UO Common Reading 2020-2021: Listen. Learn. Act.
“I know when I talk to people, they have said that they feel like they are understanding the architecture of their country in a way that they had not.” ~ Nikole Hannah-Jones
“[The 1619 Project is] a staggering, transformative endeavor….the most dazzling array of thinkers on slavery’s true impact on this 400th year of bondage. It’s not a must-read. It’s a whole experience.” ~ Ava DuVernay, director, When They See Us
During Fall 2020, UO Common Reading focuses on acts of listening by inviting the entire UO campus to listen to The 1619 Project podcast from The New York Times Magazine and discuss it in multiple venues (classes, res halls, special events, virtual coffee talks, and more).
The 1619 Project is an ongoing initiative from The New York Times Magazine that began in August 2019, the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. The project places the enslavement of Africans and the struggles of Black Americans at the center of the story of the founding of the United States and its effects on the nation today.
The 1619 Project was developed by journalist and 2020 Pulitzer Prize winner Nikole Hannah-Jones, New York Times staff writer – formerly a journalist at The Oregonian.
UO Common Reading related events through 2020-2021 can be found here: https://fyp.uoregon.edu/common-reading-events. [Notes: This list includes the link to the Feb. 19 talk featuring Nikole Hannah-Jones with the UO campus. Most events require advance registration so that you can receive the appropriate virtual engagement link in advance.]
The 1619 Podcast
The 1619 Project Podcast: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.html.
No New York Times account is necessary. The podcast is available free of charge. It can be accessed via the web or through a downloadable podcast to your mobile device. Transcripts can be selected by clicking the icon to the right of the play bar on the webpage.
Begin your/your students’ experience with The 1619 Project by listening to the 1619 podcast. The 1619 5-part podcast series shares illuminating stories, voices, and perspectives of Black experience and history. Specifically, the series places the enslavement of Africans and the struggles of Black Americans at the center of the story of the founding of the United States and its effects on the nation today. 1619 offers many interdisciplinary points of academic discourse and consequence associated with living in a stratified multiracial society. Historical and contemporary sociocultural issues of democracy and civil rights, liberty and freedom, property and economics, journalism and politics, arts and culture, healthcare and education, among many other topics are explored.
Learn more: The 1619 Project from The NY Times Magazine: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html
The 1619 Project
Once you have listened to the 1619 podcast, read further and go deeper into topics with essays, photo essays, literary works, stories, symposium recordings, and other extensive materials provided by The New York Times. Materials include over 30 visual and written pieces from historians, journalists, playwrights, poets, authors, and artists.
- Link to New York Times Magazine special issue: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/20/magazine/1619-intro.html
- Pulitzer Center 1619 Project Reading Guide: https://pulitzercenter.org/builder/lesson/reading-guide-quotes-key-terms-and-questions-26504.
- PDF direct link for all 1619 Project articles: https://pulitzercenter.org/sites/default/files/full_issue_of_the_1619_project.pdf
1619 Project Table of Contents:
- The Idea of America, by Nikole Hannah-Jones
- Capitalism, by Matthew Desmond
- A Broken Health Care System, by Jeneen Interlandi
- Traffic, by Kevin M. Kruse
- Undemocratic Democracy, by Jamelle Bouie
- Medical Inequality, by Linda Villarosa
- American Popular Music, by Wesley Morris
- Sugar, by Khalil Gibran Muhammad
- Mass Incarceration, by Bryan Stevenson
- The Wealth Gap, by Trymaine Lee
- Hope, a Photo Essay, by Djeneba Aduayom
- 400 Years: A Literary Timeline
- Why Can’t We Teach This? by Nikita Stewart
- Is Slavery’s Legacy in the Power Dynamics of Sports? by Kurt Streeter
- The 1619 Project Literary Works
- The 1619 Project Visual History of Slavery
- The 1619 Project Symposium at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture
- The 1619 Project – Stories of Slavery, Shared Over Generations
Related recommended articles from The New York Times:
- What is Owed, by Nikole Hannah-Jones
- ‘My Body Is a Confederate Monument’: Slavery, Rape and Reframing the Past, by Caroline Randall Williams
- Black Artists Find Ways to Make Their Voices Heard in Portland, by Zachary Small
- The Meaning of Serena Williams, by Claudia Rankine
“A Word of Warning” From NY Times Magazine “Why We Published the 1619 Project”
A word of warning: There is gruesome material in these stories, material that readers will find disturbing. That is, unfortunately, as it must be. American history cannot be told truthfully without a clear vision of how inhuman and immoral the treatment of black Americans has been. By acknowledging this shameful history, by trying hard to understand its powerful influence on the present, perhaps we can prepare ourselves for a more just future. That is the hope of this project.
Some Resources to support additional Harmful Content Warning language:
- https://blackwomenssuffrage.dp.la/harmful-language-statement
- https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/inclusive-teaching/inclusive-classrooms/an-introduction-to-content-warnings-and-trigger-warnings/
- https://libguides.du.edu/antiracist
- Librarians Kathryn Thornhill and Gabriele Hayden are available to support additional source materials.
Teaching Resources
At its core, The 1619 Project examines the following questions:
- How do societal structures developed to support the enslavement of Black people, and the anti-Black racism that was cultivated in the U.S. to justify slavery, influence many aspects of modern laws, policies, systems, and culture?
- How have resistance, innovation, and advocacy by Black Americans over the course of American history contributed to the nation’s wealth and the strengthening of its democracy?
The 1619 Project is supported by supplemental teaching and learning tools and resources that are regularly updated by the Pulitzer Center and The New York Times Magazine. Additional supporting teaching resources are provided by the UO and a variety of organizations. Links for these and related curricular materials are provided below. Please share any additional recommended resources you may have at commonread@uoregon.edu.
Pulitzer Center Education Programming | The 1619 Project
- The Pulitzer Center’s mission is guided by the goal of Joe Pulitzer III (1913-1993) to “illuminate dark places and, with a deep sense of responsibility, interpret these troubled times.” The 1619 Project questions and guides provided by the Pulitzer Center can be used by students on their own, in small groups, or with an entire class. Various levels and types of curricular materials are provided. https://pulitzercenter.org/lesson-plan-grouping/1619-project-curriculum.
Black Lives Matter | Campus and Community Resources, Information, Messages from the UO Division of Equity and Inclusion
- Extensive resources, articles, information, and organization links related to Black campus groups, Oregon based organizations and opportunities, news and learning opportunities. https://inclusion.uoregon.edu/black-lives-matter-campus-and-community-resources-information-messages
Inclusive Pedagogies | Resources for Anti-racist Teaching at the UO
- The Inclusive Pedagogies website is a clearinghouse for course readings, research and criticism, teaching materials, podcasts and videos, and other resources that support inclusive / antiracist pedagogy and praxis. The website includes a blog, events calendar, and educational resources that combat racism and anti-Black racism across the curriculum. Submit resources or links to be added to the site. Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Women in Society. https://blogs.uoregon.edu/iprig/
- Inclusive Pedagogies Reading Group meets twice a term to read and discuss current theory and research in support of student writers from diverse backgrounds. All are invited and no preparation is required for reading group meetings. We spend 30 minutes reading a selection of recent research related to writing pedagogy and the intersections of gender, race, sexuality, ability, and other aspects of identity. The remainder of the meeting focuses on discussion of the reading and time to share thoughts and experiences related to practicing inclusive, antiracist pedagogies in our classrooms. https://blogs.uoregon.edu/iprig/blog/
UO Teaching Community
- This partnership supports UO faculty in reflecting upon and improving inclusive and transformative teaching practices across our teaching community. Such practices are abolitionist, anti-oppressive, and anticolonial. https://blogs.uoregon.edu/uoteachingcommunity/
UO Libraries Resources
- Untold Stories: The Hidden History of the UO. https://hiddenhistory.uoregon.edu/
- UO Libraries Common Reading Guide. This page links to guides for all the UO Common Reading selections: 1619 Podcast, Under the Feat of Jesus, The Best We Could Do, The Round House, and Between the World and Me. https://researchguides.uoregon.edu/commonreading/2020-2021
- In partnership with the LRP Black Cultural Center. This guide brings together UO Libraries resources and more, to support the UO Black Cultural Center’s community’s research as well as entertainment interests. It is intended to help support the mission of the BCC. https://researchguides.uoregon.edu/bcc
- Black History Resources. These guides contain a wealth of librarian-recommended primary and secondary sources. https://library.uoregon.edu/black-history-resources
- African-American History Resources. A guide for patrons researching African-American history at the UO Libraries. https://researchguides.uoregon.edu/african-american-history
- African-American Microform Resources. https://library.uoregon.edu/govdocs/micro/afr
- Ethnic Studies Research Guide. https://researchguides.uoregon.edu/ethnicstudies
- Kanopy. Free commercial-free streaming service of film, documentary, and televised works. Includes works such as I Am Not Your Negro – James Baldwin and Race in America, Trouble The Water – Surviving Hurricane Katrina, and Brother Outsider – The Life of Freedom Fighter Bayard Rustin
UO Teaching Engagement Program (TEP) | Teaching in Turbulent Times Toolkit
- This toolkit asks UO faculty to consider how to engage current turbulent times within teaching practices. Suggestions are provided for working with students to acknowledge current contexts and build community in the classroom as well as support well-being, productive engagement, and respectful interaction among students and faculty. https://blogs.uoregon.edu/keepteaching/teaching-in-turbulent-times-toolkit/
First-Year Experience Canvas site
- First-year students can also participate in the conversation with other first-year students and participate in non-credit bearing activities associated with UO Common Reading on the First-Year Experience Canvas site. All incoming First-Year Students are automatically enrolled. https://community.uoregon.edu/
UO Museum of Natural and Cultural History | Racing to Change exhibit
- Co-developed by the Museum of Natural and Cultural History and Oregon Black Pioneers, Racing to Change explores the civil rights movement in Eugene and on the UO campus, highlighting how racist policies and attitudes created a pressing need for bold activism and change. The virtual exhibit combines recorded interviews, historical archives, and photographs to paint a vivid picture of the area’s past, and urges us to take part in building a more just future. The virtual exhibit will be available beginning mid-October 2020. The museum is currently open to in-person UO courses, ARCs, and university groups. To schedule a visit or to learn more about Racing to Change, other exhibits, and museum collections, contact Lauren Willis, Curator of Academic Programs, at lmw@uoregon.edu.
UO Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
- JSMA videos that touch on the theme of racism through art, including:
- Video: “People of a Darker Hue” in the exhibition “Carrie Mae Weems: The Usual Suspects.”
- Video: “Carrie Mae Weems; The Usual Suspects” Digital Exhibition.
- Video: “Carrie Mae Weems; The Usual Suspects” A Minute Exhibit.
- Teaching Resource Guide “Carrie Mae Weems: The Usual Suspects.”
- Video: “Why Aren’t There More Black People in Oregon? A Hidden History with Walidah Imarisha.”
- Video: “Reflections on the Origins and Meanings of Question Bridge: Black Males with Chris Johnson.”
The 1619 Project UO GoodReads discussion group
- Join in conversation with others in the UO community around The 1619 Project. Your class can participate in discussions with other classes or campus collaborators; guest authors, scholars, or artists; learn about events, and more. https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1112846-the-1619-project-university-of-oregon-common-reading-2020-2021
PBS Race and Racism in America
- A collection of films and specials that highlight and add context to the many aspects of race and racism in the United States. https://www.pbs.org/articles/2020/06/racism-in-america/
Resources around Racism in America from The Washington Post
Zinn Education Project | Teaching with New York Times 1619 Project
- A collaboration between Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change, the Zinn Education Project seeks to promote and support the teaching of people’s histories. Specific to The 1619 Project are provided classroom-tested people’s history lessons and articles on slavery’s central role in U.S. history, its legacies, and the activists who ended it. Resources regarding pre-colonial and pre-slavery African and indigenous histories are also provided to assist in addressing gaps in The 1619 Project regarding genocide, invader, and occupier histories. Note: some of these materials are for younger grades and would need to be modified and redeveloped for university audiences. https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/teaching-1619-project/
Black Lives Matter at School
- BLM at School is a national group of educators, students, parents, families, community members. A team worked collaboratively to curate a variety of classroom resources for every age group. The goal of these lessons and activities is to challenge racism and oppression and provide vocabulary and tools needed to take action. https://www.blacklivesmatteratschool.com/
Teaching Tolerance, Teaching Hard History | American Slavery
- Professional development resources provided by Teaching Tolerance are intended to help educators who are learning more about American slavery so they can teach their students. These resources include information and techniques from scholars and educators available through videos, podcasts, webinars and articles. Additional sample curricular materials for K-12 curricular planning are provided. Some of the level 12 materials could be further adapted, revised, and supplemented for higher education courses. https://www.tolerance.org/frameworks/teaching-hard-history/american-slavery
UO Common Reading Long List
- A list of additional supporting resources such as books, documentaries, online lectures, and other materials that have been nominated from our campus community for further learning on subjects related to this year’s theme. We are working with campus partners to determine a best method to share this list. More information to come. Learn general information about UO Common Reading, https://fyp.uoregon.edu/common-read.
