"Delaware Stories" chosen for Gen Ed pilot program

Associate in Arts Program professors Chanele Moore and David Teague's fall 2016 course, "Delaware Stories: The Trial, Conviction and Posthumous Pardon of Samuel Burris, Underground Railroad Conductor" will be one of seven new core courses chosen for the University's new Gen Ed pilot program, which is the result of a Faculty Senate initiative to improve general education at the University. All seven courses satisfy the University's breadth requirement.

"Delaware Stories," which will be co-taught by Moore and Teague, features an examination of the 1847 arrest and conviction of Samuel Burris, an African-American operative with the Underground Railroad, for helping Delaware and Maryland ​slaves escape their masters. Burris's sentence, following the mandatory Delaware sentencing laws at the time, was to be sold into slavery for seven years per conviction. Burris, who was eventually freed after an abolitionist friend posed as a buyer at his auction, was granted a posthumous pardon by Gov. Jack Markell in 2015.

For an overview of all courses in the pilot program, see the story in UDaily.