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In late June, a team of UMass Amherst researchers hosted 14 middle and high school teachers and librarians from across the country at the Souls of Black Folk and the Foundations of African American Studies residential teacher’s institute.

Faculty members from the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts and the Department of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies in the College of Education used the life and work of Du Bois as an organizing framework in designing the institute, which supports educators interested in preparing to offer the new Advanced Placement African American Studies course or in generally expanding their content knowledge and pedagogy in African American studies.

“In light of the growing interest in African American studies, especially among teachers, our project team was determined to use our expertise to help support teachers in sharing such important topics with their students,” says Yolanda Covington-Ward, professor and chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies. “Overall, it was an amazing experience that we hope to replicate in the future. We really appreciate all of the university’s support. We want the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, the Department of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies, and UMass Amherst overall to be national leaders in supporting teachers seeking to teach African American Studies.”

The institute, held June 22-29, was led by Covington-Ward; Toussaint Losier, associate professor in the Department of Afro-American Studies; A Yęmisi Jimoh, professor in the Department of Afro-American Studies; and Keisha L. Green, associate professor of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies in the College of Education. College of Education doctoral candidate Shannon Laribo was the project coordinator and Afro-American Studies doctoral student Anaëlle Cama assisted with logistics.

Among the presenters during the institute were various faculty members from the Five Colleges, including members of the project team, and guest lecturers that included W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies faculty members Amilcar Shabazz, James Smethurst and Anne Kerth.

Highlights of the institute included an afternoon trip to the W. E. B. Du Bois archives in the W. E. B. Du Bois Center in the UMass library and an all-day field trip and historical walking tour in Great Barrington centered on Du Bois’s life. Over the course of the institute, the teachers worked in small teams to develop sample lesson plans on an assigned topic. To close out the institute, these teams presented their lessons to all the participants.

“It was quite inspiring to be a part of this weekslong institute,” Losier says. “As research faculty, it was a unique opportunity not only to share our expertise in African American studies, but also to hear from educators about their own experiences presenting this material in the classroom. The institute fostered such a dynamic learning environment, while grounding us in the interdisciplinarity at the heart of African American studies and exemplified in the work of W. E. B. Du Bois.”

The project was based off of a series of local pilot teacher workshops in held in 2023–24, after which the team was awarded a $171,962 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). In April 2025, after the federal grant was unexpectedly terminated, the project team collaborated with UMass to organize a modified and shortened version of the original institute. With help from financial support from the deans of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts and the College of Education, project faculty research funds, the Provost’s Office, and ResCoe funds, the institute was able to take place, while the Center for Racial Justice and Youth Engaged Research (CRJ) in the College of Education provided additional resources.

More information on the Souls of Black Folk Teacher’s Institute can be found at https://soulsofblackfolkinstitute.com.