Editor's Note
The member spotlight is a monthly blog feature introducing fellow S-USIH members and their research. To nominate a member or be featured yourself, reach out to Lauren Lassabe Shepherd at [email protected].
Brandon James Render is an Assistant Professor of History and Director of the African American Studies Program at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). His current book project, Colorblind Universities: The Making and Unmaking of Race in Higher Education, positions the civil rights and Black Power era as an intellectual movement that fundamentally reshaped how Americans think about race–on campus and beyond the ivory tower (currently under contract with UNC Press). At UTEP, he teaches courses on twentieth century U.S. history, African American Studies, and the history of social and intellectual movements. Aside from research and teaching, he enjoys writing and recording music, traveling, and watching movies.
Brandon James Render is an Assistant Professor of History and Director of the African American Studies Program at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). His current book project, Colorblind Universities: The Making and Unmaking of Race in Higher Education (UNC Press)
How do you define intellectual history?
I struggle to define intellectual history because I find that my definition is always changing–it could be the history of ideas, “ideas in action,” or formal and informal knowledge production processes that influence how we view the world. In a way, I hope that my definition(s) continue to evolve because that’s what makes intellectual history exciting to me.
What are you working on now?
I’m finishing up the manuscript for Colorblind Universities, which you can learn more about here in an essay that I published in The Carryall earlier this year. In May, I filmed a short documentary about the preservation of Black cemeteries where my father grew up in Kentucky and I’m currently editing that project to serve as a work sample for a feature-length documentary on the nationwide effort to save Black graveyards that resulted from segregation. Aside from that, I’m preparing two other book projects (don’t worry–I have a plan!) that are in the early stages of development, but should be off the ground soon and ready to bring to conferences.
What’s the primary source we should all be reading or teaching with right now?
The primary source that we should be reading or teaching right now is the Combahee River Collective Statement (1977). Not only is it a timeless document, but it has multiple points of engagement. Students always mention this source as one of their favorites when I gauge feedback at the end of each semester and their excitement to discuss the ideas within this document only support their claims. It’s also incredibly useful for the contemporary political moment for its description of identity politics.
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