The 1619 Project, inaugurated with a special issue of The New York Times Magazine, challenges us to reframe our understanding of U.S. history by marking the year when the first enslaved Africans arrived on Virginia soil as our nation's foundational date, and untethering ourselves from misinformation rooted at the core of our education system. Nikole Hannah Jones, author of "The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story" also wrote "The 1619 Project: Born on the Water", a children's book about a young student's journey into exploring their family's history.

This course synthesizes the historic and cultural information presented within the project to encourage students to reconsider the history they've been taught, giving specific attention to America's origins, the Middle Passage, Chattel Slave, Emancipation and Prison Industrial Complex. Together, we will read the New York Time's 1619 Project publication and follow closely the Pulitzer Center's curriculum guide through thorough discussions and analyses. We will also engage with criticisms of the project and assess our personal understanding of the content within the published piece.

Over our semester together, we will also explore America's past through virtual museum tours, independent archival research, creative projects, genealogy instruction, literature analyses and so much more. This is a fully engaged American history course that will also include infrequent live guest lectures and scholarly engagement.

Week 1: Introduction to The 1619 Project 
Week 2: Colonialism, Capitalism and Catastrophe
Week 3: The Middle Passage & Reevaluating U.S. History
Week 4: Slavery, Mass Incarceration, and America’s Founding Ideas and Documents
Week 5: Black in New Orleans (From 1866 to 2005)
Week 6: Black Communities, Black Civilizations: Seneca Village, Lake Lanier & More
Week 7: Genealogy + Family History
Week 8: Freedom, Resistance, and Genius in Black American Culture
Week 9: Black Art & Activism
Week 10: Black Organizing, Cross Cultural Solidarity + Social Justice Movements & The 16th St. Baptist Church Bombing
Week 11: Mass Incarceration + The Prison Industrial Complex
Week 12: Museum Tours + Archival History
Week 13: Criticisms of the 1619 Project + Debate 
Week 14: Black Lives Matter: 1619 - 2022
Week 15: What's Next?

Please note that this is a flex class. There will be no live meetings as each week, learners are presented with video and written content that includes historical education, assignment explanations and more. Learners are expected to interact with the  discussion board questions, games and jam boards in the classroom to develop a sense of community and ensure overall engagement and understanding. Learners can interact in a method that best suits them: writing responses to a post, making short videos or posting pictures as their response to the assignments. The instructor will check in on the responses and provide feedback and guidance throughout the duration of the course.