Summer@Springs Course Explores Civil Rights Movement

In mid-June, Summer@Springs will offer a new weeklong, residential course for 10th and 11th graders to experience and engage with historical locations of the Civil Rights Movement.

Taught by Springs faculty members Janae Peters, Clay Colvin, and D’Anthony Allen, the course will give students from Indian Springs School (selected through an application/interview process) and the Brearley School of New York City a chance to live and work together on Springs’ campus as they jointly explore “Strength, Struggle, and Staying the Course.” The group will make day trips to destinations such as the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the 16th Street Baptist Church, Woodlawn High School, the Rural Studio, and several points of interest in Montgomery and Selma.

The course is an opportunity for students to build connections between past and present social injustices and to reflect on the future of civil rights in America. Culminating in a collaborative final project, the program will encourage active listening and shared experiences, as well as self-reflection and creative expression.

Says Instructor and Summer at Springs Director Janae Peters, “In her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, acclaimed African-American author Zora Neale Hurston writes: ‘You got tuh go there tuh know there.’ This is an exciting opportunity to go to and get to know the most important destinations of the Civil Rights Movement, and to witness the power of storytelling and the parts of history that don’t usually show up in the textbooks.”

For more information about the course, click here.