Splash Biography

BENJAMIN FIELDS, 2nd-year PhD student in sociology at UC Berkeley

Major: Sociology

College/Employer: UC Berkeley

Year of Graduation: 2026

Brief Biographical Sketch:

Hi, I am Benjamin Njila Tchakounte Fields, a 2nd-year PhD student in sociology at UC Berkeley. His research interests focus on development, global health, and nutrition.

I came from a low-income insole parent household in the south, and knew nothing about my background, history, or anything. I am actually half-Cameroonian American, and a staunch Pan-Africanist.

I studied development and global health at Cornell graduating in May of 2020, and have been to 5 continents and over 20 countries. I want to move to Cameroon in the future, and find ways to advance Black culture through luxury business!

Past Classes

(Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

S657: Coronavirus Case Study: An Introduction to Global and Public Health in Splash Fall 2020 (Oct. 31, 2020)

COVID-19 is a major historical event that will be studied in textbooks as we grow older. This virus crosses international boundaries, affects different groups disproportionately, and has unique social implications for where it rears its head. It is a great case study to be introduced to arguably the most important up-and-coming field - global and public health. In this course, I will cover the major ideas in public health using COVID-19 as a relatable case study.