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10 upcoming conferences and symposia in the East Bay. 4 are in the next seven days; the list is updated daily.
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More in the East Bay Lectures 283Book talks 82Workshops 41Salons 21Film + talk 10
Conferences elsewhere San Francisco 58Stanford 11Peninsula 17
A regional summit convening 250+ senior women leaders from Bay Area business and civic sectors to discuss pressing issues shaping the region's economic and social future. Keynote from First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Hosted by the Bay Area Council at PG&E Auditorium.
The 4th annual Collaborative Learning Experience on Reproductive Justice brings together medical students, law students, social work students, undergraduates, and others for a day of transdisciplinary learning. Co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley–UCSF Joint Medical Program, UC Berkeley Gender & Women's Studies, the School of Social Welfare, and the Center on Reproductive Rights & Justice, the workshop integrates perspectives from medicine, law, social work, and gender studies to explore reproductive justice as a framework connecting health, rights, and systemic inequality.
A summit on belonging, identity, and America's future co-hosted by UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy, School of Law, Graduate School of Journalism, and the Othering and Belonging Institute. The event brings together scholars, policymakers, journalists, and community leaders to explore how Americans can reimagine national identity and strengthen social cohesion at a pivotal moment. Free to attend.
Death Day is a half-day symposium exploring mortality, grief, and meaning-making through talks, storytelling, and conversation. Ecologist Kirra Swenerton discusses ecological grief as reverence for biodiversity loss; Maria Mangini traces the cultural history of mourning dress and bereavement customs from the Middle Ages to present; Tom Banger explores terminal diagnosis and proximity to death. Hosted by The Berkeley Alembic.
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 two-day international workshop examining how readers have scrutinized literature for hidden meanings, political signals, and threats since the nineteenth century. The program brings together scholars from LMU Munich and UC Berkeley to explore vigilant reading practices across eras: from reading between the lines under censorship to contemporary conspiracy interpretation, book banning, and debates over identity, representation, and inclusion in literary culture.
A symposium honoring film theorist Mary Ann Doane, featuring scholars across three thematic sessions: Technology/Epistemology (Wendy Hui Kyong Chun on LLMs and archives, Nico Baumbach on cinema, Kristen Whissel on 3D film and doubling, Yuriko Furuhata on climate and deep time); Mediating Time (Althea Wasow on cinema and racialization, Pooja Rangan and Joshua Guilford on politics and avant-garde form, Rosalind Galt on anticolonial feminism); and Desire and the Politics of Form (Maggie Hennefeld, Karl Schoonover, Erika Balsom on voyeurism and feminist film theory, Marc Steinberg on Japanese cinema). Facilitated by Kristen Whissel and Damon Young of UC Berkeley.
A day-long celebration of The Berkeley Alembic's new managing director Anisa Charucksiri and the organization's next chapter, featuring eight teachers offering art, meditation, voice, dance, somatic connection, and kirtan throughout the afternoon and evening. Co-founders Michael Taft and Erik Davis will share long-term visions, with a community gathering and guided meditation in the late afternoon, followed by dancing, kirtan, and live music into the night. Food trucks and tea service available. Open to the Alembic community and curious guests.
A symposium celebrating student research in data science and analytics. Participants present poster projects developed with mentors across UC Berkeley and industry, applying data skills to real-world challenges in design, analysis, and tool-building. The event includes presentations, networking, and awards recognizing contributions to the data research community.
The 51st annual Berkeley-Stanford Conference on Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies convenes scholars and experts to examine desire and dissent across the region. Co-hosted by UC Berkeley's Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ISEEES) and Stanford's Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (CREEES), this flagship interdisciplinary conference brings together researchers, historians, and policy analysts to discuss contemporary and historical dimensions of resistance, cultural expression, and social movements in Russia and Eastern Europe.
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