History of Movements of Black Life Study Abroad

The Global Studies Study Abroad course under the Black Lives Matter banner launched in Spring 2023, building on modules first taught online in Spring 2022 and later in person that fall, both informed by regional and global Black Lives Matter movements.

As one of five faculty contributors to the semester‑long module, I developed a course examining Black Arts movements in London as acts of resistance, which later became the foundation for the inaugural Black Lives Matter Study Abroad program that I co‑led with Associate Professor Dr. David Pate, serving a cohort of fifteen interdisciplinary students.

That spring, the program received the Most Innovative Study Abroad Award at a Global Study Abroad conference attended by Yomarie Costellano and Sharon Gosz.

I continued leading the course in Winter 2024 and invited Assistant Professor Marquise Mays to join me, under whose direction the course has grown significantly and become a popular experiential learning option for PSOA, CAA and interdisciplinary students.

In February 2026, Marquise led the course—now titled Movements of Black Life in London, UK—marking my final year traveling with students as I prepare to retire at the end of the spring semester. I am honored to have contributed to the program’s origin and confident in Marquise’s leadership moving forward

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“History of Movements of Black Life Study Abroad” is part of a larger UWM Post special project titled “Movements of Black Life: A Comparative Study in the UK.”