Lunch and Learn • Langston Hughes: Reckoning with Race in the U.S. and Soviet Russia

Professor Letitia Guran (UNC-CH) will lead a fascinating exploration of Langston Hughes’s involvement with communism in the 1930s and his subsequent reflections on race and repression in the U.S. and Soviet Russia. Her talk will examine Hughes’s writings during his travels in Soviet Central Asia and how his experiences as an African American informed his complex views on Soviet ideology and racial justice. This session will also introduce a new digital book developed with NEH support, inviting attendees to consider how cross-cultural and cross-ideological exchanges from the mid-20th century resonate in today’s geopolitics.

Please note, this event is open to UNC faculty, students, and staff. Registration is required. CLE credit provided. Register here!