Master Teacher: Alysha Butler
Course Dates: July 9–August 13, 2025
Live Session Time Slot: Wednesdays, 5–6 pm ET
Eligibility: High school students (grades 9–12)
Deadline to register: Friday, June 27
Image: Photograph of Rosa Parks, n.d. (The Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC09778.02)
Registration is for the entire 6-week course. Starting Monday, June 30, you can access the course page, which contains Zoom links and other content, by going to "My Courses" under "My Account."
African American Studies is an interdisciplinary exploration of the diverse experiences of African Americans and descendants of the diaspora. This course will examine key themes, events, movements, and figures from the four units of the AP African American Studies course through lectures, rich discussion, and analysis of the required sources. Our discussion will commence with an exploration of the complex societies that arose in Ancient Africa and conclude with an examination of the present and future prospects of contemporary diasporic communities. Each class will also include tips and practice for excelling on the AP African American Studies exam.
To receive a certificate, you will need to attend 5 out of the 6 live sessions and complete the feedback survey.
Please email historyschool@gilderlehrman.org with any questions.
Week 1: Wednesday, July 9: Origins of the African Diaspora, Part I
Week 2: Wednesday, July 16: Origins of the African Diaspora, Part II
Week 3: Wednesday, July 23: Freedom, Enslavement, and Resistance
Week 4: Wednesday, July 20: The Practice of Freedom
Week 5: Wednesday, August 6: Movements and Debates, Part I
Week 6: Wednesday, August 13: Movements and Debates, Part II
Alysha Butler is a social studies teacher at McKinley Technology High School in Washington, DC. In addition to teaching 11th grade US History, Ms. Butler also served as District Course Chair in 2019–2020. In 2019, she was named the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s National History Teacher of the Year and the Daughters of the American Revolution Outstanding Teacher of United States History and was a GrantEd Recipient. Before teaching at McKinley Tech, she taught at Miramar High School in Florida, where she won the school’s Teacher of the Year Award in 2010.