1976 – Founding the Institute
The Institute for the Study of Social Change (ISSC) was founded in 1976 by Troy Duster, UC Chancellor's Professor of Sociology, UC Berkeley. It was the first UC institute dedicated to studying race, stratification, and social change. From the start, interdisciplinary research and graduate student training were central, supporting generations of scholars advancing social justice.
Late 1970's – Supporting Graduate Students and Latinx Scholarship
The Chicano Political Economy Collective formed, reimagining labor and Chicano history—work that evolved into today’s Latinx Research Center.
The late David Minkus began work at the Institute in 1979, contributing to a variety of research projects and providing training, support, mentorship, and friendship to generations of graduate students. He served as Co-Director of the Graduate Fellows Program until his retirement in 2021.
1980's – Diversity and Public Health
Under Director Troy Duster, ISSC launched The Diversity Project, exploring racial and ethnic diversity among undergraduates and influencing other universities’ policies and practices. Public health research also expanded, including studies on bus driver stress, community health initiatives, and the Pathways to Genetic Screening project.
1990's – Social Movements and Education
The Institute examined and archived social movements from the 1960s–70s and tracked educational equity initiatives, including high school race and achievement research. The Center for Working Families, founded in 1998, advanced the study of gender, care work, and family life.
2000’s – Graduate Fellows and Right-Wing Studies
The Graduate Fellows Program (GFP) launched in 2003 to support students of color through doctoral completion. This decade also included major multi-year projects on immigration. In 2009, ISSC merged with the Survey Research Center, becoming ISSI, and founded the Berkeley Center for Right Wing Studies (CRWS), the first U.S. center dedicated to the study of right-wing movements.
2010's – Community and Social Medicine
New centers emphasized community-engaged research, including the Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues and the Berkeley Center for Social Medicine (BCSM), exploring health, inequality, and social context. Projects on child development and language highlighted ISSI’s hands-on approach.
The 2020's and Beyond
The Asian American Research Center (AARC), founded in 2020, advances innovative research, curricula, and programs to address a multiplicity of national and global issues facing Asian American communities. The Center for the Study of Sexual Culture joined ISSI in 2024.
The Institute’s research projects have resulted in a range of scholarly publications which have influenced public debate and social policy and expanded the boundaries of the social sciences. Our centers house many of our initiatives and evolve in response to community needs and the expertise of faculty and students.
Year after year, the Institute serves as a research hub that spurs collaboration and innovation among faculty and students of color, people from other marginalized groups, and those who engage in transformative social change research
With your support, ISSI can grow and thrive over the next 50 years!
Leadership Legacy
ISSI is led today by Director Kurt Organista. Past directors were Troy Duster, Pedro Noguera, Michael Omi, Rachel Moran, Martín Sánchez-Jankowski, Stephen Small, and Charles L. Briggs.
Check out oral histories of a few of our past directors and more video content here.
