With a few exceptions, virtually all of the classes and activities on campus were held online during the 2020-2021 academic year because of Covid. The History department, therefore, decided to experiment with running an online “History Table,” that was held over the noon hour each week of the semester, in which students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members were invited to zoom in for a short (10-15 minute) presentation, followed by a half hour of group discussion about the topic. The overarching theme for the year was “Conversations about Race, Inequality, and Social Justice,” with each “presenter” exploring one facet of this topic that connected to their own teaching, research, or public advocacy, and then leading the subsequent conversation among the group.  Like many experiments, it was a bit chaotic, a bit exhilarating, and a bit exhausting, but definitely worthwhile.

Above, is the poster from the February 17th session led by James Densley, who helped create The Violence Project, alongside Grinnell alumna, and professor of criminology, Jillian Peterson ’03. Their co-authored book, The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting, was released a few months later and reshaped the national conversation on gun violence and gun control (we were immensely lucky to have James share this work with us, and are grateful to our departmental assistant that year, Mary Dillion, ’22, who worked on the Violence Project and helped make this event happen). There were many other special moments like this: you can see the full line up below). But we also want to highlight the poster from the April 14th session, in which Dr. Tamara Beauboeuf-LaFontant and Feven Getachew, ’24, led a discussion about the beginning stages of their work on the history of Edith Renfrow Smith ’37, which ended up having such a profound impact on Grinnell’s collective memory. Some good things did come out of Covid…