SPRING 2026

Did you know that with the publication of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl in the 1950’s, the City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco sparked a poetic and political revolution that became the Beat Movement? Do you know about the ‘60’s free speech and civil rights movement that took place on the steps of Sproul Plaza at U.C. Berkeley? Or why the Black Panther Party began in Oakland? Did you know that San Francisco-born photographer Ansel Adams’ work was instrumental in galvanizing awareness and activism to expand our national parks, just as Dorothea Lange’s work was in exposing the injustice of Bay Area Japanese Americans’ internment? What do you know of The Grateful Dead’s impact on the Summer of Love and Haight-Ashbury or politician Harvey Milk’s impact on the LGBTQ community and the Castro-Mission Districts? 

Profoundly, Bay Area writers, artists and activists have long served as important catalysts for awareness and change locally and across America. This course will explore these individuals, questions and much more as we read novels, poetry, short stories, and essays; view and listen to words, music, art and film; and discover the history and impact of such changemakers in the Bay Area. We will consider the ways in which artists and their work have created and defined a counterculture and activist-spirit that continue to thrive today near the Golden Gate. 

Representative texts include Tommy Orange’s There,There, Rebecca Solnit’s Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas, Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s San Francisco Poems and Cathy Arellano’s Salvation on Mission Street.

Synchronous meeting requirements: 

• Weekly virtual classes: to be scheduled on a weekday evening, likely Mondays from 6:30-7:30 pm or Tuesdays from 7-8 pm. 
• In-person/F2Fs: there will be 3-5 sessions scheduled mostly on weekends (late mornings to afternoons) at locations such as the Oakland Museum of California, Wahpepah’s Kitchen, City Lights Bookstore, the Castro and more.

  UC Approved:

[No Honors Designation at LWHS]

About the Instructor

James Hughes  – Marin Academy

James has been an English and Humanities teacher at Marin Academy for the past seven years, where he has also served as the Director of Community Action, English and Humanities teacher, and a co-teacher in the MA Transdisciplinary Leadership Program. He completed his BA degree in English from the University of San Diego and MA degrees in both English and Education from Stanford University.

James originally taught the Future Cities course as part of the Transdisciplinary Leadership Program and is passionate about the way it connects his expertise is community engagement with his academic pursuits to address important real-world issues. In the summer of 2023 he received an EE Ford Grant to visit and explore Europe’s top ranked “smart cities”—London, Amsterdam and Barcelona—and is excited to share his learnings and experiences with students.

A fifth-generation Californian, James is equally passionate about Bay Area and California history, and sees community engagement and experiential learning as essential components of his teaching. He is also a published poet, writer and musician and brings together his various interests and expertise in the design of The Golden Gate course.