Berkeley Changemaker Gateway Course

Course Contributors

This course was originally created by Alex Budak, Laura Hassner, Mariana Somma, and Dr. Brandi Pearce, and has been further developed since 2022 by Dr. Christyna Serrano and Chelsea Gregory, MFA. Together, this team brings expertise from business, education, engineering, and the arts.

The Berkeley Changemaker Gateway also draws on insights from distinguished UC Berkeley faculty across disciplines—including Public Health, Engineering, Social Sciences, and the Arts—ensuring a rich and multifaceted learning experience.

We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the following faculty and guests:

Berkeley Changemaker Chats – Faculty:

Janet Yellen, Cathy Koshland, Maximilian Auffhammer, Linda Burton, Anthony Cascardi, Lisa García Bedolla, Ron Dahl, Ken Goldberg, Glynda Hull, Jennifer Johnson-Hanks, Michael Lu, Oliver O’Reilly, Jasper Rine, Erica Bree Rosenblum, Ula Taylor, Steve Weber, Lisa Wymore

Guest Speakers: Dania Matos, Shaun Carver

Alumni & Special Guests: Nanxi Liu, Jerry Luk, Olufemi Ogundele, Rob Solomon

Christyna Serrano, Education, Engineering & Berkeley Haas, Gateway Course Faculty

Chelsea Gregory, Theater, Dance & Performance Studies and Berkeley Haas, Gateway Course Faculty

Carol Christ, Chancellor Emerita and Professor of English

Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary and Former Chair of the Federal Reserve

Lisa García Bedolla, Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, Dean of the Graduate Division, Professor in the Graduate School of Education

Michael Lu, MD, MS, MPH, Dean of the School of Public Health

I'm thankful that I've been able to learn so much from this course! I truly believe this is the greatest preparation I could have received going into my first year at Berkeley. I'm sad this has come to an end, but excited to apply the lessons and principles I learned into my Berkeley journey and my life!

Grace Kelly, Gateway Course Student, Class of 2024

Being a part of this class is life changing and it truly shapes your identity, and I am so glad to be a part of this community.

Milo Harmon Maurer, Gateway Course Student, Class of 2024

Maximillian Auffhammer, George Pardee Jr. Professor of International Sustainable Development, UC Berkeley; Regional Associate Dean, Letters and Sciences

Ron E. Hassner, Chancellor's Professor of Political Science; Helen Diller Family Chair in Israel Studies

Glynda Hull, Elizabeth H. and Eugene A. Shurtleff Chair in Undergraduate Education

Bob Jacobsen, Professor of Physics

Terry D. Johnson, Teaching Professor, Department of Bioengineering (former)

Rich Lyons, Chancellor

Oliver O'Reilly, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education & Prof. of Mechanical Engineering

Jasper Rine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor and Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development

Ula Taylor, Professor and H. Michael and Jeanne Williams Department Chair in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies

As someone who has grown up feeling like the ‘other’ it was so empowering hear that there is space for all people to make the meaningful changes they want to see...I'm so grateful to be a part of this program and to have the opportunity to gain the skills necessary for creating the change that I'd like to see!

Gateway Course Student

I'm really excited by Berkeley's focus on inclusive leading as a public institution- in my eyes, one of the most important foundational steps to becoming a changemaker is exposing yourself to a multitude of perspectives and backgrounds, which is achieved not only by interacting with the incredible academic opportunities offered by Berkeley faculty and courses, but also by introducing yourself to the cultural experiences offered by the numerous student groups and interactions with those from backgrounds other than your own.

Gateway Course Student, Class of 2024

...I love the fact that changemakers do not need to be bounded by the area of their interest, be it public health, food activism, electronics, writing. All of us in our own respect and interest can make a difference, especially with these lectures to guide us!

Gateway Course Student, Class of 2024

Linda Burton, Dean of Berkeley Social Welfare & Eugene and Rose Kleiner Chair for the Study of Processes, Practices and Policies in Aging

Anthony Cascardi, Professor, Sidney and Margaret Ancker Distinguished Professor

Ken Goldberg, William S. Floyd Jr. Distinguished Chair in Engineering, UC Berkeley; Professor, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research

Jennifer Johnson-Hanks, Executive Dean of the College of Letters & Science and Professor of Demography & Sociology

Laura Hassner, Strategic Advisor to CIEO & Lecturer, Management of Organizations

Core gateway course faculty.

Brandi M. Pearce, Lecturer, Director, High Impact Teams & Research, Team@Haas, Management of Organizations

Core gateway course faculty.

Mariana Somma, Lecturer, Innovation and Design

Core gateway course faculty.

Steven Weber, Associate Dean and Head of School; Faculty Director, Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity; Professor (I School and Dept. of Political Science)

Lisa Wymore, Professor in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I enroll in the gateway course: The Berkeley Changemaker?

Please check the Class Schedule in the Academic Guide for the suite of Berkeley Changemaker courses now open for enrollment. Berkeley Changemaker is now a "course type" in the Academic Guide.

How do learn more about the gateway course?

This page is a great place to start. Be sure to watch the videos and review the draft syllabus posted on this page. Should you still have questions, we are here for you. Please write to us: changemaker@berkeley.edu

I'm outside of the United States or have a challenging schedule, can I still take this class?

In the summer, we offer a 2-unit version of the course. The 2-unit summer version is asynchronous and fully-online, meaning that you can watch the lectures and complete your assignments on your own time and on the schedule that works best for you each week. We also have many "live" components available to you throughout the course, including office hours with our all-star UC Berkeley faculty and Zoom sessions that offer you an opportunity to engage even more deeply with the critical thinking, communication, and collaboration skills taught in our course. In consideration of our students' varying schedules, we try our best to offer these at different times throughout the week.

What's the workload like? How many hours a week should I expect with this course?

Please see the course syllabus on this page for more information. Our students report that the workload is commesurate with other courses with the same unit value at UC Berkeley. We designed the course to comply with the guidelines set forth by the Academic Senate's Committee on Curriculum & Instruction. This includes watching the lectures and Berkeley Changemaker Chats, doing the readings, engaging with your classmates, and completing your assignments.

I'm a junior/senior, is this course for me?

Yes! Third year students and above should enroll in the upper-division versions of this course: Business Administration (UGBA C196C) for credit. As an upper-division student, you'll be grouped in a small "section" with other juniors and seniors. Kindly note that lower-division students should enroll in the lower-division section (UGBA C12). No student should enroll in more than one section of this course.

Is the gateway course open to the general public?

Yes. Pre-college and non-matriculated students are invited to enroll in our gateway course when it is offered in the summer. Adult learners may also be interested in our new Executive Education course, offered every December and May.

I still have questions.

We'd love to hear from you, please e-mail us at: changemaker@berkeley.edu.

I am very grateful that this course was open to any grade even though the small description of this course seemed to be geared towards freshmen, and I was glad that I disregarded the description and joined this class. You will definitely learn something in this course where you can apply it to your life no matter what path you take...

YeRin Jun '21, Gateway Course Student & Berkeley Changemaker

BERKELEY CHANGEMAKER is a registered trademark of The Regents of the University of California through its Berkeley campus. It is not affiliated with any third parties using “changemaker” or similar terms.

Berkeley Changemaker Gateway Course

Course Contributors

Course Instructors

Our gateway course features 26 distinguished UC Berkeley Faculty members from 23 departments and 9 schools & colleges, including:

THE GATEWAY COURSE SAMPLE SYLLABUS (SUMMER 2025)

Nine of our gateway course Faculty have won the Distinguished Teaching Award, the highest honor UC Berkeley awards for excellence in teaching. They are:

The 23 UC Berkeley Academic Departments represented in our gateway course include:

Questions?

The 8 UC Berkeley Schools and Colleges represented in our gateway course include:

Since our launch in July 2020, Berkeley Changemaker classes enroll ~20% of undergraduates.

Click here to read the 'Bear Talk' blog from Cal Visitor Services highlighting our gateway course

Additional Gateway Course Faculty

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I enroll in the gateway course: The Berkeley Changemaker?

How do learn more about the gateway course?

I'm outside of the United States or have a challenging schedule, can I still take this class?

Is the gateway course open to the general public?

I still have questions.

BERKELEY CHANGEMAKER is a registered trademark of The Regents of the University of California through its Berkeley campus. It is not affiliated with any third parties using “changemaker” or similar terms.