Scholars’ Convocation: Dr. Jarvis Givens

Published:

September 21, 2021

Professor Jarvis Givens: “The Fugitive Life of Black Teaching: A History of Pedagogy and Power”

Thursday, Sept. 23, 11:00 a.m.

Humanities and Social Studies Center, Room A1231 – Note Location

Available online via Zoom

Meeting ID: 867 4925 4864
Passcode: 430843

Using the life of famed educator and historian Carter G. Woodson as a lens, Professor Jarvis Givens reveals an expansive world of African American teachers, active from the slavery era through Jim Crow, who cultivated dreams and aspirations in generations of students despite a world order built on black subjection. As he will demonstrate, much of this work took place through discreet, quiet acts of resistance in teaching and learning, what he calls “fugitive pedagogy.” Givens insists that black educators’ pedagogical traditions were essential to the Long Black Freedom Struggle and formed the roots of anti-racist teaching in the United States.

Givens is an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a faculty affiliate in the department of African & African American Studies at Harvard University. He specializes in the history of education, African American history, and theories of race and power in education. His first book, Fugitive Pedagogy: Carter G. Woodson and the Art of Black Teaching, was published in 2021 by Harvard University Press and he is currently building The Black Teacher Archive, an online portal that will house digitized records documenting the more than one-hundred-year history of “Colored Teacher Associations.” Professor Givens’ research has been supported by fellowships and grants from the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the William F. Milton Fund. Givens earned his Ph.D. in African American studies from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a native of Compton, California, and currently resides in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

This event is co-sponsored by the Center for the Humanities; the Office of the Dean; the Center for Careers, Life, and Service; and the Convocation Committee.

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