The Fall 2024 DeVane Lectures will be taught by David Blight, Sterling Professor of History and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale. His course will consist of three parts. First, the course will cover the history of Yale University’s connections to and entanglements with racial slavery and its afterlives. Second, the lectures will explore the first existential crisis of the American experiment—the Civil War, emancipation, and Reconstruction. Third, the course will cover the many legacies of that period—political, constitutional, racial, economic, and commemorative—as they have shaped American life and polity ever since.
Members of the public are invited to learn alongside Yale students and can enroll for free. The course is held in person only.
Dates & Location
August 29 to December 5, 2024
Tuesdays and Thursdays
11:35 a.m. – 12:25 p.m.
O.C. Marsh Lecture Hall
Yale Science Building
260 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511
How to Register
The course is held in person only. The lectures are free for New Haven and other local community members, as are all course materials and related media. Please register through the webform. Due to the high level of interest, registration does not guarantee your spot in the lecture. In early June, you will receive an email regarding your registration. If you have questions, please email president@yale.edu.
Students may sign up for the course through the registration features in Yale Course Search.
The DeVane Lecture series was established in 1969 to honor William Clyde DeVane, dean of Yale College from 1939 to 1963.