Harvard University, the hallowed halls of higher learning, is apparently now offering courses that sound more like a New Age retreat than an academic pursuit. The prestigious institution, known for educating future leaders and the once and future elites of America, has a course titled “The Aquatic, Arboreal, and Atmospheric Life of Blackness.” For those of you scratching your heads, let’s dive into what this course purportedly covers.

According to the course description, students will explore how black people “connect” with water, trees, and climate. Who knew that Harvard was equipped with such a profound understanding of how nature and race intersect? This course is tucked away in the Divinity School, where students are encouraged to ponder the intersection of Black ecologies and Black religion. It’s all about fostering anarchist and liberative practices. Because when you think Harvard Divinity, you clearly think anarchism.

Harvard has a course about what it is like to be a Black person underwater, in a tree, or in the sky: pic.twitter.com/4rHrOHPkmD

— Roman Helmet Guy (@romanhelmetguy) February 13, 2026

The course promises to challenge prevailing understandings of environmental concepts like climate change and extraction. But one has to wonder, who exactly are these prevailing understandings prevailing over? One might suspect it’s the common-sense understanding that $60,000 a year in tuition should be spent on courses that prepare students for real-world challenges rather than turning them into tree whisperers.

Speaking of tuition, Harvard’s price tag is nearly $60,000 a year, unless your family income is less than $200,000, in which case you might score a free ride. It’s an offer that almost sounds too good to be true – until you realize that what you’re getting might be a highly expensive lesson in the philosophy of forestry and aquatic meditation.

The course, which grants four whole credits, is not the first time Harvard’s Divinity School has dipped its toes into the waters of racial and religious intersectionality. Back in 2021, the school published an article on the “Dharma of Racial Justice,” which claimed that Buddhism’s practices can be related to racial justice work. It’s enlightening to know that centuries-old religious practices have been waiting all this time to be co-opted for modern social justice causes.

What’s particularly eyebrow-raising is the lack of response from Harvard when approached for comment. Perhaps they were too busy deciphering the deeper meaning of a leaf falling from a tree or the spiritual symbolism of a raindrop. Or maybe they’re just as stumped as the rest of us about how this course made it to the curriculum.

People on X had some very colorful commentary about Harvard’s latest DEI class:

Have you been black in a tree?
Have you been black in the sea?
Have you been black in the sky?
Come take my course and don’t ask why! https://t.co/lIMWCj9w10 pic.twitter.com/wxSPdZX2n9

— Aelfred The Great (@aelfred_D) February 13, 2026

In the broader context of higher education, this course is a prime example of what critics might call the “woke” agenda infiltrating academic spaces. It’s a symptom of the ongoing struggle within universities to balance educational integrity with the latest trend in social justice. Meanwhile, parents and students who voted for President Trump and other Republicans are likely wondering why their hard-earned dollars are being spent on courses that seem more about indoctrination than education.

As we approach the midterm elections, it’s vital for voters to consider the direction of educational policies and the impact of such courses on young minds. Will our future leaders be well-versed in the complexities of geopolitics and economics, or will they emerge from college as experts in the metaphysical relationship between race and the environment? It’s a question worth asking, especially when the stakes are this high and the tuition bills are even higher.