This graphic illustration serves as a meaning-making tool, outlining the foundational components of building for belonging and the practices that enable it within projects and places. Illustration by Wenjia Tang. Click here to download the full-size...

In a 2024 podcast interview with Joe Rogan, Mark Zuckerberg mentioned that corporate culture in America is neutered, taking the grandstand view that the workplace needs more “masculine energy.” At the time, in some circles, Zuckerberg’s comments were the source of both outrage and mockery...

I find myself back at the library to begin to express the deep learnings conveyed to me through that late literary giant Dr. Gloria Jean Watkins, better known by her pen name, bell hooks. I had a unique and cherished opportunity to spend time with the published and unpublished works of bell hooks at the Special Archives Library at Berea College. It seems only right that now...

Editor's note: The ideas expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of the Othering & Belonging Institute or UC Berkeley, but belong to the author. All photos by Samir Gambhir. During my recent visit to Germany, the Memorial to the Murdered...

Two TED-style talks that will explore perceptions, misconceptions, and how we build shared moments in today’s seemingly divisive times. You’ll hear from Stephen Hawkins, More in Common and Ashlin Malouf, Othering & Belonging Institute.

On October 30, 2025 OBI's Health Disparities Cluster in partnership with the Medical Anthropology Program and The Berkeley Center for Social Medicine hosted Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma surgeon based in California's Central Valley, to present a talk...

This is the third piece in a series from director john a. powell on the ongoing assaults on our democracy and communities, and how we may think about, respond to, and confront them. You can also watch our livestream conversation with john about this...

BERKELEY, CA: New Zealand has come out on top of a list of the most inclusive countries for the fourth consecutive year in 2025, according to the latest findings of an annual study published Wednesday by a UC Berkeley research center. Each year the...

Could you knock on the door of someone that you disagree with and have an open, connecting conversation? In 2024, canvassers across five states set out with this very question in mind. This wasn’t your typical political canvassing. Instead, it was a...

On Oct. 16, 2025, OBI Director john a. powell interviewed Columbia Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb about his new book, Three or More is Riot, and the climate at his university amid the attacks being waged against it by the Trump administration...

Changes in the political order—globally and nationally—are part and parcel of human history. In 2025, the process of becoming less and less inclusive and democratic is seemingly leaving no country unscathed. The arc of history is bending in the...

BERKELEY, CA: UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute has released a new tool designed to track progress and setbacks for Black residents at the municipal level across recent decades. The dashboard highlights disparities in key areas such as...

This is the second in a series from director john powell on ongoing assaults on our democracy and communities, and how we may think about, respond to, and confront them. In my first piece for this series, I touched on core norms I believe many of us...

FIGHTING FORWARD is a new essay series OBI is releasing over the month of October authored by director john powell on the ongoing assaults on our democracy and communities, and how we may respond to and confront them. Essay 1: What We Share The...

An evening with john a. powell on October 6, 2025, centered on challenges facing southern Oregon and the possibilities of creating bridges and working together to address our most critical problems.