ABOUT THE INSTITUTE
The Institute for the Study of Social Change (ISSC) was founded in 1976. Its research and training focuses on the multiple ways that social change processes socially construct and transform the categories of race, ethnicity, class, and gender. ISSC researchers use a combination of qualitative and quantitative social science research methods to undertake empirical investigations into critical social issues facing the nation, with a particular emphasis on the conditions of urban inequality and the potential for effective reform in California and western cities. Institute research seeks to illuminate the lived experiences of people whose social locations are profoundly affected by broad processes of social change. Over the years, research projects at ISSC have helped to establish new research agendas and fields of study in the social sciences, and key findings have influenced academic research, public debate and social policy.
In addition to its research activities, ISSC sponsors the Graduate Fellows Program. Now in its thirtieth year, the Program provides an interdisciplinary research and training environment as a complement to graduate programs in the social sciences and professional schools.
In the coming years, the Institute for the Study of Social Change will continue to examine pressing social issues concerning the quality and character of community life in response to national and global processes of social change.
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"Understanding Change, Changing our Understanding: Thirty Years of the Institute for the Study of Social Change"
A video oral history of the ISSC by Eric Pido and Oscar Medinabr
University of California, Berkeley
Presented at ISSC’s 30th Anniversary Banquet
Thursday, October 19, 2006
During the summer of 2006, UC Berkeley graduate students Eric Pido and Oscar Medina collaborated on an ambitious project to document the history, mission, and accomplishments of the ISSC. After conducting extensive archival research, as well as reviewing founding documents and other published materials, Eric and Oscar interviewed key faculty, scholars, students and staff who have been involved in the Institute over the past thirty years. They then edited the video interviews into a 30-minute documentary, which vividly captures the unique history and path-breaking accomplishments of the ISSC.
To download the video click the links below:
Download entire video as one file.
Video by Chapters
- 01-Intro (24MB)
- 02-The History of the Institute (74MB)
- 03-Graduate Fellows Program (50MB)
- 04-Institute Projects (106MB)
- 05-Diversity Project (65MB)
- 06-The Institute Now (88MB)
- 07-Space for Learning and Social Change (53MB)