Legacies and Lessons — A Learning Pathway
Legacies and Lessons: Facilitating Ethical Discussions on Universities' Complex Pasts and Present
Welcome to the "Legacies and Lessons" Learning Pathway!
What is the Purpose of This Learning Pathway?
In recent years, higher learning institutions across the United States and around the world have committed themselves to learning about their institutional ties to slavery and the ways that the legacies of slavery and racism play out on campuses today. While each school is unique in its institutional history and its approach to this work, there are common ethical questions that arise as institutions grapple with the ways that slavery and racism impacted their communities in the past and continue to reverberate today. This learning pathway explores those ethical questions and dilemmas.
Key Questions You Will Explore
- Why is it important to grapple with the role that slavery played at higher education institutions and the legacies of slavery that persist to this day? Who should be doing this grappling, and how?
- How can institutions educate faculty, students, staff, and alumni–or help these stakeholders educate themselves–about institutional entanglement with slavery and the legacies of that entanglement?
- How should prominent historical figures’ beliefs and actions impact their inclusion in university life today? Does that answer change whether we’re thinking about curriculum, naming, iconography, etc.?
- How can institutions make changes that help their campuses feel more inclusive without losing important connections to the past, even when that past is harmful?
What are Normative Case Studies?
We explore these questions through five normative case studies: short, accessible cases designed to be read in 10-15 minutes and then discussed among diverse groups of stakeholders. Set at both real and fictional universities, these empirically-researched cases help groups discuss challenging topics across lines of difference. The cases in this pathway delve into key questions that educators, students, alumni and other affiliates face when exploring institutional ties to slavery and its legacies.
What Can I Expect from This Learning Pathway?
This learning pathway includes not only the case studies, but also reflection questions to help you consider how the ethical questions raised resonate at your own institution. You'll also find a set of additional resources with each case, exploring different perspectives and providing further context, along with expert commentaries from students, educators, and leaders sharing their own experiences of grappling with these questions.
Taken together, the cases and additional resources form a powerful arc of learning for anyone interested in thinking more about how higher education can confront challenging history and make positive changes to campus life today.
Getting Started
Take a few moments to watch our introductory video and learn more about the structure of this pathway and the key questions you'll explore here. Instructors and facilitators, be sure to download our facilitation guide below for detailed protocols and teaching suggestions.
Explore the Normative Case Studies in the Learning Pathway
This pathway contains five cases and supporting materials that explore dilemmas related to institutional entanglement with slavery and the legacies of that entanglement. Click on each case below to learn more.
A group of Harvard University students learn the history of Professor Louis Agassiz, whose research and theories justified the institution of slavery, highlighting the university’s ties with enslavement. Each student grapples with how to react to the university’s legacy and raises questions:
What responsibility does the University have to teach this history, and what are our personal responsibilities to learn?
Seeking to rename a university building and address its legacy of racial exclusion, a college committee faces divided opinions. While some faculty and alumni emphasize preserving tradition and legacy, students and activists demand more sweeping changes, including renaming the entire college to address systemic racism.
What responsibilities do universities have to reconsider who they memorialize, and how should they weigh different stakeholder perspectives?
A literature professor faces a tough decision as he plans to teach the English Department’s “Introduction to Literature” course in the fall: should he keep The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the syllabus or swap it for a text like Americanah? He calls together a group of colleagues, and together they weigh the historical and literary value of the Huck Finn against the potential harm it may cause students, as well as the place of postcolonial texts in the literary canon.
How should instructors and institutions think about including work by potentially problematic figures in the curriculum?
This nonfiction case examines the iconography of figures who both served as champions of justice and equity and advocates for expulsion and oppression. These figures have ignited complex discussions as faculty, staff, students, and campus leaders try to determine whether, and if so, how these leaders should be memorialized in the visual culture of the campus.
With an institutional commitment to truth and a more diverse student body, what are the tradeoffs to consider when revisiting monuments for complex historical figures?
An African American college student with South African and Zimbabwean ancestry grapples with whether to apply for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, knowing that its creator and primary funder spread white supremacy and imperialism across the African continent.
Should Cecil Rhodes’s historical legacy impact her decision—and if so, in what direction?
Are You Hoping to Lead People Through This Learning Pathway?
This facilitation guide provides comprehensive information and guidance for teaching and learning with this learning pathway:
- guidance on customizing your pathway
- best practices for normative case discussions
- detailed protocols for each case
- discussion questions for different audiences
- extension activities for personalized learning
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Learning about a topic like the legacy of slavery can be overwhelming. Community Care Resources are available for members of the Harvard community seeking support for mental, spiritual, and emotional well-being.
Want to Learn More?
EdEthics | Legacies and Lessons Video Playlist
Watch all the videos in our series of expert commentaries on the complex histories in higher education from alumni, scholars, and higher education leaders.
Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Initiative
Explore the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Initiative and their work.
Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Report
Read the 2022 Report of the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery.
