Menlo’s New Course Seeds Many New Thoughts. This fall, Menlo debuted a multidisciplinary team-taught course designed to help students develop a deeper understanding of the history of race and racism in U.S. politics. Through close examination of both historical examples and current case studies such as the recent #BlackLivesMatter and #SayHerName movements, the course introduces students to the historical, social and political context that informs issues of racial justice, including intersections between race, gender, and sexuality; race and cultural production; race and the law; the issue of police violence; and the history of U.S. protests and social movements. The course incorporates a plurality of voices and opinions, incorporating multiple guest speakers and introducing students to a range of BIPOC authors writing on the topic of race. Here’s what students in the course Chunyu Kao ’20 had to say: What impressed me the most
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was the spirit of James Baldwin. He insisted time and time again that the role of an artist is not to defend his profession, but to express his own experience, his knowledge, honesty, and insight.
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Dennis Vanin ’24 Dr. Martin Luther King’s letter from “a Birmingham jail is very touching; it
was written in 1963 and it is still of such high relevance today. The wait seemed endless at that time and I think it will be the same today. ‘As long as we have to wait for justice, it will be denied’: a very profound sentence. If not now, when?
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23 SUMMER 2021
