What is UNESCO's African Passages?What is UNESCO? l What is the UNESCO Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project? l What is UNESCO TST-USA? l Who are the USA sites? l What does TST-USA do? l What are the TST-USA goals? l What is our goal at the College of Charleston? l Who is the national coordinator at TST-USA? l Who is the College of Charleston site coordinator of TST-USA? l Teacher Material l Workshops & Conferences l Listserv
Breaking the Silence
What 
is UNESCO?
It is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization whose purpose is to contribute to the peace and security by promoting the collaboration of nations through education, science, and culture, in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms for the peoples of the world, regardless of race, sex, language or religion. One of the basic aims of the organization has always been the promotion of peace and international cooperation through education of young people for international understanding. (UNESCO Constitution)
What is the UNESCO Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project?
The ASPnet Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project (TST) was launched din 1998 to "break the silence" surrounding the Transatlantic Slave Trade and to enable young people to fully comprehend the past, understand the present, and prepare for a better future together in a world free of all types of stereotypes, enslavement, injustice, discrimination, and prejudice. The TST project aims to improve the teaching of history by telling the whole story of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The project emphasizes the significance of the TST, the suffering it caused and its social, cultural, and economic impact on the Atlantic World. It is the first international endeavor to mobilize schools in Africa, the Americas/Caribbean, and Europe to develop new educational approaches while promoting an intercultural dialogue between young people. (TST-UNESCO website)
What is UNESCO TST-USA?
It was founded in 2000 as part of an education project designed to help school teachers learn how to teach the slave trade and its legacy. TST links teachers of all disciplines with university scholars who work to develop projects and curriculum around the TST. It also links teachers in the USA with over 110 schools in the Atlantic world, including Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The program aims to help teachers of all disciplines learn to teach one of the most important topics in modern world history wit the hope of achieving understanding and reconciliation.
Who are the USA sites?
Institutions in the United States are involved with UNESCO in a multi-national collaboration devoted to research on and better teaching about the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
There are sites that link universities with public schools. In the past, The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University worked with Connecticut schools; prior to Hurricane Katerina, Tulane University worked with the New Orleans public schools; the Benjamin Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis worked with that city's schools; Duke Power Corporation works with the Three Rivers School in Cincinnati; the William Winters Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi works with schools in Mississippi; the Richards Center for the Study of the Civil War Era at Pennsylvania State University sponsored schools in Pennsylvania; and the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program at the College of Charleston works on a state-wide basis with the Department of Education, the South Carolina Geography Alliance, Teaching American History projects, and National History Day.
What Does TST-USA Do?
Teachers at each site meet often to discuss ways of teaching the TST and to develop student projects around TST themes. It conducts scholarly workshops in the schools and organizes trips to local and national sites of memory related to the TST and its legacy. Teachers also attend a summer institute that is conducted by leading scholars in the field. In the past summer institutes have been held at Yale University, Tulane University, College of Charleston, Pennsylvania State University, University of Memphis, and the University of Richmond. Representatives from member schools in the Atlantic world as well as international renowned scholars also attend. Teachers share their pedagogical ideas, their curriculum, and their student projects. We also visit sites of memory, with trips conducted by the scholars. Teachers are expected to serve as master teachers in their schools, returning to share their ideas with colleagues and students.
What are the TST-USA Goals?
Above all, TST helps students to confront diverse peoples and cultures, helping them to understand the diverse world that they live in. It also allows students to understand the significant issues surrounding the slave trade and its legacy, to help them to think globally and critically, and to become good citizens. By visiting sites of memory, students learn to link their local history with that of the world.
What is our goal at the College of Charleston?
The Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program's goal is to provide forums and resources to assist K-14 educators and scholars in the understanding of the history and impact of the Transatlantic Slave Trade so that they may, in turn, strengthen and broaden the delivery of this critical history in the teaching of the South Carolina Social Studies curriculum.
Who is the National Coordinator of USA-TST?
This position is currently being reorganized.
Who is the College of Charleston Site Coordinator of USA-TST?
Lisa Randle is the site coordinator at the College of Charleston for the UNESCO Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project and an adjunct instructor in the Historic Preservation and Community Planning Department. A public historian and archaeologist, she specializes in the early history of African Americans in South Carolina.
Her interests include: African American social and cultural history; African Diaspora in the New World and slavery; cultural anthropology; cultural and social change; folklore; settlement patterns; and historical archaeology. She is especially interested in promoting and maximizing collaborations between museums and public school education.
Her professional associations include: South Carolina African American Heritage Commission (Commissioner 2009-12); National Trust for Historic Preservation, North Carolina Folklore Society; Organization of Historians; SC Council for History Educators; South Carolina Traditional Arts Network (Folklore); Society of Historical Archaeology; SC Council for Social Studies; and National Council for History Educators. Educational background - University of South Carolina: B.A., December, 1979 (International Studies); M.A., May, 1999 (Public History); Master's Certificate, May 2005 (Historic Archaeology); Ph.D. program, beginning September 2006 (Anthropology). For her doctoral work, she is exploring the African American Landscape on the East Branch of the Cooper River, Berkeley County, SC.
Note: Due to Hurricane Katrina, the Regional Humanities Center at Tulane University in New Orleans is closed.
23 March - International Day of
Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery
and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Special Event: Live Video Conference on Transatlantic Slave Trade,
March 28, 2008, 3hrs 23m
23 August -
International Day to
Commemorate the Slave Trade and its Abolition
The date chosen refers to the rebellion of the slaves in Saint-Domingue in 1791, triggering off the revolution in Saint-Domingue and being the first step towards the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade.
2 December - International Day for
the Abolition of Slavery
This date recalls the day of adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1949). For more information, visit http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/slavery/
Teacher Material
Lesson Plans, Teacher Resources (Links), Recommended Books, Primary Sources, Visual Aids, Timelines, Study Aids, Bibliography
Teaching Using WPA Slave Narratives
Please contact us and let us know what you have done, what works and does not work for you so that we and others can benefit from your experience. Feel free to send your reviews, comments and especially recommendations for the teaching of the transatlantic slave trade.
This page is still under construction. Please check back with us frequently for updates.
Upcoming Teacher Training
Workshops & Conferences
June 22 - 28, 2009, Montgomery, Alabama
US Partnership - UNESCO Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project National Meeting and Teachers' Institute
The focus of this summer's institute was "The Long March to Montgomery: Slavery and Freedom in the Alabama Black Belt." It was sponsored by the Rosa Parks Civil Rights Museum, Troy University (Montgomery AL), The George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center (Penn State University), The Alabama Department of Archives and History, The Alabama Humanities Council Super Teachers Program, and the Southern Poverty Law Center/Teaching Tolerance.
Past Teacher Training Workshops & Conferences
Was Abraham Lincoln a Southerner?
Saturday, March 21, 2009
9:00 am ~ 4:00 pm
at Boone Hall Plantation, Mt. Pleasant
Guest Lecturer: Dr. Orville Vernon Burton, Burroughs Distinguished Professor of Southern History and Culture, Coastal Carolina University
Throughout 2009 many will be proudly commemorating the 200th birthday of Lincoln. This free one day workshop is designed to provide ideas and resources for teachers to help enhance the teaching of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. Participants will receive lunch, free entry and tour of Boone Hall's "Black History in America" exhibit, copy of The Age of Lincoln," and various teaching materials. Limit: 25. Contact Lisa B. Randle for more information. June 26, 2008, College of Charleston
CLAW and UNESCO TST Education Project hosted America's Heart Graduate Class from Berkeley County School District at Arnold Hall.
June 23 - 28, 2008, Tulane University
US Partnership - UNESCO Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project National Meeting and Teachers' Institute
Tulane hosted this international meeting with various representatives from UNESCO in the Atlantic world in commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade. The schedule included:
- a slide presentation by Leif Svalesen who helped bring up the slave ship Fredensborg off the southern coast of Norway
- a tour of a Louisiana slave plantation
- a tour the French Quarter and St. Louis Cemetery No. 1
- a visit to Ursuline Convent, the oldest building of record in New Orleans
- a traditional Mardi Gras Indian performance featuring the Young Guardians of the Flame and the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Collective
- a first hand look at the lower 9th ward
March 29, 2008, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
Launch of Lowcountry Africana Heritage Project.
Sponsored by Magnolia Plantation & Garden and Drayton Hall Plantation. Hosted by Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program at College of Charleston as part of the "Ending the International Slave Trade: A Bicentenary Inquiry" Conference. This day-long workshop is designed to provide ideas and resources for teachers to help you include the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the curriculum. The workshop includes a presentation by Toni Carrier (University of South Florida), the Slavery to Freedom tour of Magnolia Plantation by Craig Hadley (The Living History Group), and lunch at the Peacock Cafe. The presentation will feature a demonstration of the Lowcountry Africana website, a treasure trove of primary documents, book excerpts, and multimedia that further document and explore the dynamic cultural and family heritage of the Lowcountry Southeast.
June 15 - 22, 2007, Yale University.
US Partnership - UNESCO Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project National Meeting and Teacher's Institute
Hosted by Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery and Abolition at Yale University. Three teachers from South Carolina participated in the annual meeting and the week-long NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Summer Workshop, Beyond Amistad: The African American Struggle for Citizenship, 1770 - 1850 held in New Haven, Connecticut.
February 10, 2007. Creating and Presenting History Trunks
Jill Campbell, Deborah Poveromo, and Sue Anderson
State College Area High School, State College, PA. During the morning session, the presenters reviewed the inception and history of the “History Trunk Project” in the State College Area School District, State College. Pennsylvania. Past and current practices were discussed and a Power Point Presentation shared. Hand-outs covered strategies for building a trunk and preparing students for presentations
Saturday, September 29, 2006, 10:00 am - 4:30 pm, Ft. Moultrie.
Dr. James A. McMillin, Associate Director of Bridwell Library and Associate Professor of American Religious History, Southern Methodist University, The Final Victim: Foreign Slave Trade to North America, 1783-1810. This day-long workshop provided ideas and resources for teachers to help them include the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the curriculum. The workshop included a presentation by Dr. McMillin, a tour of Ft. Moultrie, and lunch. The presentation featured a demonstration of the database he has compiled of slave importation into Charleston between 1787 and 1808.
June 27 - July 2, 2006, Pennsylvania State University.
US Partnership - UNESCO Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project National Meeting and Teacher's Institute - Five educators from the state of South Carolina attended this annual summer professional development institute. Hosted by the Richards Center for the Study of the Civil War Era at Penn State.
Saturday, May 13, 2006, 9:30 am - 1:00 pm, College of Charleston.
UNESCO Sites of Memory Website Project, African Passages: The Ashley River Corridor. Teachers, project participants, education specialists, scholars previewed and gathered feedback for the UNESCO Paris Office.
Saturday, 15 October, 2005, 10:00 am - 4:30 pm, Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, 125 Bull Street
Dr. Jerome S. Handler, Senior Fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, "Survivors of the Middle Passage: Life Histories of Enslaved Africans in British America." Workshop included a tour of Transatlantic Slave Trade-related sites in Charleston by Gullah Tours.
Listservs & On-line Discussion Groups
Become a member of the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Transatlantic Slave Trade listserv. You must first subscribe to the list by sending us a message. Below is an example of how you would subscribe using your email:
To: LISTSERV@listserv.cofc.edu
Subject: <anything put here will be ignored by the LISTSERV Server>
<Put ONLY the following command in the body of the message>
subscribe <TST> <your first name> <your last name> (hit the return/enter key)
(e.g. subscribe TST John Smith)
If you correctly subscribed to the list, the LISTSERV server will send you a welcome message and a message telling you that you have been subscribed to the list. If you do not get these messages, you made a mistake! If you made a mistake typing the name of the list or a command, you should get a message from the postmaster or the LISTSERV server telling you what you have done wrong.
