Frequently Asked Questions

Can anybody attend a UDLS talk?

Yes! Students, staff, and faculty from all departments are welcome to attend.

Can anybody give a UDLS talk?

Yes! We encourage students, staff, and faculty from all departments to sign up – no need to have teaching experience or to ask anybody for permission. If you’re from a different university, but are still interested in giving a lecture, email us at udls@berkeley.edu first.

Can my friends and I give a joint UDLS talk?

Sure! Just make sure that you find a fitting and natural way to split your time and content. After all, this is not a group presentation assignment.

What type of topic makes a good UDLS talk?

From UBC’s FAQ page:

Anything that you are passionate about or that you have some extended knowledge about makes a great talk. Great recent talks featured topics as mundane as Screws, as exotic as Pinball, or even very personal ones like Stories from Volunteering at the Olympics.

There is an unwritten rule not to give talks about your own research. That being said, if you think that your research has an interesting or unexpected facet that a general audience would appreciate and that you would never be able to talk about in a different setting, feel free to try it out!

What if my favorite topic has already been done in the past?

From UBC’s FAQ page:

Just talk about it again! Naturally, there are only so many hobbies and interests to talk about, and many students tend to be passionate about similar things. But even if someone has already talked about the same topic as you would like to, everyone has a different take on things.

What’s the expected length/format of a UDLS talk?

Ideally, UDLS talks should be somewhere between 30 and 40 minutes long. In practice, UBC’s UDLS program has seen shorter and longer talks, and as long as a talk is interesting, it is unlikely that anyone will take away your metaphorical mic. For Berkeley’s program, we’ll likely see as we go along!

We imagine most UDLS talks will be slide-based, but we nonetheless want you to know that you’re absolutely welcome to experiment with free-form talks or a different format altogether. If you need special equipment that you cannot arrange yourself, please contact us in advance and we’ll see what we can do.

What if I need to cancel or reschedule my UDLS talk after signing up?

While we expect a minimum level of commitment when filling out the lecture signup, we know that plans can change and that life can be unpredictable (especially online). If you have to cancel or reschedule your talk, please contact us as soon as possible so we can move things around.

My question isn’t answered on this page. What do I do?

Email us at udls@berkeley.edu!