Tag Archives: Racism

Scholars’ Circle – Book Author interviews : “L.A. Rebellion – Creating a New Black Cinema” ; “Breaking Down the Walls of Segregation : Mexican American Grassroots Politics in Orange County, CA.” – March 1, 2026

March 2, 2026 host

In the 1960s and 70s, a group of black filmmakers at UCLA produced a diverse collection of films to challenge Hollywood’s depiction of black communities.

Book title L.A. Rebellion - Creating a New Black Cinema

The LA Rebellion presented films with uniquely black stories. What was this movement and what did it accomplish? [ dur: 30mins. ]

Allyson Nadia Field is Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago. She is the author of Acts of Love: Black Performance and the Kiss that Changed Film History and co-editor of L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema.
Bernard Nicolas holds a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from UCLA during L.A. Rebellion era. He is a writer, producer, director, actor. Films he directed include Daydream Therapy and Gidget Meets Hondo.

UCLA archive of L.A. Rebellion for Black Cinema can be found here. Some films from this collective :

Killer of Sheep ( Charles Burnett )
Daughters of the Dust ( Julie Dash )
Bush Mama ( Haile Gerima )

Diary of an African Nun ( Julie Dash )
Grey Area ( Monona Wali )
A Day in the life of Wille Faust or Death on Installment Plan ( Jamma Fanaka )

book cover of Breaking Down The Walls of Segregation - shows orange picking kids posing for a photo in the orange orchard and below center photo of Mexican American leaders of grassroot politics. Both photos from 1930's.

California’s historic segregation of Mexican-Americans contrasted with the South’s version of segregation. In California, who did this segregation serve? Our guest confirms it was the interests of “citrus capitalism” in Orange County. The famous Supreme Court Case Broad v Board of Education challenged segregation in public schools. But there was another precedent, the Mendes et al case, that challenged segregation and education in California against Mexican-Americans. [ dur: 28mins. ]

David-James Gonzales is Assistant Professor of Histroy at Brigham Young University. He is the author of the book of discussion – Breaking Down the Walls of Segregation: Mexican American Grassroots Politics and Civil Rights in Orange County, CA.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.

Arts and Humanities, Family / Education, Politics and Activism, Society and Culture, Film, Civil Liberties, Racism, Schools

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – What is Social Media addiction? Social Media Algorithm Biases Interfere With Online Interaction – February 22, 2026

February 22, 2026 host

How do people become addicted to social media and what are the implications of such an addiction? [ dur: 30mins. ]

Ofir Turel is Professor of Information Systems (IS) Management, IS group co-lead, University of Melbourne. He has published over 250 journal papers, two of those titles include The Benefits and Dangers of Enjoyment with Social Networking Websites and Followers Problematic Engagement with Influencers on Social Media and Attachment Theory Perspective.

Most of our activity on the internet interacts with posts, memes and videos that are driven by algorithms. How might algorithms be biased, racist, or sexist, and how might they amplify those biases in us? [ dur: 28mins. ] Full length of this interview can be found here.

Tina Eliassi-Rad is a Professor of Computer Science at Northeastern University. She is also a core faculty member at Northeastern’s Network Science Institute and the Institute for Experiential AI. She is the author of Measuring Algorithmically Infused Societies and What Science Can Do for Democracy: A Complexity Science Approach.
Damien Patrick Williams is Assistant Professor in Philosophy and Data Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is the author of Why AI Research Needs Disabled and Marginalized Perspectives, Fitting the description: historical and sociotechnical elements of facial recognition and anti-black surveillance, and Constructing Situated and Social Knowledge: Ethical, Sociological, and Phenomenological Factors in Technological Design. Damien is a member of the Project Advisory Committee for the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Project on Disability Rights and Algorithmic Fairness, Bias, and Discrimination, and the Disability Inclusion Fund’s Tech & Disability Stream Advisory Committee.
Henning Schulzrinne is Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Colombia University. He is the co-author of Mobility Protocols and Handover Optimization: Design, Evaluation and Application, Bridging communications and the physical world and Future internets escape the simulator. He was nominated as Internet Hall of Fame Innovator in 2013. He was Chief Technology Officer for the FCC under the Obama Administration.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, Science / Technology, Computers and Internet, Racism

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Health care disparities on the basis of race in the U.S.- February 15, 2026

February 15, 2026 host

Health care outcomes in the U.S. differ substantially depending on race. How much are health care discrepancies based on structural and historical racism? What needs to change to promote health justice in the U.S. and what kinds of policies are needed to promote this change? How important is diversity of health care providers in building a more just healthcare system? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Keisha Ray teaches Bioethics and Humanities as a tenured associate professor in Texas. She is the author of Black Health: The Social, Political, and Cultural Determinants of Black People’s Health.
Ruqaiijah Yearby is the Judge Clifford Scott Green Chair in Law at Temple University Beasley School of Law. She is also Co-Founder of the Institute for Healing Justice & Equity and one of the Co-Founders of the Collaborative for Anti-Racism & Equity. She is the book chapter author of “Gender Bias, Mental Health Inequities, and Health Justice” in the book Mental Health Equity.
Dylan H. Roby is the Chair and Professor of Health, Society, and Behavior at UC Irvine. He is the co-author of Ending Structural Racism in the US Health Care System to Eliminate Health Care Inequities.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.

Health, Politics and Activism, Medicine , Racism

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Samuel Ringgold Ward: A life of Struggle, a biography – December 29, 2024

December 28, 2024 host

The history of anti-slavery activism is a rich and important period in American history. But there are so many stories that still have yet to be written. Samuel Ward is one of those activists; an important figure in the African-American activist community working against slavery and racism, whose story is largely lost. Our guest R. J. M. Blackett is addressing this need to tell Ward’s story in a new book, Samuel Ringgold Ward: A life of Struggle. [ dur: 58mins. ]

R. J. M. Blackett is Andrew Jackson Professor of History emeritus at Vanderbilt University. His previous books are The Captive’s Quest for Freedom: Fugitive Slaves, the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, and the Politics of Slavery and Making Freedom: The Underground Railroad and the Politics of Slavery.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin, Mihika Chechi, and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – A book author interview: History of California as a Slave State – July 28, 2024

July 28, 2024 host

We interview the author of a new book CALIFORNIA, A SLAVE STATE (Yale University Press; June 27, 2023). Professor Jean Pfaelzer shows that, since the very first colonizers crossed the border, the Golden State was and still is powered by slavery – a piece of American history that many still try to bury. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Jean Pfaelzer is a public historian, commentator, and professor of American studies at the University of Delaware. Her books include Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans, (Random House; University of California Press) as well Parlor Radical: Rebecca Harding Davis and the Origins of American Social Realism and The Utopian Novel in America. She lives in Washington, DC.

This interview was recorded July 2023.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – MLK legacy on Politics and BLM movement of 21st century ; Book Author interview – By the Numbers – January 14, 2024

January 13, 2024 host

To commemorate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. we explore the impact of Dr. King and his memory on contemporary issues, including the role of women in the movement and the security of people of color as embodied in the Black Lives Matter movement. What is the meaning of Dr. King’s dream today? [ dur: 30mins. ]

*This was part of a panel discussion recorded January 2023. To hear the entire discussion please visit: here.

David Garrow is Professor of History and Law at the University of Pittsburgh and Former Senior Research Fellow at Cambridge University. He is the author of Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography. His website is www.davidgarrow.com.
Keith Miller is Professor of English and Professor, Affiliate Faculty, at the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict at Arizona State University. He is the author of Martin Luther King’s Biblical Epic: His Great, Final Speech and Voice of Deliverance: The Language of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Its Sources. His website is: drkeithdmiller.com.
Jared Clemons is Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University. He is the author of “Freedom Now!” to “Black Lives Matter”: Retrieving King and Randolph to Theorize Contemporary White Antiracism.
Dewey M. Clayton is Professor of Political Science at the University of Louisville. He is the author of The presidential campaign of Barack Obama: A critical analysis of a racially transcendent strategy, African Americans and the politics of congressional redistricting and Black Lives Matter and the Civil Rights Movement: A Comparative Analysis of Two Social Movements in the United States .

How did better understandings of mathematical concepts and the rise in numeracy rates change society, politics, philosophy and science? And what did it mean for religion? We explore how educating ordinary people, the adoption of Arabic numerals, alongside related changes transformed early modern England. [ dur: 28mins. ]

Jessica Otis is an Assistant Professor of History and the Director of Public Projects at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. She is the author of BY THE NUMBERS: NUMERACY, RELIGION, AND THE QUANTITATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF EARLY MODERN ENGLAND.

This program is produced by Maria Armoudian, Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – History of California as a Slave State – July 16, 2023

July 16, 2023 host

Jean Pfaelzer is a public historian, commentator, and professor of American studies at the University of Delaware. Her books include Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans, (Random House; University of California Press) as well Parlor Radical: Rebecca Harding Davis and the Origins of American Social Realism and The Utopian Novel in America. She lives in Washington, DC.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Book interview – Madison’s Militia: The Hidden History of the Second Amendment – June 4, 2023

June 4, 2023 host

What did James Madison mean when he wrote the Second Amendment? What was his motivation? In a new book, our guest says the Second Amendment was intended to protect the states against slave insurrection, not to protect individual liberties. We explore the “original intent” of this controversial amendment to the US Constitution. And look at the epic debate between James Madison of the Federalists and Patrick Henry of the Anti-federalists and how they framed the motivations behind the Second Amendment. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Carl T. Bogus is Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law. He is the author of the book we are discussing today Madison’s Militia: The Hidden History of the Second Amendment (Oxford University Press 2023). He is also the editor of The Second Amendment in Law and History: Historians and Constitutional Scholars on the Right to Bear Arms and the author of The Hard, Simple Truth about Gun Control and Gun Control and America’s Cities: Public Policy and Politics.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin, Mihika Chechi, and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Comments from Latino LA city council members threaten years of Black-Latino Coalition ; Many ways Privatization is an attack on Civil Service roles in the Government – October 23, 2022

October 22, 2022 host

Los Angeles is embroiled in a city governance crisis, due to leaked audio highlighting the racism of elected city council members. It has demonstrated that race is still a fundamental problem in the city. We explore race in Los Angeles. Hosted by Doug Becker. [ dur: 34mins. ]

Claudia Sandoval is Assistant Professor at Loyola Maramount University. She is the author of “Black, Brown, Young and Together: Inter- and Intra-Group Affinity and Coalitions Between Black and Latino Youth” and with Chaya Crowder she has co-authored the opinion article Latino leaders can collaborate with Black communities. Why don’t they?

Privatization may undermine safeguards of our constitutional republic. How does privatization amount to what our guest calls a Constitutional Coup? Hosted by Maria Armoudian. [ dur: 24mins. ]

This interview was first broadcast July 2018.

Jon Michaels is a Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. He is the author of Constitutional Coup: Privatization’s Threat to the American Republic.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Mihika Chechi, Melissa Chiprin, and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars’ Circle – Roots of Goodness and Resistance to Evil – Part II; What is Race and Ethnicity – August 14, 2022

August 14, 2022 host

First, we continue our conversation with preeminent psychology scholar Ervin Staub. Last week we discussed how to build peaceful societies, particularly when some groups have been traumatized by violence, war or genocide. Erwin Staub’s latest book is The Roots of Goodness and Resistance to Evil. This is part two of our discussion. [ dur: 33mins. ]

Ervin Staub is a Professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Founding Director of its Ph.D. concentration in the Psychology of Peace and Violence.

Then, what is race? How is it distinct from ethnicity? And what do they mean for politics and society? [ dur: 25mins. ]

David Livingstone Smith is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of New England. He is the author of Less Than Human: Why we Demean, Enslave and Exterminate Others and The Most Dangerous Animal: Human Nature and the Origins of War.
Garrett Albert Duncan is Associate Professor of Education in Arts & Sciences. He also teaches African & African American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. His publications are listed here.

This show was recorded on June 2015

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Mihika Chechi, Melissa Chiprin, and Sudd Dongre.

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The Scholars' Circle Interviews

Tag Archives: Racism

Scholars’ Circle – Book Author interviews : “L.A. Rebellion – Creating a New Black Cinema” ; “Breaking Down the Walls of Segregation : Mexican American Grassroots Politics in Orange County, CA.” – March 1, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – What is Social Media addiction? Social Media Algorithm Biases Interfere With Online Interaction – February 22, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Health care disparities on the basis of race in the U.S.- February 15, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Samuel Ringgold Ward: A life of Struggle, a biography – December 29, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – A book author interview: History of California as a Slave State – July 28, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – MLK legacy on Politics and BLM movement of 21st century ; Book Author interview – By the Numbers – January 14, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – History of California as a Slave State – July 16, 2023

Scholars’ Circle – Book interview – Madison’s Militia: The Hidden History of the Second Amendment – June 4, 2023

Scholars’ Circle – Comments from Latino LA city council members threaten years of Black-Latino Coalition ; Many ways Privatization is an attack on Civil Service roles in the Government – October 23, 2022

Scholars’ Circle – Roots of Goodness and Resistance to Evil – Part II; What is Race and Ethnicity – August 14, 2022

By Maria Armoudian