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The Digital HBCU: Hillmantok University’s Vision for Public Intellectualism
If you’ve been on TikTok lately, you might have noticed a recent surge of educational content called “Hillmantok University.” This movement is titled in homage to the fictional Hillman University, an HBCU from the television series “A Different World.” It all started when Dr. Leah Barlow decided to host her “Intro to African-American Studies” discussions on TikTok, leading to an avalanche of thousands of students enrolling in the course.
In true Black Studies fashion, scholars, educators, and even deans and advisors began to emerge from the shadows and coalesced to create more official space for hundreds of classes to be taught online. As a movement in Black education, many of these courses reflect Black Studies topics, but there are also courses in various disciplines, from engineering and artificial intelligence to art and culture.
As someone who is chronically online and always teaching, I knew immediately that I wanted to join the party because Hillmantok was not the first time I ventured into online teaching courses. At the…
