When I got the opportunity to teach at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) in the fall of 2023 for the spring 2024 semester, I was elated. My dream of teaching in a global environment had come true.
I wanted to use that opportunity to build a course I never had when I was an international affairs student studying human rights and media at SIPA—one that examined how constructs of race and identity are formed, and how mass media has historically shaped our understanding of race and the global order. I knew that race and identity were rarely taught in international affairs schools—or many journalism schools, for that matter. And I rarely had the opportunity to learn from a professor who looked like me.
The class became one of the most popular at SIPA last year. I enjoyed every minute of teaching, even while knowing that across the country, academic offerings on race, identity, and history were under siege. My students came from around the world and across industries, and I learned just as much from them as they did from me and each other. Some even went on to publish their class assignments in local and national media.
A few months later, the course was canceled, and the department it was housed was dissolved. Despite the grief and lack of clarity, I’ve kept quiet….. until now.
Since then, it has been heart-wrenching to watch Columbia’s administration pre-emptively cave to pressure, especially in placing Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies under special provost supervision or receivership. It’s been terrifying to see institution after institution across the country cave on diversity, freedom of speech, and academic integrity, not to protect students and faculty, but to protect donors and reputations.
I’ve been thinking of what to do to help others in this moment. So for starters, I’ve decided to liberate my teaching work.
This summer, I will be offering a version of my Columbia course on Race, Media, and International Affairs as an independent, public offering, for this moment.
This is not a time for media literacy or historical knowledge to be held hostage by institutions bending the knee to authoritarianism and fear.
As I said on BlueSky, I don’t know what the future of academia in America will look like after all this. I am both grateful to Columbia for how it shaped me, while also grieving what feels like the loss of the institutional home I knew and loved.
But I do know that in a moment of profound crisis, we cannot wait for elite permission or institutional approval to share knowledge and create learning communities.
I put out a simple post. Over 3,000 people liked it. More than 100 said they would support the course financially. Many said they’d be willing to pay more to offset the cost for someone else. The response was overwhelming.
So… welcome to my Summer School.
Race, Media & International Affairs 101: Summer 2025
Here’s what I can share for now:
The pilot course will run over 4 to 6 weeks, beginning in late June or early July.
I’ll be offering a hybrid mix of live online lectures and recordings, available to those who sign up.
To keep things manageable and meaningful, I’ll be capping the discussion cohorts at 20–30 people to allow for real discussion, intimacy, and community.
We’ll cover a global range of material—from the development of colonial mass media in the U.S., to media coverage of racial justice at the 1919 League of Nations, to how French media portrayed the recent uprisings in France. And much more.
I’ll be curating a thoughtful and diverse global cohort, and I’m asking for a real commitment from participants to show up for the full course.
The course will be offered on a sliding scale from $100 to $500, with a standard tier of $200. Scholarships and pay-it-forward options will be available. All of this is far less than Columbia tuition, and this model keeps the experience accessible and sustainable.
I plan to donate a portion of the proceeds to mutual aid efforts, including possible legal defense or direct support for students and academics whose work is under threat. This course is also an experiment in redistributing knowledge and capital. I’m open to ideas.
UPDATE (4/25) : ENROLLMENT IS LIVE!
Click here to secure your spot before they run out.
Deadline for enrollment is May 10th, 2025, 11:59 pm.
Any questions or issues? email assistant@resistancesummerschool.com
They can try to cancel us all they want. But this is the community we’re building anyway.
In solidarity,
Karen
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