2023 Rackham King Talks
Channel: Rackham Graduate School - University of Michigan
Date: 2023-02-07

The 2023 Rackham King Talks was held on Thursday, January 26. The theme for the 2023 MLK Symposium was: “The (R)evolution of MLK: From Segregation to Elevation.”

Ernesta Cole, Indigenous Languages in Sierra Leone: A Comparison with English (00:59:50)

My King Talk is about linguistic expression and linguistic stigmatization between indigenous languages and English in West African countries, specifically Sierra Leone, where there are 16 actively used indigenous languages, but English is deemed the official language. I am interested in the social and linguistic effect of this discrepancy on the expression of speakers of Krio, Mende, Temne, and Limba.

Jonathan Garon, The Myth of Time: Dr. King, Rabbi Heschel, and Humanity’s Eternal Struggle (00:29:43)

My talk will highlight the lesser known story of the relationship between Dr. King and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a prominent 20th century Jewish theologian and civil rights activist, to explore the power and obligation of human beings to harness our shared humanity and surpass our limitations in pursuit of justice.

Alanna Hurd, Toward Radical Imagination: Dreaming a More Beautiful Education System (00:02:23)

This talk is an invitation to use imagination as a tool to dream and then create a more beautiful and just education system.

O Hwang Kwon, Which Would Be the Successor of Fossil Fuels—Renewables or Nuclear? (01:11:16)

With this talk, I want to share the fierce urgency of now. I do believe the world can overcome climate change by acting as one team.

Onyinye Nwankwo, Breaking Barriers: Evolution in Thoughts about Space Sciences (00:15:51)

My talk is about how the field of space sciences has evolved, explores how space weather impacts technological infrastructures and communication systems, and discusses how the field can be more inclusive.

Charles Phillips, Teaching Mathematics: Revolution Sparked by Inspiration (00:42:36)

Sankofa and courage are needed for us to look back at our past methods of teacher preparation and curriculum development for our secondary mathematics students that are from the African Diaspora. We can then use what we’ve learned from the past and implement strategies in the present to impact the future.