Morehouse College, one of our nation’s illustrious HBCUs, is preparing to unveil a Black history course that’ll be conducted through the metaverse, aka virtual reality (VR).
What Can Students Expect In The Class?
The course is titled “History of the African Diaspora Since 1800.” It will be ushered in during the upcoming Spring 2023 semester, and Dr. Ovell Hamilton will lead instruction.
Through the class, people will get the chance to see numerous moments in Black history from the past couple of centuries, NBC News reports. We should also note that the students will interact with one another through avatars, as opposed to physical interaction.
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Participants will be able to experience moments like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech. They’ll also get to see Black soldiers on the battlefield, as well as 19th century slave ships, Hamilton shares.
“That is an experience that they would not have if they were sitting in a classroom, if they were sitting in a lecture. When you go there and see the bottom of a slave ship, see the slaves packed in together…you will have a new appreciation and you have a greater knowledge of how the events took place.”
Morehouse Embarked On Its Impactful Metaverse Journey Last Year
Back in March 2021, Morehouse partnered with VictoryXR Academy, a “leading creator of education content in virtual reality and augmented reality.”
This partnership allowed students to begin taking a variety of courses in a new format. Morehouse currently offers 10 different VR courses across disciplines like journalism, English, biology, and sociology.
While Morehouse’s metaverse project has already been around, the upcoming “History of the African Diaspora Since 1800” class will be its first VR course in Black history. However, components of this course were present in a world history class that Dr. Hamilton recently taught through the metaverse.
Kade Davis is one student who was in the VR world history class. The metaverse component allowed him to view historical structures like the Mayan pyramids in a new way.
“It was impressive to see that … like, outside of a textbook and be able to articulate and immerse in the environment and actually learn more about it.”
Jerad Evan Young was also in the class, and he spoke on seeing a slave ship through VR.
“It definitely evokes emotions of sorrow. Also, there’s a sense of pride because not everybody made it through the slave trade. You know, you had to really be a strong individual. So, that let me know that my ancestors were strong enough to last that grueling journey across the sea.”
Would you be interested in taking a history class through the metaverse, or would you rather stick to physical classrooms?
