Citing a heightened awareness around the nation surrounding social justice and Black Lives Matter, the University of Montana’s African American Studies Program is offering three anti-racism classes this summer.
The director of the UM African American Studies program, Tobin Miller Shearer, says these classes include the topics of Dismantling Racism in predominantly white institutions, The New Jim Crow to Black Lives Matter, and a survey of African American History.
All three online courses are open for any Montana University System student, and Shearer says they’re filling up fast.
It took an extra push to get these classes approved for the summer semester, instead of the original plan of waiting until fall, But Shearer says he believes the time is now.
“I think we have an opportunity to get these courses off, out there right now. There is a depth and breadth to the kind of response we’re seeing, and we think we can stay in that moment and press forward in a way that may have a chance of actually being effective this time. We want to actually get to those roots of the problem and course like these will help equip us to get there,”, he said.
Shearer says the department is very encouraged by the response and is grateful they can be helpful at this moment in our nation’s history.
