The University of Maryland, College Park is the latest institution of higher education to announce plans to examine its ties to slavery, this time doing so with the help of students in a research course.

Next fall, Dr. Ira Berlin, Distinguished University Professor of U.S. history, African-American history and slavery, will lead a group of students in a two-semester  research course, “Knowing Our History: African-American slavery in the University of Maryland.”

The first semester will focus on the history of slavery and training about 30 students to be “good historians of slavery,” says Berlin, adding that the second semester will “focus our skills and knowledge on our own backyard” by delving into UMD’s role in the slave trade.

The founder of UMD, Charles B. Calvert, was a slave owner and the university’s grounds were a part of his estate. The goal of the course is to find out what happened on UMD’s campus in relation to American slavery.

The course was born, in part, from America’s general interest in American society and slavery, Berlin says. With movies and museum exhibits dedicated to the issue of slavery, state legislatures debating over apologies, and the never-ending debate over reparations, it is clear that Americans are interested in the history of slavery in this country, he says.

The racial climate today, with the return of the noose as a symbol of racial intimidation and White college students partying in blackface and holding stereotypical themed parties, warrants a deeper understanding of race relations in this country, Berlin says.

“The issue of slavery comes up whenever we have a racial crises. When people become engaged in the issue of how White people and Black people relate to one another they go back to ground zero — the institution of slavery. Racial tensions always brings people back to the issue of slavery,” Berlin says.

“It’s always a good idea to know who you are, it’s good to know what kind of baggage we’ve inherited. It’s generally a healthy thing,” he says, although he makes no proclamations about how the university should respond to the findings.