Leah Barlow, a liberal studies professor at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, prepared to teach her Intro to African American Studies class this semester as she always does: She put together a syllabus, mapped out assignments, and created a TikTok account to make the material as accessible as possible. She posted a video on January 20 welcoming her 35 students to the course. By the next morning, it had surfaced in the algorithm of enough TikTok users that 250,000 people had subscribed to her channel. Within days, Dr. Barlow’s videos had unintentionally inspired a loosely affiliated network of Black educators, experts, and content creators to form what has become known as Hillmantok University, a free and unaccredited and unofficial online take on the country’s H.B.C.U.s, or historically Black colleges and universities.
In lectures delivered in TikTok-length bursts, and in longer sessions over TikTok Live, instructors are teaching classes in gardening, organic chemistry, culinary arts, and other subjects. On the receiving end, organizers say, is an audience of about 16,000 registered users.
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