Teaching Dissent: Summer Humanities Institute Returns to UMD

The daylong program is designed for teachers, scholars and community leaders.

By Jessica Weiss ’05

As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, educators from across the region will gather at the University of Maryland to explore a timely question: What does dissent look like, and how can we teach it?

The Frederick Douglass Center for Leadership Through the Humanities will host its fourth annual Maryland Humanities Summer Institute on June 26. Designed for secondary classroom and community-based educators, the free, daylong program will bring together teachers, scholars and community leaders to examine the theme “Dissent!” through workshops, discussion and collaborative learning.

Drawing on local and global histories as well as contemporary social and political movements, the institute will explore dissent in its many forms—from organized protest and activism to acts of resistance, refusal and civic engagement.

“Dissent has always played a vital role in shaping democratic societies,” said Quincy Mills, director of the Frederick Douglass Center for Leadership Through the Humanities. “This institute invites educators to think critically about how people have challenged injustice across time and place, and how we can equip students to engage thoughtfully with the world around them at this time when dissent is needed more often, by more people.”

The program will feature a keynote address by Nancy Raquel Mirabal, associate professor of American studies at UMD, affiliate faculty in the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center and director of the U.S. Latino/a Studies minor. She also serves on the board of Teaching for Change in Washington, D.C. Associate Professor in the Department of American Studies Bayley Marquez, an Indigenous scholar from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, will deliver the closing keynote. 

One session, led by local high school educator Amber Bennett Foote, will use design thinking to help participants guide students through identifying issues in their communities and taking action. Another, led by the DC History Center’s Vanessa Williams, will draw on the center’s recent “Class Action” exhibition to examine the history of Black schools and educational activism in Washington, D.C.

Additional sessions will explore topics including Black Marylanders’ activism during the Civil War, reparative archiving and the preservation of public records, and lessons on youth activism.

Participants will leave with new resources, teaching strategies and opportunities to connect with fellow educators committed to fostering dialogue, critical thinking and civic engagement.

The institute will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and includes breakfast, lunch, ASL interpretation and giveaways. Registration is free and open through June 19.