Emory President Gregory L. Fenves described Emory's "In the Wake of Slavery and Dispossession" symposium as an opportunity to “explore Emory’s history, find answers to the pressing questions of our time and examine the ongoing impact of slavery and racism.”
The Emory College of Arts and Sciences students who met every Tuesday night in Maria Montalvo’s U.S. history seminar this spring took on a challenge that can be a struggle for experienced historians.
In the class titled “Slavery and the Archive,” they tackled how to read into archival silences, connect small threads from rare or unconsidered primary sources and contextualize their findings, all to offer new stories and perspectives that include one from an enslaved woman from Emory’s own history.
Adding to the challenge was the need to conduct all of their research, and coursework, online.
“Learning this way can make you a more empathetic and critical thinker. It reinforces a simple but challenging notion: that your perception is not the only one,” Montalvo says.