By Haleigh Miller ’12, News Section Editor
This semester, the CCDS history department has introduced a new senior history elective, “A Rap on Race.” However, there’s something a bit unusual about the seminar: the instructor is not a CCDS teacher, and he isn’t being paid.
A Rap on Race is being taught by CCDS alumnus Mr. Craig Joffe ’90. However, the fact that he’s teaching the class pro-bono adds an additional element of intrigue to the course.
According to Chair of the History Department Merle Black, Mr. Joffe has decided to return to CCDS, but not as a paid teacher. “He’s always been intrigued by the profession of teaching, and he loves the school, enjoys talking about his ideas, he’s particularly interested in the question of race, comparative race issues,” Mr. Black said.
Mr. Joffe graduated from CCDS, went on to study history and anthropology at Columbia University, and finally graduated from Harvard Law School. During his time at CCDS, Mr. Joffe was a student of Mr. Black’s. “He is very bright, and he was very perceptive, academically gifted student when he was here,” said Mr. Black of Mr. Joffe. “He was always very opinionated, which would make him a very good teacher.”
Mr. Joffe borrowed the title of the course from a substantial essay written by James Baldwin and Margaret Mead. He is structuring the course as a discussion-based seminar which deals with the topic of race, including the history of the topic in the United States. He has high hopes for the course, which he views as a “convergence, of sorts.”
Senior Amanda Young, a student taking the elective, is enjoying the class so far. “I love looking at the concept of race from different perspectives through history, sociology, and anthropology,” Young said. “I signed up for the class because I like analyzing how various distinctions came about, which is basically what we spend our class time doing.”
Mr. Joffe was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and moved to Cincinnati from the United Kingdom. He has always been fascinated by the subject of race, which has been a topic of thought and academic consideration throughout his life.
“My hope and expectation is that I can introduce the students in the class to some important, interesting primary and secondary texts, and that together we can engage in some really interesting, provocative discussions that are relevant and contemporary,” said Joffe. “Structured as a broad, interdisciplinary survey, I also hope that
the course spurs a real interest for students to delve deeper as they head off to college into some of the issues we cover.”
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