Inaugural session starts March 3 at Penn Center
From staff reports
Tuition has been waived for the Modjeska Simkins School for Human Rights, which has opened enrollment for its spring session, marking the school’s 10th year of teaching civics, organizing strategies, and a people’s history of South Carolina to students of all ages and backgrounds.
The 2025 session runs Monday, March 3 through June 23, with classes meeting Monday evenings in-person at historic Penn Center on St. Helena Island.
Tuition has been waived for in person participation. Tuition for Zoom participants is on a sliding scale, with scholarship assistance available.
The school welcomes anyone interested in understanding and better navigating our state’s social and political landscape. Whether you are a lover of history, an activist seeking ways to be more effective in your work, a retired person wanting to get involved in your community, or a transplant who wants to know the peculiar history of South Carolina, this course will benefit you.
This year, students can attend in-person at three satellite locations; at Penn Center, the S.C. Civil Rights Museum in Orangeburg, and in Sumter. These sites will stream the classes live from GROW in Columbia, the School’s headquarters.
“We hope this will become a model for collaborating with allied groups across South Carolina,” said Brett Bursey, Executive Director of the SC Progressive Network, the nonprofit that launched the school in 2015. “Because we see the value in these partnerships, we are waiving tuition fees for students attending at these remote locations. We believe it is a sound investment for the longterm.”
Penn Center’s Executive Director Robert L. Adams said, “The Penn Center’s partnership with the Modjeska Simkins School continues Penn’s enduring legacy of providing educational and self-empowerment opportunities for the Carolina Lowcountry. Informed citizens, who are the cornerstone of American democracy, are nurtured by the rich intellectual experience and critical thinking skills offered by the Modjeska Simkins School. We are proud to extend the reach of such an important program.”
Robert Greene II, a professor of history at Claflin University who has served as the Modjeska School’s lead instructor since 2019, said, “The school remains a bulwark for truth against disinformation. At the Modjeska School, we believe in not only learning history for the sake of knowing our past, but learning how to think critically and how to think democratically. Contrary to popular belief, there is a tradition of human rights — exemplified by Modjeska Simkins herself — in South Carolina.”
The curriculum, reflecting the Network’s nonpartisan, state-based strategy, focuses on South Carolina, which continues to play an oversized role in our nation’s politics. The course material is ever-evolving to include the latest research and historical analyses. There is nothing like it, not just in South Carolina but nationally.
The school also offers Deep Dive programs on Sunday afternoons during the session that are free and open to the public.
The course includes 16 evening classes, Sunday afternoon Deep Dives, and in-depth study guides.
Classes meet Monday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., on Zoom and in-person, tuition-free classes On St. Helena Island at the Penn Center Museum. Attendees must fill out the application. For details about the school, the 2025 class schedule, or to apply, go to https://bit.ly/4gZ0AIW.
