Last week, the seniors participating in this year’s John Near & Mitra Family Scholar Grant Program conducted salons via Zoom, during which they discussed the results of the months they spent researching topics of their choice. Salons were held over three days, with three students featured on each day, presenting for the community with their mentors present.
Sabrina Zhu, the first of the presenters, examined the columns of Atlanta Constitution editor Ralph McGill and how they served as examples of the new journalism movement that became prominent in the 1960s and 70s. An editor for the Winged Post, Zhu said she has been fascinated with the history of journalism and how it can be a catalyst for social change.
During his time as an AP Spanish student, Alex Lan studied Peru and wrote a review of a Peruvian restaurant as part of an assignment to research a Spanish-speaking country. He then became interested in Peru’s “gastronomic revolution” and how it contributed to greater cultural exchange and the country’s economic recovery after its 20-year civil war.
While ensconced at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Michelle Jin began watching the Korean TV drama “Crash Landing on You” and noticed that its two lead characters – one from South Korea and the other from North Korea – were speaking very different Korean dialects. This led her to explore how North Korea’s language reform campaign created differences in the language spoken in the two countries.
Sarah Fathima Mohammed’s original poetry about her experience as a Muslim spurred her to investigate the work of other Muslim poets and how their work was informed by their own identities. She then examined how Kenya-born poet Warsan Shire’s work spoke to the experience of Muslims in Nairobi, whose surveillance led to an internalized gaze that Mohammed compared to Foucault’s panopticon.
Another former AP Spanish student, Isha Moorjani, researched Argentina and Chile for her class assignment and became fascinated with how Indigenous languages impacted each country’s version of Spanish. In her talk, she explained how languages spoken by the Mapuche and Rapa Nui peoples influenced the Spanish spoken in modern Chile, as well as how their influence can be understood by examining the impact of Nahuatl on Mexican Spanish.
Stephen Xia started his story in the present day and worked backward to tell the story of housing activism in San Francisco’s Chinatown and Manilatown, starting with Chinese and Filipino immigration in the early 20th century. The focal point of his talk was the International Hotel, which was the subject of a large-scale protest in the 1960s when real estate corporations made plans to tear down the hotel, which would have displaced the building’s many elderly residents.
Mitra Scholar Emmett Chung explored the rise and fall of the die Republikaner party in Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall, which he became interested in following a family trip to Germany. Chung explained how the party made anti-immigration sentiment a central part of its platform and made an effort to bring far-right politics into the mainstream, following up with their lasting impact on German politics and immigration policy.
Having lived in Japan from ages 2-4, Rahul Mulpuri became fascinated with Japanese culture at an early age and began studying Japanese in middle school. He also became involved in debate, where he learned about critical theory and critiqued the myth of the model minority, which has become a well-traveled stereotype of Asian-Americans. This led him to combine his interests into a research project that how Japanese-Americans interned during World War II helped rejuvenate the traditional Japanese music tradition as well as reignite general interest in Japanese music worldwide.
The final presenter, Austina Xu, contrasted the works of Allen Ginsberg and T.S. Eliot, using Ginsberg’s “Howl” as an example of a poem that expressed many of the same post-WWII anxieties as Eliot while eschewing Eliot’s elitism. She discovered an interest in slam poetry in her sophomore year and also became fascinated with the counterculture movements of the mid-20th century. She then delved into how the poetry of the Beat Generation may have led to the founding of slam poetry or “poetry for the people.”
Late last month, this year’s Near-Mitra scholars held virtual salons, which consisted of a presentation summarizing each scholar’s research followed by a Q&A session. Each of the student scholars was mentored by faculty members who received grants from the Chen Lin Family Endowment. The salons were well-attended, averaging 35 people for each talk and 250 overall.
Salons were held on three separate days, starting on March 22 with Caden Lin’s presentation on the International Monetary Fund’s role in destabilizing Sierra Leone’s economy, which eventually led to civil war. Lin, mentored by speech and debate chair Jenny Achten and upper school librarian Meredith Cranston, began with Sierra Leone’s independence from Britain in 1961. When the country’s initial economic strength had begun to wane, the IMF offered aid, initially with promising results. However, Lin pointed out, IMF also devalued Sierra Leone’s currency and made its exports cheaper, leading to economic disaster over the next two decades.
Three more salons were held on March 24, the first of which featured Michelle Liu, who analyzed American painter Mary Cassatt’s use of techniques inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, a style known as ukiyo-e. Liu, whose mentors were Cranston and upper school history teacher Donna Gilbert, noted Cassatt’s affinity for mother-and-child themes, pointing out the similarities of her renderings of children and those of Japanese woodblock artist Kitagawa Utamaro. Liu also highlighted Cassatt’s use of domestic scenes, which reflected prevailing viewpoints on gender in the late 19th century.
Senior Dawson Chen, mentored by Cranston and upper school history teacher Katy Rees, analyzed the films of documentarian Pare Lorentz and their impact on documentary filmmaking. Famously known as “FDR’s filmmaker,” Lorentz made several films to promote then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Chen demonstrated how in works such as “The Plow that Broke the Plains,” Lorentz documented the over-farming that eventually led to the Dust Bowl, powerfully advocating for the restoration of the land.
Under the mentorship of upper school history teacher Chris Gatto and library director Lauri Vaughan, Riyaa Randhawa’s presentation covered the role teachers played in establishing the public health system during the American occupation of the Philippines. Filipino students, Randhawa explained, had a unique relationship to the teachers in the American schools they were required to attend, which led to greater knowledge of public health measures. Nevertheless, schools often enforced racial hierarchies by teaching students that their culture and customs were inferior, and education was designed to only qualify them for low-level jobs.
The final group of salons took place on March 28, beginning with Nicole Tian’s presentation on the Brandeis Brief’s influence on law practice and lawmaking in the progressive era, and how it furthered the idea that legal decisions should consider their societal impact. Tian also connected the brief to widely held beliefs about women at the time, particularly that women were the virtuous and moral center of the American family, while men provided economic stability. Lawyer Louis Brandeis successfully argued in Muller v. Oregon that 10-hour workdays for laundry women threatened the nation’s moral character. Tian conducted her research with the mentorship of upper school history teacher Carol Green and upper school librarian Amy Pelman.
Alina Yuan, mentored by Vaughan and upper school English teacher Beth Wahl, covered the work of Japanese author Osamu Dazai, whose work was a cornerstone of the buraiha (“decadent school”) literary movement that became popular in post-World War II Japan. Following the shock and horror of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the subsequent societal transformation that took place due to heavy American influence, Dazai depicted the struggle of adjusting to post-war Japanese society Dazai also became admired for his decadent lifestyle, another sign of shifting cultural attitudes.
Finally, William Zhao, whose mentors were Pelman and upper school history teacher Byron Stevens, compared and contrasted the development of liberal democracies in Spain and Portugal in the 20th century. The fall of Spain’s authoritarian Francoist regime and the subsequent transition to democracy, Zhao said, was the result of a top-down process by which opposition and reformist forces in the government dismantled the Francoist political infrastructure. Portugal, by contrast, experienced a coup d’etat by a military fed up with prime minister Antonio Salazar’s insistence on maintaining colonial operations in several African nations.
Junior Sally Zhu was recently published in the Concord Review, an academic journal featuring the historical research of high school students. Zhu’s paper surveys China’s hukou system, a household registration system set up in 1958, and the effects it has had on the country’s economy and citizens in the more than 60 years since it was founded. “I learned about the hukou system from my parents, who grew up in China,” Zhu said. “My mother came from an urban part of China, while my father came from a rural hukou, and they lived drastically differently, when it came to food, income, education and more.”
Zhu spent last summer and the fall working on the paper and conducted research using resources she had access to in her history classes and while doing previous research projects with Harker librarians. “I want to thank my history teachers and librarians for all I’ve learned from them when it comes to historical research and writing, [which] led me to submit my essay!” she said.
This week, the lower school recognized the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a wide variety of activities and class sessions focused on his life and the lessons to be learned in his battle for civil rights. On Thursday, third graders attended a special assembly with musical artist Diane Ferlatte, who told stories and sang songs to celebrate King’s dream and accomplishments. She shared the story of abolitionist Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery, recapped the events of King’s early life that led to his activism and shared stories from her own life.
On Friday, history teacher Tobias Wade led a discussion with his grade 4 students that covered how racist and discriminatory behaviors are learned and King’s use of civil disobedience, which included viewing portions of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Grade 5 history teacher Jared Ramsey recapped King’s life and accomplishments and discussed the roots of systemic racism in America, dating back to the English colonies. Grade 5 students also did activities such as solving math problems based on key events in King’s life. Vocal music teacher Kellie Binney led a discussion about the gospel song “We Shall Overcome,” an important anthem of the civil rights movement, and how different singers interpret the music differently based on the lyrics.
As we approach Martin Luther King Jr. Day this Monday, may we all find ways to honor his legacy and this national day of service. Further information on how to serve can be found at The King Center and AmeriCorps.
Senior Andrew Lu will be featured in the winter 2020 issue of the Concord Review, an academic journal that publishes historical research papers by high school students. Lu’s essay on Deng Xiaoping, the former paramount leader of China from 1978 to 1989, “focuses on the underpinnings of modern China,” Lu said. “I chose the topic because China is something that continues to remain at the forefront of political discussion and tensions continue to grow, so it’s more important than ever to have an informed understanding of China’s modern foundation when considering U.S.-China relations and policy actions.”
The essay surveys Deng’s reforms and their current impact on China, including Deng’s ideological and philosophical motivations and the role his reforms play in present-day Chinese politics. Lu’s research was done mainly through libraries and by “using Harker’s incredibly abundant databases,” he said. “I received some guidance and advice later in the process from history teachers and librarians, particularly history teacher Byron Stevens and librarians Meredith Cranston, Amy Pelman and Lauri Vaughan.”
During the spring semester, John Owens MS ‘85, circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, made special appearances at Harker classes via Zoom. In May, Owens gave a presentation of the Ninth Circuit’s history and geographic boundaries to lower school history teacher Eric Leonard’s grade 3 students. Much of the class time was set aside for the students to ask questions, but due to time constraints, Owens agreed to answer questions that students posted online.
In April, he visited Carol Green’s AP U.S. Government and Politics class to discuss his background, including his career in law, his duties as a circuit judge and memories of his time at Harker. He also answered questions from Harker students on topics such as memorable cases he has presided over and advice for soon-to-be-graduates.
In recognition of Constitution Day, recognized this past Monday, upper school history teacher Julie Wheeler’s AP U.S. history students participated in a video chat discussion on the First Amendment with students from Christopher Columbus High School in Miami.
“My students learned a lot about the First Amendment and how complex the rule of law actually is when you try to explain yourself to an attorney,” Wheeler said. Paul W. Kaufman, an assistant U.S. attorney from Pennsylvania, served as a moderator for the discussion.
The National Constitution Center chose Wheeler’s students to be part of its classroom exchange, in which 26 classes nationwide (comprising about 650 students) were chosen to take part in discussions about the U.S. Constitution. Discussions were student-led and moderated by legal scholars and practicing lawyers.
This story originally appeared in the winter 2016 Harker Magazine.
The 2018-19 school year will mark the 125th anniversary of Harker’s founding, and we’re so excited to look back at our history. It seems appropriate to start at the beginning; enjoy this primer of Harker’s roots!
The union of two schools, the Palo Alto Military Academy and The Harker Day School, formed what is today The Harker School. Although these schools began independently, David Starr Jordan, the first president of Stanford University, inspired both.
In 1893 President Jordan, concerned for the university’s need for superior incoming students, encouraged Frank Cramer, a pioneer educator and civic leader, to begin Manzanita Hall, a college preparatory school for boys. The program was dedicated to the premise that the successful future citizen and student of higher education is one who has a broad foundation not only in his classroom pursuits, but also in nonacademic areas. The development of high moral character and leadership qualities was emphasized.
Catherine Harker, a Vassar graduate and a professor of Greek and Latin at Mills College, recognized the need for a girls’ preparatory school near Stanford and founded Miss Harker’s School in 1902, which also emphasized superior scholarship, character and leadership.
In 1919 Cramer’s original school, Manzanita Hall, became Palo Alto Military Academy (PAMA), a school for boys of elementary age under the direction of Richard P. Kelly. In 1955 Miss Harker’s School was reorganized to become a coeducational day school and brochures indicate that the name of the school was changed to The Harker Day School during the reorganization. Donald L. Nichols assumed leadership of PAMA in 1950 and The Harker Day School in 1959, merged the two schools under the name Harker Academy and moved to the present location at 500 Saratoga Ave. in San Jose in 1972. Howard E. Nichols assumed leadership of the school in 1973, dropping the military program and expanding academics and other program offerings.
In 1992, the school name was changed to The Harker School to more clearly reflect the character and diversity of the school. Howard Nichols was named president and Diana Nichols was named head of school. To fill the growing need for exceptional non-religious high school education in the Bay Area, Howard and Diana Nichols planned and implemented the founding of the upper school and Harker expanded in 1998 to begin including grades 9-12. Fully enrolled since its inception, the upper school quickly earned a reputation for excellence. In 2002, Harker graduated the first class of seniors, and graduates continue matriculating to prestigious universities throughout the world. Christopher Nikoloff assumed leadership of the school in 2005 following Nichols’ retirement at the end of the 2004-05 school year.
Today The Harker School still retains the consistent core philosophy of the original schools, and has become a world-renowned academic institution that is eager to continue making a difference in the world.