Hargrove paves the way to a brighter future through unique seminar

Dr. Jarvis Hargrove is a dedicated associate professor in the East Carolina University Department of History, director of the African and African American Studies program, and Honors faculty fellow.

Hargrove was born and raised in North Carolina. He began teaching at ECU in 2020 and wanted to get more involved with both the college and the Greenville community. He began teaching an Honors class along with a first year Brinkley-Lane seminar on understanding and discussing our history — the past, present, and future of the field.

The Brinkley-Lane seminar is a small class that focuses on discussing and reading about topics that students most likely have not focused on in other courses. Hargrove emphasizes the importance of student led discussions in order for students to immerse themselves fully in the topics.

“They come in and lead different discussions,” he said. “It gives them the opportunity to lead a class which they probably won’t do again.”

Hargrove focused on opening his students’ minds to different perspectives.

“You have some that are from the public schools, some that are from charter and private schools, some that are homeschooled. It is not only that, but some are from eastern North Carolina, some are from out of state, and some of from metropolitan areas,” he said.

He highlights not only for his students but for himself as well, the importance of recognizing where people are bringing their perspectives from. This concept creates a diverse environment where students can hear about things they may not have before or gain a new perspective on a topic.

“It is always interesting to hear from those who are out of state hear people who are from North Carolina talk about North Carolina issues and they had no idea this was going on.”

The environment in which the past three years, students have grown up in is vastly different than anything that has been seen before, Hargrove said. He teaches in hopes that students will understand that regardless of how they feel about a topic, there is a takeaway.

“It doesn’t hurt you to listen to someone else,” he said.

Hargrove, himself, has learned a lot from the students in his classes. He enjoys hearing the different perspectives of his students on the issues and topics he presents to them. Understanding that based on their background, students will have different perspectives on issues is something he has learned throughout his time teaching this class.

“I am optimistic about the future because of these types of classes and these types of discussions.”

Hargrove has given students an opportunity to learn in a unique way. He is enthusiastic about the future and hopes these conversations continue outside the classroom.