Berkeley Changemaker Gateway Course
The Berkeley Changemaker Gateway 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.
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.
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
Our Gateway Course also features 9 faculty who have won the Distinguished Teaching Award, the highest honor UC Berkeley awards for excellence in teaching as well as faculty from 23 academic departments.
Learn about all Berkeley Changemaker faculty
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 I 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 commensurate 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.
Gateway Course Syllabus
Review a sample course syllabus from Summer 2025
Course Instructors
UC Berkeley Schools, Colleges, and Departments represented in our Gateway Course
- School of Education
- School of Engineering
- Haas School of Business
- College of Letters & Sciences
- School of Public Health
- School of Social Welfare
- Rausser College of Natural Resources
Departments
- African American Studies
- Agricultural & Resource Economics
- Art Practice
- Bioengineering
- Comparative Literature
- Demography
- Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences
- Energy Resources Group
- English
- Economics
- Education
- Environmental Science, Policy & Management
- Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
- International & Area Studies
- Mechanical Engineering
- Molecular and Cell Biology
- Physics
- Political Science
- Rhetoric
- Social Welfare
- Spanish
- Theater, Dance, & Performance Studies
