Quest course looks at civil rights movement

By Michelle Hershman, L'07

University of Richmond is offering a new course this summer for students interested in the civil rights movement in the South. However, this is no ordinary class.

Sponsored by and developed in tandem with the Richmond Quest, “A Course in Motion: The Civil Rights Movement in   the South” is a 19-day trip through nine southern states that combines experiential, hands-on learning with more traditional methodology including readings, collaborative research and discussions. From May 21–June 8 students will have contact with civil rights scholars from southern universities and interactions with former civil rights activists.

“I envision it as a whirlwind exposure to all things southern, focusing on race relations and civil rights,” said Brian Daugherity, an adjunct history instructor who is co-teaching the course and specializes in the civil rights movement.

Daugherity is teaming up with Melissa Ooten, assistant director of Women Involved in Living and Learning (WILL).

“This is a fantastic opportunity for students to piece together classroom learning with learning outside of the classroom,” said Ooten. “By exploring the actual sites of civil rights activism, students can gain a much more accurate and in-depth understanding of civil rights history.”

The idea for the course originated in the late 1990s when Lincoln Blake, a professor at Earlham College in Indiana, designed the trip for his students. Blake, father of Holly Blake, director of WILL, wanted to partner with Richmond on his first trip. The collaboration was not possible at the time.

However, Daugherity explored the idea a few years later, along with the dean of Westhampton College, Juliette Landphair. They approached Ooten with the idea, and she joined in the planning.

“I had the opportunity to undertake similar experiences while growing up,” Daugherity said.  “While in high school, I took a trip to the Soviet Union toward the end of the Cold War. The experience helped me understand the world around me in a more personal manner. I want our students to have the same opportunity.” 

Daugherity, Ooten and nine students will be taking an 11-person van and staying in hotels or at other universities while they travel.

“We will spend various amounts of time in the different locations,” Daugherity said. “Although I am excited about each location, I imagine student highlights will be Memphis, New Orleans, Atlanta and Charleston.”

With no prerequisites required to take the course, rising sophomores, juniors and seniors will be represented. Students simply need to be in good academic standing and have a desire to spend three weeks exploring the South and the history of the civil rights movement. The students applied through the School of Continuing Studies. 

“I am excited to see how the civil rights movement might be conceptualized differently in the places where its significant events took place, in contrast to the basically sterile Midwest perspective that I was exposed to,” said Sarah Singletary, ’09. “I anticipate that the experiential nature of the trip will allow the coursework and the history to come alive for me.”

Although the trip will focus on the historical civil rights movement, it will also be relevant to today’s generation. Students will be not only reading about Hurricane Katrina, but also visiting areas devastated by the hurricane, talking to community members affected by it and thinking about contemporary issues of race, class and social activism.

“I hope students will gain a better sense of what activism can accomplish,” Ooten said. “A sense of history will help them understand how much has been accomplished as a result of social movements. The trip will, hopefully, provide inspiration for tackling present-day social justice issues.”