Recently, Upper School World Languages teacher Maite Bernath along with members of her AP Spanish Literature class formed a book club to read “No Democracy Lasts Forever,” written by Erwin Chemerinksy, the Dean of UC Berkeley School of Law and one of the country’s leading constitutional law scholars.
Bernath was inspired to read Chemerinksy’s book after seeing him speak at a Heinz-Ethics speaker series event held in Poly’s Garland Theater on Wednesday, Feb. 13. “After attending Erwin Chemerinsky’s talk at our school, I was intrigued by his ideas on the role and impact of the Constitution in shaping democracy,” said Bernath, who attended law school in Spain.
When Bernath began chatting about the book with her AP students, seniors Ollie Arteaga-Johnson, Eden Greene, Julia Lai, Reza Mohammed and Ava Teng and junior Maddie Delbridge, they decided to read it as well and form a small book club.
Arteaga-Johnson shared, “I appreciate the opportunity to learn outside the classroom with my teachers.”
“No Democracy Lasts Forever” addresses themes such as corruption, authoritarianism, and the interplay of political, legal and social forces. It also explores the vulnerabilities within democratic systems and offers insights on how the nation can address these challenges.
Bernath explained that the casual club evolved organically to also include Upper School History teachers Samuel Anderson and Avi McClelland-Cohen and Upper School English teacher Alexander Jimenez.
Bernath shared, “As this conversation was unfolding, my colleague [Anderson] from the History Department happened to pass by, so we decided to invite him. From there, we extended the invitation to a couple of other teachers as well. The book club quickly came together, and I knew I wanted it to be student-led.”
So far, the club has met once during lunch, with Greene and Delbridge leading the discussion.
Recalling the first meeting, Bernath shared, “Maddie and Eden led the group with some thought-provoking questions, and before we knew it, our time was up! The students’ questions sparked interesting conversations, and I’ve learned so much from both my colleagues and the students. Reading this book has been especially helpful because understanding the past is crucial to comprehend the present.”
Senior Ava Teng commented, “I love being able to discuss relevant issues with my peers and gain valuable insight from my teachers at the same time.”
he club plans to continue discussing Chemerinsky’s book for the rest of the school year.
