Over the past few years, I have thought about various iterations of a Civil Rights memoir course. One example of this is the “Civil Rights Memoir” syllabus I posted about a year ago. Each of these syllabi seek to move students beyond thinking about the movement merely in relation to the “nine-word problem.” As I thought about this course more, I decided to focus it on … Read More Women In the Civil Rights Movement Memoir Syllabus
+ american history, civil rights, civil rights memorial, history, james baldwin, martin luther king, jr, memory
The illusion of history does not serve to move us towards progress; rather, the myths that the illusions construct hinder any forward movement and in many ways serve to repel and repeal any progress towards equity and equality. The James Baldwin documentary I Heard It Through the Grapevine (1982) makes this abundantly clear. Dick Fontaine and Pat Hartley follow Baldwin as he returns to … Read More Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Illusion of History
+ american history, education, history, lillian e smith, martin luther king, jr, pauli murray, Pedagogy, professional development
As she prepared to close Laurel Fall Camp for Girls, a camp she ran from 1925–1948, Lillian Smith wrote, “I hope that the idea of Laurel Falls will not die. I want to believe that we have started a chain reaction of dreams that will go on touching child after child in our South.” The Lillian E. Smith Center’s programs, specifically its annual P-12 … Read More “The Civil Rights Movement and the Nine-Word Problem” Professional Development Opportunity
+ christian fascism, christian nationalism, frederick douglass, james baldwin, lillian e smith, martin luther king, jr, religion
Each year I teach a Lillian E. Smith Studies Course, and each course, while using Smith as the center or the class, is extremely different. Since the course has a small enrollment, I let the students dictate what we will focus on in the course. One semester, the students wanted to look at mass incarceration and the legal system, so we read Michelle Alexander, … Read More Lillian E. Smith and Christian Nationalism Syllabus
+ civil rights, Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White, graphic memoir, lillian e smith, march, pauli murray
Recently, I’ve been thinking about different courses that I would want to teach in the future. In the last post, I discussed a course entitled “Literature of White Estrangement.” Today, I want to think about a course entitled “Civil Rights Memoirs.” I’ve been thinking about this course for a few weeks, and I started thinking about it because, after teaching John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate … Read More “Civil Rights Memoir” Syllabus
Interminable Rambling 