A new history course at Kirkwood Community College may interest not just history majors but all members of the Kirkwood community, according to the two professors involved with the course.
The course, African American History, HIS-257, focuses on the topic of African American history from 1865 to the present and counts as a history and cultures core course, a diversity requirement course and an Arts and Sciences elective.
The in-person class debuted this spring and 20 students are currently enrolled.
The class is being taught by Jacqueline Hunter, adjunct professor, who also serves as the museum educator at the African American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids.
Hunter said that for students, the course is often the first course that students take that is about the history of “a non-dominant group.” Hunter also stated that the course is from the perspective of linking the past to the present. Hunter cites her work at the African American Museum of Iowa as a way that she and the course go “hand in hand.”
Kirkwood History Professor Jed Peterson said the idea for the course came about around four years ago, when he and a small group of people were thinking about ways to help students get to graduation. Peterson said he considers the course to be a “light my fire” course, which he describes as a type of course that gets students excited to learn about topics that interest them.
Both Peterson and Hunter agreed that the course is not just great for history majors but any member of our community.
While this academic year is Hunter’s first experience teaching at Kirkwood, she said she has been teaching history at a higher ed level since 2005. It is also the first time she has taught a course specifically about African American history.
Hunter commutes from Dubuque for her jobs at the African American Museum of Iowa and Kirkwood and said she considers Cedar Rapids “more of my first home than my second home.”
Hunter has known Peterson even before she started working at Kirkwood, and considers her experience here to be “an amazing journey.” Hunter stated that the topic that she most anticipates teaching is the civil rights movement, as she is able to connect many of its ideas to the present day.
According to Peterson, the hope is for the course to be offered at least once every academic year.
Categories: Campus News, News
