Concerned Students Plan Columbus “Teach-In”

02/05/2015 

A group of SUNY Cortland students and faculty will hold a “teach-in” about the historical legacy of Christopher Columbus next to The Bookmark in Memorial Library from 9 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 9.

“Becoming Conscious Community: Columbus Day #HowIsThisAThing” was organized by La Familia Latina, a Latino cultural student organization, in response to a mural painted on the windows of The Bookmark last fall in celebration of Columbus Day. The painting mistakenly combined images of Columbus’ ships with traditional Thanksgiving sentiments in what some students felt was symptomatic of widespread misunderstanding about Columbus.

Although Columbus is celebrated as the first European to “discover” the New World in 1492, Vikings from Iceland actually traveled to North America hundreds of years earlier. Columbus’ first expedition to the Caribbean is enshrined as a federal holiday in the United States, yet his journeys were marked by violence, exploitation and the enslavement of native populations.

The student and faculty organizers of “Becoming Conscious Community” say they are holding Monday’s event to try to set the record straight.

Student speakers will make presentations throughout the “teach-in” and an open microphone will be available for any member of the campus community to express their thoughts. Assistant Professor of Philosophy Sebastian Purcell, an expert on the indigenous experience and colonialism’s impact on the Americas, is scheduled to speak twice at 10 a.m. and noon.

Students and faculty are welcome to drop by anytime during the event and stay as long as their schedules allow. The “teach-in” cuts across many academic disciplines, and instructors are encouraged to include the event in Monday’s lessons for relevant classes.

The group urges SUNY Cortland students to learn more about the impact of Columbus’ voyages. To that end, the library has created a rich, online resource guide. It features links to websites, videos — including an excerpt from “Jimmy Kimmel Live” — books and teaching resources.

Organizers also have a Facebook page that includes a photo of the painting that started the conversation at SUNY Cortland, along with an article by Howard Zinn that will be at the center of much discussion on Feb. 9: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1374376359540169/