New Brown students will examine documents showing Brown’s historic ties to slavery
Brown University
This summer, incoming first-year undergraduates at Brown will critically examine the University’s historical connections to slavery as they read the “Report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice,” the University’s selection for the 2021 First Readings program.
The report is the program’s selected
text for a second consecutive year as part of a pilot to incorporate it more
formally into first-year orientations. It was first selected in March 2020,
months before the tragic deaths of George Floyd and others brought renewed
attention to the continuing legacy of anti-Black violence in the U.S.
The 2006 text, frequently referred
to as the Slavery and
Justice Report, examined Brown’s historical ties to the
trans-Atlantic slave trade and proposed actions for the University to hold
itself accountable for the ways in which it benefited from its involvement with
slavery.
The report — composed by a committee
of faculty, staff and students — has broadly influenced higher education’s
engagement with institutional connections to slavery since it was first
published.
First-year students will read it as communities nationwide continue to reckon with the impact of anti-Black racism on the country’s past and present, said Dean of the College Rashid Zia in a July 15 message announcing the selection to the Brown community.
“As we welcome our new students to
campus this fall, I can think of no more appropriate reading to help our community
define a shared understanding of place and purpose on College Hill,” Zia said.
“Studying the past together provides
us with an invaluable opportunity to better understand the present. Reflecting
on the meaning of accountability, justice and repair can help us transform our
collective future. We look forward to the reflection and discussions that will
ensue from this reading.”
Students will have access to a
digital First Readings edition of the report that presents historical documents
cited in the report and provides supplemental materials, including readings,
videos and transcripts of historical documents. The digital edition also
enables students to highlight passages and add notes that are retained between
logins.
First Readings is Brown’s annual summer
reading initiative, in which a common reading experience introduces incoming
undergraduate students to the University and to the rigors of academic life on
College Hill.
It culminates in small group
discussion seminars guided by members of the Brown faculty during Orientation.
The students, faculty and staff on
this year’s First Readings selection committee chose the Slavery and Justice
Report from among a pool of texts — representing a range of periods, mediums
and cultures — nominated by members of the Brown community.
This year’s selection committee
included Zia and Anja Lee from the College; undergraduates Tanushri Sundar and
Peter Zubiago; faculty members Matthew Guterl (American studies and Africana
studies) and Gary Wessel (biology); and Sarah Evelyn, director of academic
engagement for the humanities and social sciences at the University Library.
