Kenda Mutongi, MLK Visiting Professor in History

In the past five decades, school-related arson has increased drastically in Kenya.  There have been at least 100 cases occurring every year: Kenyan secondary and high schools, it seems, have become pivotal sites of social and political protest, places where the individual and national aspirations have converged and clashed. This talk will focus on the first generation of Kenyan men who attended high school in order to understand some of their hopes and dreams—and disappointments. What these children were taught, how they were taught, and just as importantly, how they responded to their schooling, reveals a great deal about the imagined prospects and the harsh realities of post-colonial Kenya.

This discussion will be accessible to a general audience. We ask that you register here.