Black Studies

Oberlin College in Ohio to Establish the Center on Race and Inequality

President Carmen Twillie Ambar said that “this new center will ensure that Oberlin is consistently contributing to the national conversation on race. The center will bring together academic opportunities, co-curricular experiences, career programming, mentorship, community building, and civic engagement.”

New Living and Learning Community at the University of Denver to Focus on Racial Justice

The University of Denver has established a new Living and Learning Community within the School of Engineering and Computer Science that will focus on Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Ethics in Technology. Ten first-year students are living together and taking courses together.

Hettie Williams Will Be the Next Leader of the African American Intellectual History Society

Dr. Williams is an associate professor of African American history in the department of history and anthropology at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Her teaching and research interests include: African American intellectual history, gender in U.S. history, and race/ethnicity studies.

Pennsylvania State University Launches Its Center for Racial Justice

The new center will be dedicated to research and scholarship around racism and racial bias. It will be housed within the Social Science Research Institute, which aims to foster research addressing critical human and social problems.

University of Arkansas Little Rock Creates New Center Focusing on Racial Justice

The Center for Racial Justice and Criminal Justice Reform's stated mission is to advance legal equity, access to justice, and fairness in Arkansas and the region. In addition, the Center will focus on specific criminal justice research projects while offering workshops and educational events for the legal community and the community as a whole.

Indiana University Acquires the Archives of African Filmmaker Paulin Vieyra

The Indiana University Black Film Center/Archive has acquired the papers of Paulin Vieyra, the first French-speaking sub-Saharan African to direct a film. Vieyra was born in 1925 in Benin and grew up in Senegal and was educated in Paris. In 1955, he directed the film Afrique sur Seine.

Black Studies at Georgia State University Transitions to Africana Studies

The department of African-American studies at Georgia State University has been renamed the department of Africana studies, reflecting a global approach to teaching and research in the department, as well as national trends in academia, according to the university.

University of Colorado Establishes the Center for African and African American Studies

The center will support teaching, research, and creative work on the history, culture, and struggles of people of African descent and provide a platform to build on the work of the more than 25 CU Boulder faculty members already making contributions to African and African American studies. Professor Reiland Rabaka will direct the new center.

Saint Louis University to Elevate African American Studies to Departmental Status

In the 1970s, Saint Louis University began offering its first African-American studies classes. Now a half-century later, the African American studies program will finally become an academic department.

Africana Studies Becomes an Academic Department at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine

The African studies program at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, was established more than a half century ago. Now for the first time, it will be an academic department at the college.

Consortium of Prestigious Academic Institutions to Collaborate on SlaveVoyages.org

Emory University in Atlanta will now bring in a group of partners to help it maintain and enhance its SlaveVoyages.org project. The website documents nearly 50,000 transatlantic passages of slave ships between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Stanford Moves to Establish African and African American Studies as an Academic Department

Persis Drell, provost at Stanford who favors the proposal, noted that it will not be until next year that the faculty who want to move to the department will develop a proposal that will be reviewed by the dean, advisory board, and, ultimately, the board of trustees, which must approve a new department.

Four Houston-Area Universities Form a Black Studies Consortium

Two historically Black educational institutions - Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University - have partnered with Rice University and the University of Houston to form the Southeastern Texas African and African American Studies Consortium.

Louisiana State University Elevates Black Studies to Departmental Status

A decades-long movement at the university to create an independent Black studies department regained steam over the summer amid the resurgence of civil rights protests across the country.

University of North Florida to Offer a Major in Africana Studies

The new Africana studies program will be a interdisciplinary major in the College of Arts and Sciences. Students will be able to choose from concentrations including history, arts and culture, gender and sexuality, health, education as well as race and the environment.

Utica College in New York to Debut an Africana Studies Program

The program has been developed to provide many perspectives and address four pillars of education, including Africa and sub-Saharan Africa; African diaspora in the United States; North Africa and Islamic histories in Africa; and Afro-Latinx experiences.

The New Director of African and African American Studies at the University of Arkansas

Caree A. Banton is an associate professor of African diaspora history, who is jointly appointed in the department of history and the African American studies program. She teaches classes in Afro-Caribbean history, African diaspora history, and race. She joined the faculty at the university in 2013.

California State University, Fullerton Establishes the Institute for Black Intellectual Innovation

A primary goal during the first five years is to support the recruitment and retention of high-quality and diverse faculty and staff. The institute aims to develop a regional journal that centers on issues related to history, arts, culture, and contemporary affairs of Black people in California.

New Black Women’s Leadership Program Launched at Alverno College In Milwaukee

The Thea Bowman Institute for Excellence and Leadership, a program designed to serve Black women through academic leadership programming. The institute is named for a Franciscan, Catholic sister, teacher, and scholar educated in Wisconsin who made significant contributions to the church's ministry to Blacks.

University of Missouri-Kansas City Revamps Its Black Studies Offerings

The University of Missouri-Kansas City announced it is combining its Black studies, Latin American studies, and women's studies programs into a new academic department: The new Race, Ethnic, and Gender/Sexuality department.

Get the FREE JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News