Abolition: Then and Now
This event will feature presentations by undergraduate Princeton University students on their collaborative, virtual exhibition entitled “Abolition: Then and Now.” The students put this exhibition together as part of a final project for a fall 2020 course on the writings of Frederick Douglass and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Supported by the 250 th Fund for Innovation in Undergraduate Education, the course—taught by Professor Eduardo Cadava and supported by undergraduate Shannon Chaffers ’22—encouraged the students to think about the ways in which the writings of these two towering American figures can be used as resources not only for addressing contemporary socio-political issues but also for doing political work, and especially work that goes in the direction of addressing, engaging, and perhaps even overcoming the history of racial injustice in America. As part of this year’s Douglass Day celebration, the students will present the portion of their exhibition devoted to Douglass and to everything that we have inherited from his activism, determination, and ethical force and from which we can gather the strength to further the struggles that he believed were so necessary, and that remain so even today.
Please be aware that one of the presentations includes a potentially disturbing image. The presenter will provide a warning in advance of showing the image.
Also join the national Douglass Day events on February 12 and 14!