Honors American South

Honors American South: Foundations of Black Culture, Social Movements, and Collective Liberation is a partnership between the CELE Center, the Interdisciplinary Honors Program, and our community partner Sankofa Impact.

“Sankofa” is an Adinkra symbol and concept used by the Akan people of Ghana meaning “go back and get it,” which teaches us that we must return to our roots in order to know where we are going. This summer study away trip will take students on a month-long journey through the American South to explore the eras of enslavement, racial terrorism, civil rights, mass incarceration, and abolition activism today. We will visit centers of Black history, joy and resilience as we craft a vision of collective liberation and engage in our own leadership practice.

Sankofa Impact x UW Honors from Sankofa Impact on Vimeo.

Explore the concept of Sankofa as we visit key places and spaces in the Black-American freedom struggle and spend time with foot soldiers who lived history then, as well as leaders of movements making history today. The group will begin in Galveston at the site where the Emancipation Proclamation was last read--effectively marking the end of the enslavement era in the United States—then travel together by charter bus through the American South—from Texas to Washington D.C.— visiting 10 states in total over 32 days.

View our Recorded Information Session

Apply for the Summer 2024 Trip

Email purschk@uw.edu