What is Brilliance of Berkeley?
Brilliance of Berkeley is a course that is open to all UC Berkeley students. The course is designed to engage in a celebration of the exceptional instruction, research, and knowledge of UC Berkeley’s diverse faculty. Each week, participants will participate in guest lectures from luminary faculty representing Berkeley’s wide range of colleges and schools, including Nobel Laureates, MacArthur "genius' fellows, UC Berkeley Distinguished Professors, and more.
Goals of the course include inspiring participants to:
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Explore the extraordinary instructors, their learning, and their teaching at UC Berkeley across a diverse range of topics
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Celebrate participation in the UC Berkeley community
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Explore areas of academic interest - and open the door to new ones
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Learn more about research and learning opportunities on the UC Berkeley campus
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Identify what kinds of learning experiences, resources, and class structures might best support academic engagement at UC Berkeley and beyond, as lifelong learners
What Students Say About the Course
“I really enjoyed learning about the origins/personal lives of the speakers. Obviously they are all brilliant, but it humanizes them and makes them seem more like “normal people,” which is encouraging because it makes me feel like maybe I could do something brilliant one day.” - Student in Spring 2026 Course
"The variety of lectures has been incredible. The fact that it isn't always lecturers in the same field or in the same general research area allows us to explore a bunch of different systems of knowledge and of understanding." - Student in the Spring 2026 Course