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Main Image for Africana Studies

Africana Studies

Donna Ford Grover,  visiting associate professor of literature and American studies. Photo by Chris Kayden
Africana Menu
Apply Now!
The Africana Studies Concentration
is an interdisciplinary program that examines the cultures, histories, and politics of African peoples on the African continent and throughout the African diaspora. The Africana Studies concentration teaches students to use diverse historical, political, ethnographic, artistic, and literary forms of analysis. Through these interdisciplinary studies, students trace the historical and cultural connections between Africa and the rest of the world, and explore their importance for African peoples and the nature of modern global society.

About the Program

  • Requirements
    Concentration in Africana Studies must be combined with a major in a traditional disciplinary program. Ideally, a student moderates simultaneously in Africana Studies and the disciplinary program. Before Moderation, a student is expected to take at least three Africana Studies courses or Africana Studies cross-listed courses, including the core course, Africana Studies 101, Introduction to Africana Studies, or the equivalent. To graduate, the student must take two additional Africana Studies or cross-listed courses, including one 300-level seminar. The Moderation and Senior Project boards should each include one Africana Studies core faculty member.
  • Faculty

    Director:
    John Ryle

    Susan Aberth
    Myra Young Armstead
    Thurman Barker
    Christian Crouch
    Tabetha Ewing
    Nuruddin Farah
    Donna Ford Grover
    Kwame Holmes
    A. Sayeeda Moreno
    Dina Ramadan
    Peter Rosenblum
    Yuka Suzuki
    Drew Thompson (On leave)
    Wendy Urban-Mead

Courses

Each semester Bard offers a selection of Africana Studies courses and a series of courses cross-listed from related programs. Follow the link below to view the courses being offered this semester.

View the Current Courses

Senior Projects

Complete versions of Africana Studies Senior Projects available at the library’s Digital Commons linked below.

Go to Digital Commons

Reflecting on the Moment

Conversations on Racial Equity and Justice

Drew Thompson, Assistant Professor of Africana and Historical Studies and Director of Africana Studies, and Dariel Vasquez ’17, cofounder and codirector of [email protected] and [email protected], speak about the role of mentorship and the university in the wake of the global pandemic and police brutality.

Events Archive

2023
  
2022
  
2021
  
2020
  
View Full Archive


2020 Past Events

  • Friday, October 23, 2020 
    Community Care Friday Event!
    Campus Center Lawn & Kappa Tent  12:30 pm – 8:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
    Join us as we celebrate and uplift our Black Queens. As part of the Community Care Friday series, we are holding space specifically and intentionally for our Black Bardian Queens on Friday, October 23

    12:00 pm - Care bags with popcorn, candy, drink, an item from a black-owned business (to be picked up during Fluff n' Stuff) at Campus Center Quad

    5:00 pm - Care bags pickup outside Kappa Tent

    6:30 pm - Watch Party: Nappily Ever After w/a discussion to follow, hosted by Black Women of Color Staff Members
    Watch Trailer
    Join via Zoom Password: queen

  • Monday, October 19, 2020 
    Dr. Oludamini Ogunnaike
    Online Event  6:00 pm – 7:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
    In the late 1990s, a new genre of Sufi art began to emerge in Dakar, Senegal: the Sufi music video. Drawing on the local traditions of Arabic, Wolof, and Pulaar Sufi poetry, local praise-poetry traditions, as well as local and global genres of music video (especially hip-hop and reggae videos), these music videos have become one of the most popular forms of expression of Sufism amongst youth in Senegal. Many disciples have begun to use these music videos as a form of spiritual practice, deliberately watching and singing along with them as a means of cultivating a particular state of remembrance (dhikr), much as Arabic Sufi poetry was and is used to express and cultivate similar states of spiritual realization. In this talk, I  present and analyze two of the most popular contemporary Sufi music videos, which the disciples of Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse (d. 1975) brought to my attention during my research in Dakar in 2014. I will analyze the lyrics and the significant visual symbolism of the two videos, explaining and exploring their extensive references to classical and local Sufi doctrines and poetry, local praise-poetry traditions, and hip-hop and reggae, concluding with a theoretical discussion of the ways in which these videos perform, not only particular African Muslim identities but also spiritual realization and sanctity.

    Oludamini Ogunnaike is an Assistant Professor of African Religious Thought and Democracy in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. His research examines the philosophical and artistic dimensions of postcolonial, colonial, and precolonial Islamic and indigenous religious traditions of West and North Africa, especially Sufism and Ifa. His research falls into two general areas: the intellectual history and literary studies of the Islamic and indigenous traditions of West Africa (redressing the general neglect of Sub-Saharan Africa as an important center of Islamic scholarship and literary production and the neglect of the intellectual dimensions of indigenous African religious traditions), and employing the insights and ideas from these traditions to contribute to contemporary philosophical debates relevant to a variety of disciplines.Join via Zoom
    Meeting ID: 959 2998 3725 / Passcode: 357393

  • Friday, October 16, 2020 
    Online Event  12:00 pm – 2:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
    This talk is copresented with the Africana Studies Program and Film and Electronic Arts Program.

    Registration is required in advance. To receive the Zoom link, please register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/speaker-series-jacolby-satterwhite-registration-121246424319

    Each semester, CCS Bard hosts a program of lectures by leading artists, curators, art historians, and critics, situating the school and museum’s concerns within the larger context of contemporary art production and discourse. Lectures are open to students and faculty, as well as to the general public, and will also be documented through video and/or audio recordings, which will reside in the CCS Bard Library and Archives.

  • Friday, October 2, 2020 
    Mastering the Interview
    Online Event  12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
    The Bard Globalization and International Affairs program will be hosting a professional development series so that you can learn more about the program and get a glimpse of what we offer. Brush up on your cover letter and resume writing and get updated tips on interviewing amid the time of Covid-19. Click on the Event Brite link to sign up and learn more. 

  • Thursday, October 1, 2020 
    Cutting-edge cover letters
    Online Event  4:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
    Sign up on EventBrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bgia-professional-development-info-sessions-tickets-121414240261

    The Bard Globalization and International Affairs program will be hosting a professional development series so that you can learn more about the program and get a glimpse of what we offer. Brush up on your cover letter and resume writing and get updated tips on interviewing amid the time of Covid-19. Click on the Event Brite link to sign up and learn more. 

  • Tuesday, September 29, 2020 
    Resume writing
    Online Event  10:00 am – 11:00 am EDT/GMT-4
    The Bard Globalization and International Affairs program will be hosting a professional development series so that you can learn more about the program and get a glimpse of what we offer. Brush up on your cover letter and resume writing and get updated tips on interviewing amid the time of Covid-19. Click on the Event Brite link to sign up and learn more. 

  • Thursday, May 21, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Wednesday, May 20, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Tuesday, May 19, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Monday, May 18, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Sunday, May 17, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Saturday, May 16, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Friday, May 15, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Thursday, May 14, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Wednesday, May 13, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Tuesday, May 12, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Monday, May 11, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Sunday, May 10, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Saturday, May 9, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Friday, May 8, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Thursday, May 7, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Wednesday, May 6, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Tuesday, May 5, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Monday, May 4, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Sunday, May 3, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Saturday, May 2, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Friday, May 1, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Thursday, April 30, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Wednesday, April 29, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Tuesday, April 28, 2020 
    Get Learning Commons Tutoring in all Bard subjects, ESL, college writing, learning strategies, and more ...
    Online  Contact us to set up one-on-one online peer tutoring sessions. 

  • Thursday, March 19, 2020 
    Chapel of the Holy Innocents  7:00 pm – 8:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
    A song recital featuring art songs and spirituals by 12 brilliant American composers. Singers Meroe Khalia Adeeb, Taylor-Alexis Dupont, and Elliott Paige along with pianist Michael Lewis will perform the music of H. Leslie Adams, Margaret Bonds, John Carter, Jacqueline Hairston, Colin Lett, Charles Lloyd Jr., Undine Smith Moore, Robert Owens, Florence Price, William Grant Still, and Julius P. Williams.

    This event is cosponsored by the Bard College Chaplaincy and the Bard College Gospel Choir.

  • Wednesday, March 11, 2020 
    Sarah Rogers, Middlebury College 
    Olin, Room 102  6:00 pm – 7:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
    At the 1964 Salon d'Automne, held at Beirut's Sursock Museum, Paris-based Lebanese artist Shafic Abboud (1926-2004) received first prize for his abstract painting, Child's Play. The result was a fraught debate in the Lebanese press over the public's ability to understand modern abstract art and, in turn, abstraction's relevance towards defining a national Lebanese art. This talk considers 1964 as a key year in which several of Lebanon's leading artists expressed a dedication to abstraction as a truly modern language. Focusing on a series of exhibitions, manifestos, and critical press reviews, the talk examines the fiercely debated universalist assumptions of abstraction within the competing ideologies and political alliances of the Cold War and growing concerns over Lebanese nationalism.
     Sarah Rogers is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Dept of History of Art and Architecture at Middlebury College and a founding board member and president-elect of AMCA: Association for Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World, Iran, and Turkey. She is co-editor of Arab Art Histories: Art from the Khalid Shoman Collection (2013) and co-editor of Modern Art in the Arab World: Primary Documents (2018). Her current manuscript, Drawing Alliances: Modern Art in Cold War Beirut examines the entangled histories of modern art and international politics in Beirut during the decades of the 1950s and 60s.

  • Monday, March 9, 2020 
    Study Away in NYC! Experience International Affairs First-Hand
    Reem-Kayden Center Laszlo Z. Bito '60 Auditorium  5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
    Meet with BGIA Director Elmira Bayrasli and Associate Dean of Civic Engagement and Director of Strategic Partnerships Brian Mateo for an overview about the program based in NYC, including:

    - BGIA faculty and course offerings
    - Internships and student projects
    - Our dorms in NYC
    - How to apply to BGIA
    - Q&A

  • Tuesday, February 18, 2020 
    Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Library  4:00 pm – 5:30 pm EST/GMT-5
    Please join us for the opening reception on Tuesday, February 18, 4:00-5:30pm, Library Lobby. Exhibition on view through March 30.

    Abolition/Resistance offers a chance to view rare and extraordinary works on slavery and racial oppression: first editions of the Narratives of Douglass, Ball, and Equiano, Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia, stunning images from William Still’s Underground Rail Road. This exhibit also includes works by women abolitionists, Stowe, Child, and Grimké along with Black Power movement luminaries: Eldridge Cleaver, Amiri Baraka, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Curated by Kristin Waters '73.

  • Tuesday, February 18, 2020 – Monday, March 30, 2020 
    Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Library  Abolition/Resistance offers a chance to view rare and extraordinary works on slavery and racial oppression: first editions of the Narratives of Douglass, Ball, and Equiano, Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia, stunning images from William Still’s Underground Rail Road. This exhibit also includes works by women abolitionists, Stowe, Child, and Grimké along with Black Power movement luminaries: Eldridge Cleaver, Amiri Baraka, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Curated by Kristin Waters '73.

    Please join us for the opening reception on Tuesday, February 18, 4:00-5:30pm, Library Lobby

  • Tuesday, February 4, 2020 
    Olin Hall  6:00 pm – 8:00 pm EST/GMT-5
    A discussion about creative processes and commitments to the humanities that seeks to diversify perspectives on the arts disciplines and offers models for collective and inclusive community dialogues. 

  • Wednesday, January 29, 2020 
      Ottaway Theater  7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EST/GMT-5

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