Deep Engagement & Partnership: Supporting Advisors on the AC Requirement

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This section offers advisors an in-depth understanding of the AC requirement’s historical roots, significance, and contemporary applications. Please explore our curated recordings, slides, and expansive explanations, to help you can explore the complex layers that make AC a vital part of students’ political and social education, including:

  • Historical & Contextual Foundations: The AC Center has made available past recorded presentations tracing the AC requirement’s origins, from student activism, transnational social and racial justice movements, and its evolution as a core part of Berkeley’s academic philosophy. We hope our past slides and recordings illuminate key moments and guiding principles.
  • Curriculum & Student Engagement: Our most recent presentation focuses on the AC curriculum’s impact, reflecting on student projects, community engagement, and recent developments. It provides guidance on how advisors can support students in navigating and maximizing these learning opportunities.

Advising Presentations

The AC Center team collaborates with advising units to facilitate these sessions, ensuring that advisors are equipped with historical insight and practical strategies. We invite advising teams to reach out and schedule a personalized deep dive into the AC requirement, helping advisors leverage this knowledge to better understand student exploration of social justice, racial history, and community-centered learning. To request a consultation meeting to see how we can best support you and your advising team, please email americancultures@berkeley.edu.

Advising Partnerships

Fall 2025 Update on the AC Requirement

In Fall 2025, the AC Center began a pilot partnership with the College of Letters & Sciences advisors, beginning with a presentation focused on the AC requirement, highlighting its historical origins rooted in student activism and social justice, and its ongoing role in fostering student engagement with race, culture, and equity issues. Through recorded sessions and slides, advisors gain practical insights into the curriculum’s comparative framework and how it supports students’ academic and personal growth. The session helps showcase how the AC Center can develop a collaborative partnership with advising teams, to best support advisors in guiding students effectively and inviting them to connect with the American Cultures Center for further resources and tailored support.

AC 30th Anniversary Banner with title, Tumbling the Ivory Tower: Creating the Race Requirement at UC Berkeley

American Cultures Advancing Practice: Racism isn't rocket science

Over thirty years ago, Professor Bill Simmons, architect of the AC requirement at UC Berkeley, framed the teaching and learning about race in American life as central to the AC requirement—the campus’s only graduation requirement. Today, this question remains pressing amidst ongoing public debate about race and education. This presentation offers advisors a framework to reflect on these debates while providing updates on the AC curriculum, new courses, and future directions, including former Chancellor Carol Christ’s view of the AC curriculum as “the soul of UC Berkeley.”