Biography

Tobin Miller Shearer is a History Professor and Director of the African-American Studies Program at the University of Montana. His scholarship has examined children’s contributions to the civil rights struggle through their involvement in the Fresh Air rural hosting program, the history of Black and White Mennonites, the role of religious resources in social change movements, and anti-racism and spirituality.

Crossroads Teaching Fellow Project

Vincent Harding, Religion, and the Long Black Freedom Struggle: A Curriculum

A five-session curriculum for high school and college students that focuses on religious contributions to the mid-twentieth century Black Freedom Struggle as evidenced in key moments and documents from the life story of civil rights activist and scholar Vincent Harding. The curriculum will invite students to explore these themes by examining Harding’s roles as peacemaker, professor, prophet, pilgrim, and pastor in that movement. Each session includes digital images from Harding’s personal papers and provides teaching objectives, sample exercises, discussion guides, and short introductory videos discussing the context of each of the examined case studies.