Cornell University, one of the elite Ivy League schools, is introducing a new astronomy class that claims there are “connections between the cosmos and the idea of racial blackness,” according to the Daily Caller.
The class is called “Black Holes: Race and the Cosmos,” and will focus on the work of “theorists [who] use astronomy concepts like ‘black holes’ and ‘event horizons’ to interpret the history of race in creative ways.” At the same time, the class will address “artists and musicians [who] conjure blackness through cosmological themes and images.”
Despite its explicit focus on race, the class will still count towards Cornell students’ science requirement in their general education classes. According to the class’s official description on Cornell’s website, the course “will introduce students to the fundamentals of astronomy concepts through readings in Black Studies.”
The course’s introduction is the latest blow to the integrity and credibility of Cornell’s astronomy department. The university had previously announced that applicants for the astronomy graduate program will no longer have to submit their scores on the physics GRE, as minority students were more likely to get poorer grades on the exam than White students.