The “Race and Revolution” First-Year Seminar: Teaching Leadership by Reclaiming the University of Mary Washington’s Social Justice Tradition

Program Abstract: In 2011 the University of Mary Washington honored the legacy of Civil Rights leader and our distinguished late history colleague Dr. James Farmer by celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides he organized. Our faculty honored Dr. Farmer by creating a first-year seminar titled “Race and Revolution: James Farmer and the Struggle for Civil Rights.” This model of a first-year seminar is designed to build students’ leadership ability and to motivate students to engage with the social justice tradition of our university. The multidisciplinary perspectives and pedagogical approaches of faculty representing a broad range of disciplines inform each year’s course design. STEM faculty can easily teach this type of seminar as the research skills needed in science translate naturally to teaching what we can learn about leadership from the Civil Rights Movement.