Join the Wende Museum, the Thomas Mann House, and dublab radio for the sixth program in this series on the current state of democracies. How should a democracy deal with its own vulnerabilities? How do democracies need to evolve to deal successfully with increasing global levels of ecological crisis, geopolitical tensions, economic disparities, and culture wars? How much vulnerability can a democracy endure?

The Student Council consists of a team of highly engaged, talented, and diverse undergraduate and graduate students who invite prominent guest speakers to discuss topics relating to society, politics, culture, and art. In conversation with academics, journalists, politicians, and artists, the students will explore the various threats to democratic institutions and principles worldwide, as well as strategies to potentially overcome these threats.

The guest speaker for our June program, Ajuan Mance, is a Professor of African American literature at Mills College in Oakland, California as well as a writer and artist. Throughout her comics and illustrations, she uses the elements of humor and bright colors to explore race, gender, and power, and the people and places in which they intersect. Her work has appeared in a number of digital and print media outlets, including most recently The Women’s Review of Books, Blavity.com, BET.com, Transition Magazine, Buzzfeed.com, KQED.org, The San Francisco Chronicle, NYTimes.com, KPIX News, and Publisher’s Weekly. Among her recent publications are Living While Black: Portraits of Everyday Resistance (2022), What Do Brothas Do All Day (2023), and Gender Studies: The Confessions of an Accidental Outlaw (2024).