Professor Blatt’s ‘Race and the Making of American Political Science’ to be used in USC Book Club

Jessica Blatt is an Associate Prof of Political Science at MMC, and has been teaching at the college since 2010. Her book, Race and the Making of American Political Thought, was published in 2018 by the University of Pennsylvania Press. Her 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. You can learn more and buy a copy of Blatt’s work here.

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!

Published: March 04, 2021