d.esk, and her teaching at Woodbury University. The lecture explores how designers can engage materially driven and research-oriented approaches to architecture and design practice.

A screening of the first two episodes of Millennial Punk – Eine Subkultur in Zeiten der Digitalisierung, a four-part documentary exploring the punk scene of the 1990s and early 2000s through the voices of musicians, journalists, and activists who lived it. The series examines punk's lasting ties to anti-discrimination, anti-fascism, and diversity, and asks what sustains punk's ethos in an increasingly digital world. Following the screening, writer Diana Ringelsiep and director Felix Bundschuh join for a conversation and Q&A.

Mark Danner, one of America's foremost political thinkers and author of *Crossing the Rubicon*, discusses essays spanning fascism, the war on terror, Abu Ghraib, Dick Cheney, the Iraq War, and the Bush-Gore and Trump elections. A wide-ranging exploration of power, democracy, and the defining crises of the post-9/11 era from a leading voice in political journalism and analysis.

A 90-minute survey of 400 years of operatic history, from Dafne (1597) through A Streetcar Named Desire (1998). The presentation introduces key terms, concepts, and celebrated performers through recordings and live discussion, designed for both opera newcomers and experienced enthusiasts seeking deeper knowledge of the form's evolution and major works.

Join SF Craft Club for a Practical Magic-themed evening of hands-on crafting at The Love Potion Library. Make your own spellbook by decorating a blank hardcover notebook with paper, fabric, and leather scraps, then create potion keychains by filling tiny vials with dried herbs, florals, charms, and whimsical items. The ticket includes all supplies, tea, wine, pastries, a goodie bag, printed photobooth photos, and a raffle entry. Bring your own craft supplies or special potion fillings if desired; Practical Magic-inspired attire is encouraged.

An intimate evening with chef and food writer Rachel Gurjar celebrating her debut cookbook, East to East: Recipes and Stories from Mumbai to New York. A Culinary Institute of America graduate who cooked at New York's ABC Kitchen and served as food editor at Bon Appétit, Gurjar brings a produce-forward, market-driven sensibility to 101 Indian-inspired recipes that fuse Mumbai and New York pantries—Caesar salad meets chicken kebab marinade, shrimp biryani finished with pineapple raita. Part cookbook, part memoir, East to East tells stories of leaving home and building a life between two cultures.

Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, discusses her work building a national teacher corps and her vision for education equity. The Berkeley Forum hosts moderated conversations with audience Q&A, open to the public.

The San Francisco Neo-Futurists discuss how they operate as a non-hierarchical, consensus-based collective to produce 100 shows annually, write and direct the acclaimed *Infinite Wrench*, and manage their performance space, committees, budget, and fundraising. Learn their process for developing new material with rotating casts, their anti-oppression practices, and how they balance artistic creation with collective business operations. The Neos are a prolific experimental theater group known for immediate, ephemeral, accessible performance that positions the audience as active creative participants.

A presentation and panel discussion on how artists and institutions are evolving archives to center marginalized stories, histories, and perspectives. Participants will explore projects that reimagine engagement with public spaces and memory-work practices for preserving and transmitting culture. This final installment of the Power & Public Memory: Shaping Legacy Program Series — a San Francisco Arts Commission initiative examining the city's Civic Art Collection and supporting artist-led reimaginings of monuments and memorials — brings together community voices historically excluded from these conversations.

A panel discussion on AI's impact on learning, decision-making, and youth development, exploring opportunities and risks for the next generation. Featuring Rana Gujral, author of *The AI Instinct* and AI entrepreneur; Amy Gao, sophomore founder of Girls in AI; and Nikhil Gujral, youth advocate and AI policy speaker. Moderated by Saba Assadi Handjani of Lumino Learning AI. The conversation covers AI's influence on creativity and critical thinking, concerns around misinformation and privacy, and how parents and schools can foster responsible AI literacy. Open to parents, educators, students, and anyone curious about AI—no technical background required.

Historian Kelly Lytle Hernández discusses her book *Racist by Design: Two Centuries of U.S. Immigration Control*, which traces how the United States has systematically used immigration law and enforcement as a tool of racial subordination from the early 19th century to the present. The conversation examines the legal and policy architecture that has shaped immigration control as a fundamentally racialized practice. Lytle Hernández is a UCLA professor and author of multiple works on US immigration and racial history.

A signature reading series featuring four Northern California fiction authors sharing work from their debut and latest titles. The evening includes a reception with authors at 6:00 PM, followed by readings, discussion, and Q&A, concluding with a book signing at 7:30 PM.

Master Gardener Gary Bartl leads a hands-on session on growing healthy succulents, with live plant demonstrations and practical tips for cultivating these resilient plants. Drop-in, all ages welcome.

A panel discussion on how artists and cultural institutions are reimagining archives to center marginalized stories, histories, and truths. Speakers will present projects that rethink public engagement, memory work, and inclusive commemorative spaces. This is the final event in SFAC's Power & Public Memory program series, which amplifies community narratives and artist visions for public memory.

A screening of Jane Schoenbrun's film Public Access Afterworld followed by an author talk. Schoenbrun, filmmaker and author, explores the mysterious realm on the other side of our screens and the dark forces that inhabit it. The event takes place at the Roxie Theater in collaboration with Book Passage.

A screening of Runa Simi with director Augusto Zegarra. The film follows Fernando Valencia, a 29-year-old Quechua voice artist and Indigenous activist from Cusco, Peru, as he pursues an ambitious dream: dubbing Disney's The Lion King into Quechua (Runa Simi), the ancestral Incan language. Starting with his viral Quechua Clips project—which reimagined iconic animated scenes in Quechua for millions of hungry speakers—Fernando embarks on this quixotic quest with his eight-year-old son Dylan, a homemade studio, and relentless resolve. The film documents his navigation of rejection, setbacks, and self-doubt, ultimately becoming a powerful statement on language justice and cultural reclamation.

Explore practical steps for planning ahead, including creating an advance health care directive and communicating your wishes with loved ones. Learn how advance care planning helps you make informed decisions about future care and ensures your preferences are understood and respected. Led by Heart Bridge Care, a San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit founded and directed by hospice nurses that provides end-of-life care navigation, holistic support, and community education.

A 200-year history of Mill Valley's baylands, from Miwok settlement through agricultural and post-war residential transformation. Curt Oldenburg, a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientist and long-time Mill Valley resident, traces how the Sycamore area between Locust and Camino Alto evolved from tidal marshland to farmland to suburban community, examining the creeks, sloughs, and human communities that shaped the landscape.

An evening of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by USF MFA student writers. Discover new voices and celebrate the literary community in San Francisco with the USF MFA program.

An expert panel discussion analyzing the 2026 midterm elections—their results, causes, and implications for Congress, the presidency, and California's political landscape, including the gubernatorial race and House succession. Hosted by Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California, a trusted civic institution.

A recurring salon exploring speculative short fiction and alternative worlds through structured discussion. Sessions feature canonical science fiction and philosophical stories by authors including Ted Chiang, Ursula K Le Guin, Greg Egan, Octavia Butler, and others, with a focus on futurism, social commentary, and philosophical questions. Attendees read assigned stories in advance and gather for laid-back yet substantive conversation. Hosted at The Commons SF.

A lecture on how cinema portrays the paranormal compared to actual reported paranormal experiences. Loyd Auerbach, a parapsychologist, paranormal investigator, and author who appeared in Netflix's Surviving Death, draws on decades of research investigating paranormal claims to unpack Hollywood's ghost-story tropes, myths, and cinematic liberties. He'll explore where films take creative license, where portrayals may align with reported experiences, and why the reality of the paranormal is often more complex than movies suggest. Includes audience Q&A.

A 60-minute culinary demonstration and book signing featuring Chef Eric Bédiat, Head Cuisine Chef at Le Cordon Bleu London. Bédiat brings decades of experience from Michelin-starred restaurants across France and the UK, having worked alongside renowned chefs including Michel Roux at the three-Michelin-starred Waterside Inn and Guy Martin at Le Grand Véfour in Paris. He will introduce the groundbreaking seven-volume Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts School cookbook collection and demonstrate signature techniques including Beef Tartare. A rare opportunity to learn directly from one of Le Cordon Bleu's most respected chef educators and ambassadors.

A 90-minute conversation circle for people navigating multiple serious pursuits in parallel—work and creative projects, professional and personal domains, analysis and art. Facilitated by Jia Hui Seow, a writer and researcher exploring psychedelic experience measurement and the architecture of working across domains, the gathering creates space for the isolation and integration of holding multiple real commitments to be witnessed and understood. Small group conversations explore why this work matters and what becomes possible when that integration is recognized by community.

An intimate fireside conversation with Melissa Gonzalez, entrepreneur and author of *The Purpose Pivot*, exploring what it means to pivot toward purpose after life's pivotal moments. Hosted by Grace Kraaijvanger, the evening features honest discussion about fear, grief, clarity, and the courage required to rebuild around what matters most, followed by a live reflection workshop exercise designed to help attendees get clear on their own crossroads and next steps. Light bites from 6:30 PM, conversation at 7 PM.

Law professor and civil rights activist Robin Knauer Maril discusses her book *A Queer Guide to Saving American Democracy*, which examines the assault on LGBTQ rights as a symptom of broader democratic crisis and fascism in America. Drawing on her decade in the LGBTQ civil rights movement, including her work as Associate Legal Director at the Human Rights Campaign, Maril argues that queer and trans people are at the frontlines of defending democratic institutions. The event centers queer and trans voices leading resistance movements and explores pro-democracy frameworks rooted in queer resilience and joy. Hosted by City Lights Bookstore and Cambridge University Press.

Writer and filmmaker Natalie Baszile discusses her new work in conversation with author and educator Julie Lythcott-Haims. Baszile is known for her novels exploring family, history, and resilience in the American South.

A screening of The Eyes of Ghana, a documentary directed by Ben Proudfoot and executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, following Chris Hesse, the personal cinematographer to Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah. After the film, producer Nana Adwoa Frimpong discusses the archive of over 1,000 rolls of film Hesse preserved and the political power of cinema in Africa's liberation movement, facilitated by Stanford professor Aaron Van Jordan.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) offer a pathway for people with paralysis to move again by reading neural signals directly from the brain and rerouting them to devices like robotic arms or computers. Kushaal Rao, a PhD candidate in neuroscience at Brown University, explains how this technology works, the current state of the science, and its potential for restoring movement to people living with paralysis caused by stroke or spinal cord injury.

A launch celebration and conversation with Bay Area poet and writer Truong Tran discussing his memoir *How to Exi(s)t*, in conversation with Esmé Weijun Wang.

What can millions of museum specimens tell us about biodiversity and climate change? The California Academy of Sciences holds nearly 46 million specimens — plants, insects, fossils — each a data point in Earth's biological story. Over recent years, large-scale digitization efforts including high-speed scanning, DNA barcoding, and global databases have transformed these century-old collections into searchable tools for tracking how species shift under climate change, guiding coastal restoration, and informing conservation policy. Academy scientists Dr. Terry Gosliner, Dr. Sarah Jacobs, Chris Grinter, and Crystal Cortez join Chief of Science Dr. Shannon Bennett for a panel discussion on how digitization and community science are turning historic collections into powerful conservation tools.

Priyanka Mattoo, author of *Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones* and contributor to The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Vulture, reads from and signs her memoir *How to Be Less Useful: The Joy of Inefficiency*. Mattoo explores how American culture has become obsessed with optimization and efficiency, especially in work, parenting, and self-care, and investigates why pleasure gets pushed aside as we age. With humor and insight, she examines what we systematically cut out—solo travel, dessert, dancing, unhurried time with friends—and shows how to reclaim joy, authenticity, and ease. A reading and signing.

The second of a four-part series of lectures on the origins of the Arts & Crafts movement in England, examining the influence of John Ruskin and William Morris on design philosophy, craft practice, and the reaction against industrial production.

A screening of eight films exploring how movement addresses life's hardest challenges, curated by laura elaine ellis. The program opens with a live performance by dazaun.dance (Dazaun Soleyn, Jordon E. Dabney, Claire Fisher-Mendez) performing "may we heal?" followed by the film selection and a panel discussion. The event pairs with a concurrent exhibition by Los Angeles artist Sandow Birk examining history, justice, and war.

A lecture on the history, mechanics, and social impact of large language models like ChatGPT and Claude. The talk explores how these systems work, why they have grown so large, and how their design and training data introduce bias into their outputs. The speaker will also discuss current efforts to identify and mitigate bias in LLM deployment.

A one-day executive summit on deploying long-duration energy storage at scale, presented by The Battery Saloon's Battery Innovation Summit Series. The summit convenes executives, founders, investors, utilities, policymakers, researchers, and project developers to discuss LDES technologies, grid modernization, policy and regulatory frameworks, capital formation, and commercialization strategies amid rising electricity demand from AI, data centers, and electrification. Keynote speaker: Julia Souder, CEO of the LDES Council. Topics include emerging storage technologies, interconnection and cybersecurity, utility procurement, supply chains, and market adoption challenges. Designed as an executive-level forum emphasizing strategic partnerships and practical insights.

AIAS+ 2026 brings researchers, founders, and students together to explore AI applications in scientific discovery across disciplines. The three-day conference features frontier talks, seven workshops, and collaborative roundtables—Nobel and Turing laureates, founders, and students at the same table. Participants share work in progress, present selected projects on the main stage, and build collaborations designed to last beyond the event. Hosted by the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute, the conference emphasizes problem-solving over disciplinary silos, with daytime conversations, shared meals, and evening receptions. Early-stage work and individuals attending solo are equally welcome. Register at aiasplus.org.

BoxWorks Dev Summit is a two-day conference for developers, technical leaders, and builders working with intelligent content management and AI. Thursday features keynotes from Aaron Levie (Box), Jensen Huang (NVIDIA), and Lip-Bu Tan (Intel), followed by technical sessions and interactive demos in the Expo Hall Dev Zone. Friday offers hands-on programming workshops and technical deep dives on building with Box, AI, and leading AI tools. The summit includes peer networking and developer community connection. November 5–6, San Francisco Marriott Marquis.

An exploration of bioelectricity across molecular, membrane, and cellular scales, featuring scientific presentations from leading researchers. The 2026 Philomathia Day honors Associate Professor Karthik Shekhar, John F. Heil Jr. Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley. Speakers include Stephen Brohawn, Na Ji, Olga Dudko, Kranthi Mandadapu, Bill Jia, Eric Mulhall, and Christoph Haselwandter. The day includes breakfast, lunch, and an evening reception.

A one-day summit exploring the data systems and infrastructure that power AI training. Attendees will hear from practitioners running some of the most ambitious training runs, discussing their architectures, technical tradeoffs, failures, and lessons learned. Designed for AI builders, engineers, researchers, and those working on the systems enabling large-scale model training.

An interactive workshop and panel on AI's impact on workplace decisions and team design. Manisha Gupta (WearVedic, former Oracle VP) leads a hands-on session using storytelling and the GROW framework to explore where human judgment matters most as AI transforms work. A keynote from Martin Gonzalez (Google DeepMind) on human expertise is followed by a panel on redesigning teams and skills, featuring Gonzalez, Sowmya Kannan (IBM), and Stacy Robnett (Lightspeed Venture Partners). Part of the TechEquity AI Summit (November 3–6, 2026).

A two-day conference on how product, design, research, and engineering teams actually work together, built as one cross-functional agenda rather than separate tracks per discipline. Speakers include Rachel Been, SVP of design at Expedia Group; Sneha Narahalli, who heads product and UX at Sephora; Richard Dalton, chief design officer at Verizon; Shobha Diwakar, VP of ads product and engineering at Snap; Ashley Nutter, SVP of product and design at CNN; Purvi Shah, who leads UX design, research, and accessibility at Target; and Maz Brumand, VP of product at Ōura. Keynotes and case studies run alongside hands-on workshops, a partner expo, and evening socials.

A one-day summit for engineers, founders, and product leaders building and deploying voice agents in production environments. The program covers practical technical and operational challenges: latency, turn-taking, interruptions, handoff, observability, orchestration, and compliance. Confirmed speakers include Kaan Karakas (Delphi), Vyoma Gajjar (ServiceNow), Pete Warden (Moonshine AI), Jessica Powell (Audioshake), and others. Sessions include opening keynotes, technical talks, hands-on workshops, lightning talks, and direct access to 20+ vendor booths. Attendees will gain architecture patterns, evaluation frameworks, and lessons from real deployments—what worked, what broke, and what changed after launch.

A guided tour of Zone Zero defensible space and home hardening efforts in Berkeley's Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, led by Berkeley Fire Department Assistant Chief Colin Arnold and City Councilmember Brent Blackaby. Learn about wildfire resilience programs in the WUI abutting Tilden Park, city initiatives supporting homeowners, and the role of Firewise Communities and neighborhood groups. Tour begins at City Hall at 9:30 am, then drives to Berkeley Fire Station #7 at 10 am in the Grizzly Peak Mitigation Area.

A multi-session conference bringing together enterprise AI practitioners, machine learning engineers, architects, and technology leaders to explore practical GenAI and intelligent-agent deployment. Practitioner-led sessions feature experienced practitioners from ThoughtSpot, Adobe, Nextdata, and Expedia, with technical insights on production systems, orchestration, and evaluation methodologies.

A day of talks and fireside chats on AI infrastructure and security from The Velocity Room, a technologists' membership community. Tom Edwards, EY's Americas consumer AI lead, on what it takes to scale generative and agentic AI across an enterprise; Zane Niyazbekov of AWS infrastructure supply on the land, power, and water behind a hyperscale data center; Christine Boles, a 33-year Intel veteran who ran its federal and industrial edge-computing business, on edge compute and physical AI in industry; Joseph Bisaccia of Behavior Frontiers on standing up an AI function under HIPAA; and Cal Al-Dhubaib of Rubrik on keeping AI systems from becoming autonomous insiders. A security session, a community AMA built from questions gathered over lunch, and a closing happy hour round out the program.

A daylong gathering from 10am to 4pm featuring visual displays, interactive exhibits, spiritual reflection, food, and advocacy opportunities for immigrant communities. Hosted by Santa Clara University's Office of Ignatian Spirituality, the event invites participants to drop in anytime to engage with resources and organize support for migrants. Contact Tony Cortese, Director of Ignatian Spirituality, for more information or to get involved.

The 14th Structural Proteomics Symposium brings together world leaders in structural biology, mass spectrometry, cryo-electron tomography, computational structure prediction, and integrative modeling. Following the 2025 Milan meeting (130+ participants), this West Coast premiere promises an exceptional lineup of keynotes, cutting-edge research presentations, and collaboration opportunities spanning crosslinking, hydrogen-deuterium exchange, covalent labeling, limited proteolysis, native mass spectrometry, and top-down approaches. Hosted by the Quantitative Biosciences Institute at UCSF.

A summit convening practitioners, leaders, and organizations across the Bay Area focused on inner development goals—the personal capacities, skills, and mindsets needed to address complex social challenges. The event brings together advocates of systems change, social innovation, and human-centered approaches to community impact.

A hands-on workshop on iPhone photography with Yoni Mayeri. Learn to capture, edit, and create professional-quality images using your iPhone's built-in photo app and third-party editing applications. The day includes demonstrations of creative tools, discussion of camera optimization and workarounds, accessories for enhancement, and best practices for organizing and sharing images. A shooting session in the UC Botanical Garden and lunch break are built into the schedule. Bring your iPhone (11 or newer suggested), a full charge, charger, backup battery if available, lunch, and a hat.

An artist talk with Jess Sabogal, a queer Colombian-American muralist and printmaker from San Francisco, mapping two decades of creative evolution from large-scale public murals to intimate self-portraiture and sculpture. Sabogal examines lineage, radical representation, and the artist's responsibility to communities at risk of erasure, discussing how they have reinvented muralism as a medium for social change, empowerment, and action. Hosted by Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies and El Centro Chicano at Stanford University.

Dr. Jeff Hasty, Professor of Bioengineering at UC San Diego and Director of the Synthetic Biology Institute, discusses engineered cellular differentiation in physiologically relevant environments. His lab uses mathematical models to design gene circuits, including a synchronized lysis circuit that enables bacteria to grow, lyse, and release payloads in cycles for therapeutic applications. Hasty will describe measurement platforms that tune oxygen, matrix composition, and gradients at tissue scale, and novel plasmid-replication design themes for engineering differentiation within clonal populations. Part of UC Santa Cruz's BME 280B seminar series on computational biology and bioinformatics.

A geophysics seminar featuring Allan Rubin, Professor of Geosciences at Princeton University and Professor in Environmental Intelligence at the University of Exeter. Topic details to be announced.

Explore the history, varieties, and brewing methods of tea through a hands-on tasting experience. Learn how different teas are made and developed palate skills to taste and brew tea properly. The presentation by Tap Twice Tea includes samples across all five categories of tea.

Rachel Gabara, Nancy Gillespie Brinning Professor in French at the University of Georgia, discusses her new book *Documentary Objectives: Filming Africa from Colonialism to Independence*. Over a century of documentary filmmaking in West and Central Africa reveals how colonial-era European films gave way to African directors reclaiming their cinematic image after independence. Gabara traces how African documentarists challenged outsider narratives of authenticity and developed new models for nonfiction, demonstrating how this region's filmmakers remade a global art form rooted in oppression and exoticization.

A campus-wide celebration honoring National First-Generation College Celebration Day, bringing together first-generation college students, staff, faculty, administrators, and alumni to recognize their contributions and achievements. Co-hosted by UC Berkeley's Educational Opportunity Program, Division of Equity and Inclusion, Centers for Educational Equity and Excellence, Graduate Division, Office for Graduate Diversity, and Division of Student Affairs.

A lecture on decision theory and ecological forecasting by Carl Boettiger, Associate Professor of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley. Boettiger traces the path from theoretical ecology—using models to understand natural patterns like tipping points—to practical decision-making under uncertainty. He explores how stochastic dynamic programming, Markov decision processes, and reinforcement learning can optimize ecosystem management policies, with examples from fisheries and invasive species control. He also examines the risks of model selection bias and algorithmic optimization, drawing parallels to large language models and agentic AI, and describes efforts with partners like the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to deploy small, open AI models for conservation.

A behind-the-scenes tour of Matter of Trust's Eco-Home and Edible Urban Garden, a demonstration space showcasing practical, accessible solutions for sustainable city living. Explore how renters and urban residents can make their homes more environmentally friendly. Hosted by SPUR Urban Center.

A guided tour of California Current: Art and Histories from the Bay Area, led by Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, Robert M. and Ruth L. Halperin Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Stanford's Cantor Arts Center. The exhibition brings together over 60 works—paintings, sculptures, photographs, and time-based media—by Bay Area artists from the twentieth century to the present, exploring interconnected currents (ecological, infrastructural, technological, political, and creative) that have shaped Northern California. The show traces how communities and artistic practices take root and persist in a constantly changing region, pairing historical works with contemporary pieces to ask what draws people to the Bay Area and what keeps them connected despite its contradictions and pressures.

Stephanie Young reads from her work as part of Lunch Poems, UC Berkeley's renowned noontime poetry series founded by Robert Hass. Young is an author of five poetry and prose collections including *Pet Sounds* (Lambda Literary Award winner) and the forthcoming *Crowd Control: The Racial Ordering of Literary Reward* (with Claire Grossman and Juliana Spahr, Columbia University Press). She directs the creative writing program at Mills College at Northeastern University, serves as an editor at Krupskaya Books, and co-curated the 2026 *Poetics and Plant Medicine* reading series at UC Berkeley.

A panel discussion on the past, present, and future of U.S. human rights diplomacy, featuring three former Deputy Assistant Secretaries of State: Uzra Zeya (President and CEO, Human Rights First), Scott Busby (Senior Advisor, Human Rights First), and Bennett Freeman (Senior Fellow, Institute of International Studies). Moderated by Prof. Susan Hyde, Director of the IIS, the conversation examines how American human rights policy can be resurrected and reinvented amid domestic polarization and international fragmentation.

A panel discussion on the history, current state, and future of U.S. human rights diplomacy. Three former Deputy Assistant Secretaries of State — Uzra Zeya (President and CEO, Human Rights First), Scott Busby (Senior Advisor, Human Rights First), and Bennett Freeman (Senior Fellow, Institute of International Studies) — examine how U.S. human rights policy has balanced commitment against hypocrisy, its degradation amid broader foreign policy disruption, and whether it can be revived in a polarized America and fragmented world. Moderated by Susan Hyde, Director of the Institute of International Studies.

Dr. Mathieu Renzo of the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory explores the evolution of massive binary stars and the explosive events that create neutron stars and black holes. The talk covers stellar nuclear fuel cycles, core collapse, supernova triggers, and how binary interactions shape stellar fate and observational signatures across high-energy astrophysics, astrometry, spectroscopy, and gravitational-wave detection. Coffee hour begins at 12:15 PM.

A curated viewing of archival materials on carceral systems and Black radical movements, led by archivist Benjamin Stone. Items from Stanford Special Collections include the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation collection, Black Community Services Center records, California social protest and counterculture ephemera, and Prison Renaissance Project records. Attendees will examine primary sources spanning the Black Panther Party, community organizing, and incarceration resistance from the 1960s to 2010s, followed by guided reflection over coffee.

Senior Curator Anthony Graham leads a tour of Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing, which he co-curated with Chief Curator Margot Norton. As author of the exhibition catalogue essay, Graham explores the evolution of Hassinger's practice through material experiments in sculpture, her engagement with movement and performance, and her work with moving image.

An informal gathering exploring solarpunk, regenerative futures, and systems change through radical collaboration. Hosted by Bobby Fishkin and Andres Acosta, this open-space conversation invites systems-change agents, community builders, artists, and innovators to explore themes including regenerative knowledge systems, collective entanglement, and micro-moments of care. Attendees can arrive anytime between 2–5 PM for relaxed connection and collaborative dreaming at an indoor public open space, with the option to join a nearby block party at 5 PM.

Part of UC Berkeley's Leo Simon Ag & Natural Resource Thursday Seminar Series. Dalia Ghanem of UC Davis presents research on agriculture and natural resources. Title to be announced.

A professional development workshop for K–12 and college educators on US involvement in fascism from the Spanish Civil War through the Nuremberg trials and beyond. Sebastiaan Faber of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades Archives and Oberlin College explores how American citizens, policy, and institutions responded to the rise of fascism in Europe and its legacies. Designed for teachers and students seeking historical context and pedagogical approaches to this period.

Part of the TechEquity AI Summit (Nov 3–6), this November 5 session features rapid-fire keynotes on AI applications in operations, enterprise workflows, and organizational literacy from speakers at Meta, IBM, AI4ALL, and Resonance. Followed by structured speed-learning networking and an open reception designed to surface actionable tech and go-to-market insights across the AI industry.

Join artist Julia Goodman in creating Wrenching News, a collaborative artwork featured in the exhibition Maren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing. Participants twist and knot newspapers according to Hassinger's specifications in this hands-on workshop.

A lecture on industrial agriculture's impact on bee populations and efforts to protect pollinators. Jennie Durant, ESPM alum and author of *Bitter Honey*, explores why bees and other pollinators are declining and what it will take to build a more just and sustainable food system. Her work weaves together science, agriculture, environmental policy, and human stories to reveal the ecological and economic costs of industrial farming for bees, beekeepers, and food security. A social hour follows the talk.

Meet graphic novelist Judd Winick, creator of the New York Times bestselling Hilo series, at a special event celebrating the first-ever Hilo Holiday Special. In this graphic novel, Hilo and friends must solve the mystery of a giant, grumpy snowman crashing their holiday celebration. Winick is also the author of the acclaimed graphic memoir Pedro and Me and the spinoff series The Mighty. Perfect for families and fans of action-packed, heartfelt storytelling.

Amogh Dhar Sharma, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Oxford, discusses his book on the transformation of Indian election campaigns over the past decade. The talk examines how political parties increasingly rely on consultants, pollsters, and data-driven strategies, and argues these shifts reflect deeper changes in political expertise, power distribution within parties, and citizen participation in democracy. Moderated by UC Berkeley graduate students Anahitha Sagar and Arushi Choudhary.

Roman Coppola, first assistant director and producer on 'Marie Antoinette', and Davia Nelson, creative consultant on the documentary, are expected for a post-screening Q&A. Eleanor Coppola's behind-the-scenes documentary (86 min) follows the cast and crew of Sofia Coppola's 2006 period film, the actors often still in costume and wig, with excerpts from Eleanor Coppola's journal read by Diane Lane. Part of SFFILM Doc Stories (Nov 5–8) at the Vogue Theatre. Free community screening; RSVP required, seating first come first served (public RSVP opens Fri Oct 30 at 10 AM).

A colloquium on computational topology and the role of AI in mathematics. Anil Hirani, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will discuss two problems from computational topology: finding shortest cycles in homology classes and least-area surfaces spanning knots — both solved via linear programming. Hirani will demonstrate how AI recently enabled revival and extension of fifteen-year-old code, and will engage students in discussion about AI's impact on mathematics research and the sociology of mathematical discovery. Live computer demonstrations; no background required beyond curiosity.

A screening and discussion on AI safety and corporate accountability. Journalist Ezra Klein explains the HuggingFace incident and the risks of AI systems that can self-improve without adequate control mechanisms. The event combines a video presentation with facilitated group conversation, designed to help attendees develop informed opinions on AI's current trajectory and potential societal implications.

A showcase and festival celebrating creators shaping how the public understands AI. Featuring YouTubers, filmmakers, journalists, and growth experts including hosts of The Human Intelligence Show, Inside AI Safety, and creators behind explainers on AI interpretability and harm. The evening includes creative showcases, a creator gallery, fireplace conversations, and discussion with AI safety researchers, investors, and media founders exploring AI's biggest questions, deepfakes and misinformation, safety research, and how AI models think.

Historian Kelly Lytle Hernández, Thomas E. Lifka Endowed Chair in History at UCLA and MacArthur Fellow, presents her forthcoming book *Racist by Design: Two Centuries of U.S. Immigration Control*. Hernández reveals how U.S. lawmakers and law enforcers systematically built the immigration system to welcome white migrants while targeting nonwhite immigrants for exclusion, punishment, and removal—creating a permanent caste of criminalized undocumented workers for cheap labor. Drawing on her earlier works *Migra!*, *City of Inmates*, and *Bad Mexicans*, she examines the explicit racist architecture of American immigration control and charts a path toward dismantling it.

A panel examining artificial intelligence as a force shaping knowledge, disinformation, and politics in the U.S., with focus on how AI platforms influence information production and university partnerships with tech companies. Panelists include Matyas Bohacek (Stanford, media forensics and AI), Martha Kenney (SF State Women & Gender Studies, biomedical narratives and justice), Martha Lincoln (SF State Anthropology, cultural politics of health), and Edward Wasserman (UC Berkeley Journalism). Moderated by Cori Hayden, Director of Social Science Matrix. Co-sponsored by UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies, Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative, School of Information, and EECS.

Semiconductors power the digital economy and AI, but their production demands complex supply chains and significant materials, water, and energy inputs. Dr. Sadasivan Shankar, Research Technology Manager at SLAC National Laboratory and adjunct professor in Stanford Materials Science and Engineering, will present research on circular approaches—recycling, reuse, and localized processing—to reduce supply chain dependencies, improve resource efficiency, and create economic and strategic opportunities for the US. Dr. Richard Dasher, Director of the US-ATMC, moderates.

A facilitated conversation circle for people 50+ navigating AI in their lives and careers. Participants—whether building with AI, job-seeking, starting companies, or exploring new roles—gather to learn from and support one another. Facilitated by Chris Heuer, founder of Social Media Club and GenX internet pioneer. The event creates space for peer wisdom-sharing around technology, employment, and life transitions in an era of rapid AI change.

How did postwar American social scientists use Japan to think through modern democracy's central problem: balancing individual freedom with social solidarity? Anthropologist Amy Borovoy (Princeton) examines three influential studies—Ruth Benedict's *The Chrysanthemum and the Sword* (1946), Ezra Vogel's *Japan's New Middle Class* (1963), and Thomas Rohlen's *For Harmony and Strength* (1974)—to show how Japan functioned as an archive for understanding social reproduction, welfare, and collective purpose in democratic life. Borovoy explores how these texts grappled with modernization theory's prediction that industrialization would dissolve kinship, community, and hierarchy—yet Japan's persistent village, family, and corporate structures challenged that narrative.

A screening of No Ideas But in Things, an art film directed by Lan A. Li and produced by Peter N. Miller, followed by a discussion with the filmmakers. The film explores what can be learned through touch, making, and the body, drawing on footage from the Material Intelligence seminar at the American Academy in Rome where scientists, makers, and humanists investigated how to engage with materials in an age of words and algorithms. Using Rome as an object of inquiry and conversation as a research instrument, the film reimagines scholarly output beyond traditional formats.

A conversation with artist Jacob Hashimoto and Joseph Becker, Curator of Architecture and Design at SFMOMA, on the occasion of Hashimoto's first exhibition with Berggruen Gallery. Death by Water features new wall sculptures composed of bamboo and Washi paper kites, combining painting and sculpture through traditional Japanese handcraft techniques. Hashimoto's practice explores landscape-based abstraction, layering fields of color, pattern, and imagery drawn from virtual realms, cells, the cosmos, and natural elements. The artist talk begins at 4:30 p.m., followed by an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on November 5, 2026.

Founders and startup leaders share practical lessons on customer discovery, pricing, trust, and scaling repeatable growth for AI-native companies. The discussion draws on JETRO's global expansion expertise, Alchemist's track record backing 750+ companies, and Onsen Global's AI-native venture-building experience, with introductions to select portfolio startups.

An evening of AI agent demos and growth strategies from companies including Auth0 and Okta, featuring Lightsage (a platform used by 50+ agent-first companies) and the launch of AgentExperienceArena.com and DevToolArena.com. Designed for agent experience and growth engineers, API/MCP/CLI developers, technical founders, and investors. Includes networking.

A work-in-progress seminar on fascism in the era of post-Fordism and immaterial labor. Drawing on Paolo Virno's account of cognitive and affective exploitation, the seminar asks how the capacities that promise liberation have become sites of extraction and abandonment, especially for Black communities. By bringing Virno into dialogue with Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Black studies scholarship, Lorenzo Fabbri (McKnight Land-Grant Associate Professor of French and Italian, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, author of *Cinema is the Strongest Weapon: Race-Making and Resistance in Fascist Italy*) proposes a new diagnosis of fascism grounded in freedom and deregulation rather than discipline. The seminar concludes by exploring what infrastructures of care and sociality might sustain good lives as labor transforms.

A facilitated workshop examining the witch archetype as a historical tool of gendered and racialized control, and its reclamation as a framework for intuition, boundary-setting, and resistance. Led by Maya Gawonii Shabazz Saleh, author of *Moss Mother*.

A post-election debrief and reflection facilitated by Professor Patrick Murphy of USF's Politics and Urban and Public Affairs Masters Program. The session opens with election analysis and context before transitioning to structured conversation where attendees can process results, ask questions, and reflect on what the outcome means for their communities.

A performance and reading by Marília Garcia, Brazilian poet, translator, and researcher at the Rui Barbosa Foundation, exploring her book *Lia, Mira, Maria*, which traces mourning through the lives of her mother Lia, friend Maria, and Swiss-Brazilian artist Mira Schendel. The work combines text, archival images, photographs, and material processes—drawing on Schendel's monotypes and manual practices—to move through stages of grief. The performance includes live image projection and will be followed by a conversation with Nathaniel Wolfson.

What do we owe each other as AI reshapes work and wealth? Economist Betsey Stevenson argues that AI's productivity gains won't automatically improve human flourishing, drawing on economic history and research on happiness and meaning. She explores how policy can pace job transformation, distribute AI-generated wealth more broadly, and strengthen sources of meaning beyond employment — building a society where human worth doesn't depend on outperforming machines. Stevenson is a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan, former member of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, and Chief Economist of the U.S. Department of Labor. Discussed by Lukas Althoff, Assistant Professor of Economics at Stanford University.

An evening celebrating 60 years of UC Berkeley's Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), which has supported first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students in accessing higher education. The event honors the program's legacy of breaking barriers and advancing equity while fostering community connection among alumni, current students, faculty, and supporters.

A series of events hosted by the Stanford Humanities Center featuring Rubí Tsanda Huerta, an internationally recognized writer, poet, historian, and Indigenous interpreter from the P'urhépecha community of Santo Tomás, Michoacán. Huerta, author of three bilingual poetry collections in Spanish and P'urhépecha, will lead conversations and a lecture exploring the significance of altars and Day of the Dead celebrations in P'urhépecha communities. Events include an intimate conversation with students and the Queer Student Resource Center (Nov 2), a conversation and blessing with El Centro students (Nov 3), and a public lecture on Dead and Life Celebrations in P'urhépecha Communities (Nov 5, 5–6:30 pm at the Native American Cultural Center).

A lecture on how international observers and global media covered the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, examining geopolitical perspectives from major powers and international publics. Derek Penslar of Harvard University explores how different nations and press outlets framed this pivotal conflict and its diplomatic dimensions. Part of UC Berkeley's annual Diller Lecture series, hosted at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life.

A debut coffee table book of photography documenting San Francisco's evolving spirit, self-expression, activism, and community from the early 1970s onward. Photographer Greg Gaar discusses his visual chronicle of the city's cultural life alongside Jay Blakesberg.

Dr. Bryant Lin, a primary care physician and cancer researcher living with terminal cancer, shares a personal reflection on serious illness, hope, and living fully amid uncertainty in 'My Cancer Journey: Happiness and Sadness, Hope and Fear.' In conversation with Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, a physician, journalist, and leading voice in patient-centered care, they explore the emotional and practical dimensions of cancer diagnosis—fear, purpose, relationships, and navigating life-limiting illness with honesty. Dr. Lin's new book, *Sunshine: An Exploration of Living When You Are Dying*, launches November 10; signed copies available for purchase to in-person attendees. Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments served after the talk.

Taiwanese-American writers Shawna Yang Ryan and Grace Loh Prasad discuss Ryan's novel Anatomy, a formally inventive meditation on an unnamed Asian American performance artist's journey toward female consciousness, desire, and autonomy across the Clinton and Trump eras. The conversation explores Asian American fiction, the writing life, and the intersections of race, gender, politics, and embodiment. Ryan is author of Anatomy, Green Island (a Boston Globe Pick of the Week and Amazon Best Book of the Month), and Water Ghosts (a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller), and recipient of an American Book Award. Prasad is author of The Translator's Daughter, a memoir finalist for the Northern California Book Award, and her essay won the inaugural 2025 Panorama Prize.

Harry Tanner, Classics PhD from the University of Galway, discusses his book *The Queer Thing About Sin* (Bloomsbury 2025), which traces the ancient origins of homophobia from Greek and Roman legal systems through biblical law. Tanner explores why homosexuality became condemned by the 5th century BCE and what those historical patterns reveal today. He will also discuss his path from PhD research to trade publishing, the role of AI in adapting scholarly work for general audiences, and how his own experience with conversion therapy shaped his research in Classics. His book was shortlisted for Book of the Year by Foyles UK.

A panel discussion on how light, sound, and color shape human experience in buildings and landscapes. Panelists including Bill Hynes, PLA, LEED AP and other leaders in architecture, landscape, interiors, and lighting design will examine multisensory design through built work across residences, cultural, civic, and commercial spaces. The conversation explores how design decisions—in lighting, materials, and technology—affect how people feel in physical spaces, and how digital expectations are reshaping architectural design.

A panel discussion and networking event for students and early-career professionals interested in labor organizing and social justice work. Labor movement professionals across organizing, policy, legal advocacy, and related fields will discuss career paths, skill-building, and entry points into the movement. Hosted by UC Berkeley.

What does it mean to truly notice the natural world in an age of distraction and climate anxiety? Author Richard Louv explores how slowing down and opening our senses to the living world around us can reconnect us to nature and inspire action. In conversation with Jenny Park, Executive Director of Climate One, Louv discusses his book *Noticing: Intimate Encounters with the Natural World* and the power of attention as a path to hope and environmental engagement.