Fall Semester 2026
Colloquium Description:
A colloquium for presenting and discussing work in progress in moral, political, and legal theory. The central aim is to provide an opportunity for students, faculty, and members of the general public to engage with philosophers, political theorists, and legal scholars working on normative questions. Another aim is to bring together people from different disciplines who have strong normative interests or who speak to issues of potential interest to philosophers and political theorists.
The theme for Fall 2026 will focus on economic, social, cultural, and political implications of AI. Each week we will discuss a paper (usually in draft) by an invited guest. The Fall guests include social scientists, computer scientists, philosophers, and law professors. Attendees receive and read the papers in advance, and the workshop will be a focused discussion of the paper (not a lecture).
This semester, the colloquium is co-organized by Josh Cohen and Wes Holliday.
The seminar meets on Fridays, 12:15-2PM, with a third hour that is reserved for students taking the class for credit. We will meet in the Law School, Room 141. Weather permitting, lunch will be available on the Steinhart Courtyard (2nd floor of the law complex); otherwise, lunches will be available in Room 141 beginning at 11:45am.
Papers for upcoming talks should become available to download in the table below one week before their respective colloquium dates and will be taken down after their colloquium has concluded. Please note that we can only distribute each paper during the week of its corresponding colloquium session.
The first open meeting of the colloquium will be on Friday, August 28, 2026.
If you wish to be added to the Kadish Center contact list to receive a copy of the speakers’ papers during the week of their visit with us, please contact dkloss@law.berkeley.edu.
Zoom is available for those who cannot attend in person. Join on Zoom here.
Our Fall 2026 tentative schedule can be found below:
| Aug. 28 | Phil Trammell | Stanford, Economics |
| Sept. 4 | Lydia T. Liu | Princeton, Computer Science |
| Sept. 11 | Rishi Bommasani | Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI |
| Sept. 18 | Gene Sperling | Georgetown Public Policy, Economic Dignity Lab; Director, National Economic Council 1997–2001, 2011–2014 |
| Sept. 25 | Stuart Russell | Berkeley, Computer Science |
| Oct. 2 |
Johns Hopkins, School of Government and Policy, |
|
| Oct. 9 |
Carnegie Mellon, Deep Mind |
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| Oct. 16 | Mathias Risse |
Harvard Kennedy School |
| Oct. 23 | Anthony Aguirre |
UCSC Physics; CEO Future of Life Institute |
| Oct. 30 | Ned Block |
NYU Philosophy; c0-director Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness |
| Nov. 6 | Rob Reich |
Stanford Political Science, associate director, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI |
| Nov. 13 | Archon Fung | Harvard Kennedy School; Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation |
| Nov. 20 |
Boston University Law School |