How Can We Understand the Charleston Shootings? With This Syllabus

In the aftermath of the shooting massacre in Charleston, South Carolina, many people are asking how and why this tragedy could have happened. It is not a simple question, but it does have concrete answers. And a group of professors have put together a syllabus of texts and other resources to guide people toward them.

The #Charlestonsyllabus was created this week by Brandeis University professor Chad Williams, author Kidada Williams, University of Iowa incoming professor Keisha N. Blaine, and University of North Carolina at Charlotte history professor Christopher Cameron. It serves as a living collection of books, news articles, poems, films, and other teaching materials providing historical and geographical context for the Charleston shooting. The list was crowdsourced on Twitter, where suggestions for additional materials are still pouring in.