The Power of Bridging

A research-backed guide for building bridges across difference in any area of our lives, from esteemed civil rights scholar john a. powell. We don't want to live in a society in turmoil. In the US, 93 percent of people want to reduce divisiveness...

Belonging Without Othering

The root of all inequality is the process of othering – and its solution is the practice of belonging We all yearn for connection and community, but we live in a time when calls for further division along the well-wrought lines of religion, race...

Creating art for belonging

The Democracy & Belonging Forum, an initiative from the Othering and Belonging Institute (OBI) at the University of California, Berkeley, teamed up with Fine Acts to produce a collection of powerful visual artworks on the topic of Bridging &...

Introducing our inaugural Global Senior Fellow

We are proud to announce that author, poet, and public intellectual Báyò Akómoláfé has joined the Democracy & Belonging Forum as its inaugural Global Senior Fellow . In this role, Bayo will act as the Forum’s “provocateur in residence”, guiding Forum...

Launching the transatlantic Democracy & Belonging Forum

June 15, 2022: Today, OBI is thrilled to launch its first global initiative, the Democracy and Belonging Forum , a new network for civic leaders in Europe and the US who are committed to countering pernicious polarization and democratic degradation...

OBI scholar Jovan Scott Lewis appointed to CA taskforce on reparations

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that Jovan Scott Lewis, an associate professor of Geography and Othering & Belonging Institute-affiliated faculty member, has been appointed to the state's first taskforce created to study reparations for slavery.

Introducing the 2021 Toward Belonging Creative Fellow Alex Nezam

We are thrilled to announce our inaugural Toward Belonging Creative Fellow is Alexander Nezam, an experimental filmmaker who aims to use the power of filmmaking and participatory design to build belonging.

Get-out-the-vote digital short nominated for Writers Guild of America award

“Can You See It?,” a get-out-the-vote (GOTV) digital short produced by OBI’s Blueprint for Belonging program was been nominated for Best Promotion at the Writers Guild Awards.

Poll: Anti-maskers small minority of Inland Empire voters

Greater than 4 in 5 Inland Empire voters support requiring people to wear face coverings or masks inside public spaces, and 86 percent consider it important that local public officials wear masks, a new poll of California voters finds.

Health Equity and the Circle of Human Concern

On February 1, 2021, Institute director john a. powell and staff researcher EJ Toppin published an article in the American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics.

California approves latest 'opportunity map' for affordable housing sites

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BERKELEY, CA: A California state agency has approved for the third consecutive year the use of an opportunity map developed by the Othering & Belonging Institute and partners designed to guide the siting of affordable housing...

Video: Architect Rodney Leon on Black Public Art

Architect Rodney Leon presented a talk on February 18, 2020 at the Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) as part of UC Berkeley's 400 Years of Resistance to Slavery and Injustice initiative. The presentation focused on Leon's work...

Othering & Belonging Institute hosts symposium in Paris

On Jan. 24, more than 35 thought leaders from across Europe and the US gathered at Sciences Po in Paris for the Othering & Belonging Institute’s first European convening. Organized in partnership with More in Common, Queen Mary University of London...

2019 Inclusiveness Index Highlights Anti-trans Violence, Fake News, and De-democratization as Key Challenges to Inclusion in US and World

The Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway took the top spots in the 2019 Inclusiveness Index, our annual ranking of global inclusion that classifies 132 countries and all 50 US states according to policies and laws that challenge or promote belonging.

Intensive Fellowship Trains Policymakers and Advocates in Confronting Islamophobia

In a new partnership with the Islamophobia Research & Documentation Project and Our Three Winners Foundation, the Haas Institute piloted a fellowship program over the summer designed for people working in or studying public policy to recognize biases...

Explore Othering and Belonging

Targeted Universalism Case Study: Vision for Baltimore

Vision for Baltimore (V4B) is a successful program at Baltimore City Schools (BCS) designed to provide annual vision screenings for all students and, when necessary, to provide follow-up eye exams and eyeglasses at no cost to families. Download PDF...
Apr
6

Depolarization Day

Want a chance to hear from experts studying the root of what’s driving us apart and how we come back together? Eager to build the skills to listen empathetically, elicit narratives of connection, and interview professionally? Looking for a chance...

The Power of Bridging

A research-backed guide for building bridges across difference in any area of our lives, from esteemed civil rights scholar john a. powell. We don't want to live in a society in turmoil. In the US, 93 percent of people want to reduce divisiveness...