Welcome back to the 255! As a new month kicks off (March?! Really?!) we are dreaming of longer days and warmer weather here on the east coast. This week on the 255, we are updating you on the success of Professor Blatt’s book, Race and the Making of American Political Science. Professor Blatt’s work has been featured across the nation in many university book clubs. That’s right, here is another segment of #FacultyFeature coming at ya!

As a reminder, Professor Blatt’s work focuses on American political thought, specifically on how ideas of difference such as race, gender, class, etc, interact with political discourse and public policy. Her book, Race and the Making of American Political Thought, was published in 2018 by the University of Pennsylvania Press. You can learn more and buy a copy of Blatt’s work here. Also be sure to check out our first blog post on Jessica Blatt entitled “Podcasts and Politics” where we featured Blatt’s guest appearance on the Always Already Podcast.

Professor Blatt’s work has recently been featured in book-club and discussions in universities all around the United States. We specifically wanted to highlight the University of Southern California’s summer book program in which Prof. Blatt’s work will make an appearance! Professor Ange-Marie Hancock Alfaro is a Dean’s Professor of Gender Studies and Political Science at UNSC and is looking into ways to diversify their program and class offerings. One of the main initiatives by Professor Alfaro is to hire more faculty members of color in their department. Along with this initiative, the summer book-program is using Professor Blatt’s work to give their participants more insight into how race has been at the center of American political culture and its developments. Check out this link to read more about UNSC’s diversity initiative and their feature of Blatt’s book. UNSC’s Political Science department hill be holding group discussions about the book to create a shared experience and sense of communal responsibility as they diversify their curricula. To use Alfaro’s words “Once we know the history, we can begin to change the future.”

We are so excited to see schools across the country use Professor Blatt’s work to give insight into the impact of race in the development of political science. Professor Blatt’s work to uncover the relations between race and American political thought is reflective of MMC’s own work to decolonize education and academic institutions. To learn more about how MMC is confronting these decolonizing efforts be sure to check the Sojourner Truth Suffrage Academy and the events being hosted by the PHR and IS departments. We would like to congratulate Professor Blatt on the success of her book and its positive reception from the public. We also thank Professor Blatt for keeping us in the loop so we can update you all through our #FacultyFeatures. We hope you enjoyed this academic update and look forward to bringing you more content about the incredible work of our faculty. As always a quick reminder to be kind, stay safe, and never stop learning!