Slavery and Its Aftermath

Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates Jr.  

In a narrative of the nation’s history and current political climate, Henry Louis Gates Jr. explores topics including Reconstruction, white supremacy, and democracy in America. Addressing violence inflicted upon black Americans, the New Negro movement, and the recent 2016 election, Gates covers a large portion of the country’s past and what it means for citizens today.

 

Water, Equity and Security

"Greenland Is Falling Apart" by Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic

The Greenland Ice Sheet is so massive that it is difficult to even comprehend its size. But as the earth warms, it is beginning to melt rapidly. In the last 8 years, the Greenland Ice Sheet alone contributed a quarter inch of water to global sea levels, and it has already lost trillions of tons of ice. To make matters worse, the sheet is losing mass at an accelerating rate—implying an even greater sea level rise in the near future.

 

The Future of Work

"One year later, restaurants are still confused by Google Duplex" by Natt Garun, The Verge

As automation threatens job security and the value of manual labor, it is also impacting work in other unexpected ways. Google Duplex is an artificial intelligence system that makes phone calls to restaurants in place of a human—replacing not the worker’s job, but the client’s.

"Technology That Could End Humanity—and How to Stop It" by Klint Finley, Wired

Technology has benefited all of our lives in countless ways, but philosopher Nick Bostrom also recognizes the frightening dangers that it poses. As modern technology continues to advance, what are the implications for society and humanity? As Brostrom puts it, “there is some level of technology at which civilization gets decimated by default.”