KAITLYN GOOD ’17
STAFF WRITER
LVC will offer a course dedicated to the Black Lives Matter movement and its implications starting in the fall semester of 2017.
“Currently, LVC does not have any Black studies majors, minors or courses for students to take,” Dr.Cona Marshall, assistant professor of Africana studies, said. “With the current racial climate and neighboring competing colleges and universities offering courses or minors, we thought it would benefit our students to have intellectual capital in these conversations taking place.”
Black Lives Matter is a movement that claims commitment to the affirmation of contributions by African American citizens’ to the United States and the promise of human equality in the face of oppression.
“This class will help towards the mission of building ‘world-ready students’,” Marshall said. “It will teach students how to wrestle with ideas and cultures different from their own with braveness and kindness.”
The course will require students to register for two sequential semesters, one in the fall and the second in the spring. Each semester will focus on the movement from various different angles.
“It is my hope that this course provides language to the world around us while also providing courageous, safe and uniting space for all students,” Marshall said.
The first semester will cover topics such as the history of racialization in the U.S., critical race theory, intersectionality and queer theory.
During the second semester, the class will look at art, music, literature, film and culture of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“In both semesters I hope students will come to understand the context, meaning and importance of this contemporary movement for black liberation and civil rights,” Professor Romagnolo, associate professor and department chair of the English department, said.
The class will meet on Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m.
“Professor Marshall and I have very similar teaching styles, so I imagine we will work perfectly together in the classroom,” Romagnolo said.
The course is open to any interested student regardless of major or personal opinions about the movement.
“Students with opposing views make for a lively and engaging classroom,” Romagnolo said. “There is always space for us as a community to come to understand one another better, and classes like this have a significant role in making space for that kind of dialogue.”
The class fulfills course requirements for religion, philosophy, English and the general education intercultural competence requirement. It will also fulfill a requirement for the upcoming Africana Studies minor.
The class is listed on the new AccessLVC as ENG 390-01, REL 450-02, and PHL 450-02.
K.GOOD
keg005@lvc.edu