Dr. Alyssa P. Cole named 2024 Alyce Hunley Whayne Visiting Researcher
The African American Studies program would like to congratulate Dr. Alyssa P. Cole, winner of the 2024 Alyce Hunley Whayne Visiting Researcher Award. The award facilitates research and use of the University of Kansas Library collections. Dr. Cole will use the award this summer to research Black hospitals in Kansas City during the early 20th […]
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Congratulations to Dr. Drew Brown
The African American Studies program would like to congratulate Dr. Drew Brown, recipient of the the University of Florida’s Humanities Scholarship Enrichment Fund (HSEF). The HSEF awards supports new research activity that is competitive for National Endowment for the Humanities funding.
African American Studies student named 2024-2025 CLAS Scholar
The African American Studies program would like to congratulate African American Studies major, Chalisa Budhai. Selected as a 2024-2025 CLAS Scholars Fellow. The CLAS Scholars Program (CSP) gives undergraduate students an opportunity to work one- on-one with a CLAS faculty member on a research project. Chalisa will be mentored by our own Dr. Kevin Winstead.
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Congratulations to Alumna, Allison Mitchell
UF History and African American Studies and 2016 alumnus Allison Mashell Mitchell was hired as an Assistant Professor of Civil Rights Studies in Africana and American Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Allison is a doctoral candidate in the Corcoran Department of History at the University of Virginia and will defend her dissertation in […]
AI and Democracy on the African Continent
Join us at 3 p.m. on April 4! This talk examines how artificial intelligence (AI) could empower or imperil democracy across Africa. It is the second event in the 2023-24 AI in Africa Speaker Series.
Black Strategic Mothering and the School “Choice” Marketplace
The Rutgers University Blackademics Faculty Group and Gender Studies present UF African American Studies’ Dr. Riché Barnes.
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The Real Cost of Racial Justice: Black Women Fundraisers and the Radical Organizing Tradition
Join us for the African American Studies Mellon Foundation Speaker Series featuring Dr. Tanisha C. Ford, professor of history at The Graduate Center, City University of New York on the history of Black Women’s philanthropy and organizing.
Dr. Rik Stevenson speaks at Sharon Baptist Church
Dr. Rick Stevenson, a university professor from Florida, discusses the Nubian experience and offers an Afrocentric perspective on Scripture.
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Spring Walking Tour: Black Thursday & Beyond at UF, on Feb. 29
The Brown Center for Leadership & Service, Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, and Beyond120 are partnering to host our Spring walking tour of UF historical sites centered around the April 1971 events of Black Thursday, the power of storytelling, and collective student organizing.
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The Baddie, the Book, and the Bag
On March 6, join us as the author and podcaster Sesali Bowen dives deeper into her career, including the themes of her acclaimed memoir and navigating the media industry.
Dr. Vanessa Wills: “Claudia Jones, Black Woman Workers, and the Cause(s) of Oppression”
Please join us in Ustler Hall at 4:30pm on March 21. This talk is part of the Philosophy, Race, and Justice Speaker Series.
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Alexander Grass Scholars Program
The Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere (CHPS) is pleased to announce a new funded undergraduate program for students of all majors who may wish to pursue a project in areas such as The Humanities, Public Engagement, Local Research, or Working with the UF Libraries, the Harn Museum of Art, or the Matheson Museum! Applications close February 29!
Traumatic Repercussions: Black Women Birthing and Obstetric Racism
Dr. Ronald Foreman Lecture Series presents Dr. Dána-Ain Davis, Professor of Urban Studies at Queens College. Graduate faculty in Anthropology and Psychology at the City University of New York {CUNY}, and the Director of the Center for the Study of Women and Society.
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Sharony Andrews Green, The Chase And Ruins: Zora Neale Hurston In Honduras
Join us on February 23 for a discussion of Green’s book. The book follows Hurston’s little-known anthropological expedition to excavate Mayan ruins in Honduras in the 1940s. Green will be joined by two discussants: Dr. Riché J. Daniel Barnes, Associate Professor of Anthropology, and History PhD Candidate Joe Angelillo.
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African Americans in Paris Info Session
Dr. Sharon Austin, Professor of Political Science, will hold a virtual information session about her African Americans in Paris class.
Film Screening and Discussion: Tim Story’s the Blackening
Join us for a Black Horror Halloween Affair!
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Mellon Foundation Higher Learning Grant Opportunity
The University of Florida African American Studies Mellon Scholars Program will provide 12 African American Studies major students with a high-quality experiential learning program that will help elevate their humanities knowledge, while also developing their skills in research and professional development.
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“Affirmative Action is Dead; Long Live Affirmative Action”
On September 29 at 4:00 pm in Ustler Hall, Dr. Naomi Zack will argue for the importance of higher education for minorities as an egalitarian opportunity to pursue and develop leisure.
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Faculty Discuss “The Great Debate: African American Studies in Florida” at Fall Convocation
The Florida DOE rejected the AP African American Studies curriculum because it did not present “opposing views on slavery” and in its current state violates Florida Law. In July, the DOE’s new standards state African Americans had “benefited from slavery.”
Director David Canton makes MSNBC appearance.
University of Florida Professor David Canton joins MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart to discuss AP African American Studies.
Welcoming Black Faculty to Higher Education: A Racial Justice Town Hall
The University of Florida’s Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP), in partnership with the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center and co-sponsored by African American Studies Program and UF Black Student Union, invites the public to a panel discussion.
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The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program presents a film premiere on Oscar Mack versus the Ku Klux Klan
“The Life of Oscar Mack” aims to reveal the truth and bring closure to everyone affected by this story of bravery and resilience. Descendants of Oscar Mack will be in attendance and will discuss his legacy and the importance of the film.
African American Studies Majors Present at National Conference
The African American Studies Program is proud to introduce five of our majors who presented their research at the 47th Annual National Council for Black Studies Conference (NCBS) held on March 22-25, 2023. Presenters range from a first year student to a recent graduate.
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African American Program Faculty Share at Fall Convocation
In October 2022, members of the African American Studies Program faculty shared a few words about their research, the program and the discipline with students.
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Now Is The Time! MLK And Democratic Stewardship
This lecture by Randall Maurice Jelks argues that It has always been Black citizens throughout U.S. history who have been the some of the country’s staunchest stewards of democracy in resisting oligarchical conceits.
Coming Spring 2023: Race, Inequality, and Urban Education and Housing Policy
In the United States of America, a child’s address, more than any other factor, often determines what kind of public education he or she will receive.
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Black Horror Halloween Affair
This event will feature a film screening of Nope(2022), directed, written and co-produced by Jordan Peele. Discussion of the film’s themes and its relevance to the Black experience and Black history to follow. Food will be served.
Black Table Talk: “Black Women and the Politics of Survival”
For the inaugural Black Table Talk, Dr. Riché J. Daniel Barnes will discuss her current conceptual book project.
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“7 First Words of the Semester”: African American Studies Program Fall Convocation
Join the African American Studies program faculty as they share a few words about their research, the program and the discipline.
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47th Annual National Council for Black Studies Conference
March 22-25, 2023
Hilton University of Florida Conference Center
Gainesville, FL
Conference Theme:
“Reparations, Resilience, and Restorative Justice:
Commemorating the Centennial of the Rosewood Massacre of 1923”
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Florida artist to memorialize UF professor and replace Confederate statue
A sculpture dedicated to a Gainesville activist and African American studies professor will replace a confederate soldier statue that used to sit downtown. George Gadson will build a Sankofa statue to commemorate Patricia Hilliard-Nunn.
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Historical Writing (& Practice) Since Black Lives Matter
A roundtable with four historians from the University of Florida, including Bill Link, David Canton, Lillian Guerra and James Gerien-Chen.
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City of Wyoming enlists Dr. Rik Stevenson in cultural competency training
In fall 2020, the City of Wyoming enlisted Dr. Rik Stevenson to engage city staff, including police and fire departments, in cultural competency training. A lecturer in African American Studies at the University of Florida, Stevenson also has Grand Rapids roots.
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Forcing Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence
Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson, Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College, will discuss the conditions that led some black abolitionists to believe slavery might only be abolished by violent force. Her research is the first to explore black abolitionists’ tactical use of violence.
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Internship Opportunity: NEH SHARP Acquisitions Intern at the University Press of Florida
Term & Hours: Spring 2022. 15–20 hours per week. $15 per hour. Deadline for Internship Applications: November 23 As the scholarly publishing arm of the State University System of Florida (SUS), the University Press of Florida (UPF) is a nonprofit publisher of scholarly and general-interest books and journals, and one of the largest university presses […]
Critical Race Theory: A Virtual Discussion
October 19 6 – 7:30 p.m. This event discusses the history and controversies associated with the teaching of critical race theory in Florida schools. Professor Mike Foley will moderate a discussion of the arguments for and against this instruction with Professors Richard Conley and Michelle Jacobs.
“Word Up”: Funk and R&B Bands and Cultural Politics of the “Old School”
This talk explores the 1990s renaissance of veteran Black bands, such as Lakeside, Parliament-Funkadelic and Zapp, who had been prominent in Black popular music more than a decade earlier.
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Golden Anniversary Commemoration of Black Thursday
This year is the 50th Anniversary of Black Thursday — a day in April 1971 when 70 students marched into President Stephen O’Connell’s office with a list of demands, including having the University address the shortage of Black faculty and students at UF.
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Africana Studies as Missed Education: From Carter Woodson to Afro Futures
In 1933, Carter Woodson’s “The Miseducation of the Negro” offered a US apartheid-era critique of how educational systems hindered Black community development.
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“Where Do We Go From Here: Racism, Public Health and Affordable Health Care”
Since W.E.B. Du Bois’ analysis of Black American life in the late 19th century, we have known that racial inequities in health are primarily socially determined. Watch it here
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First Gen Fireside Chat With Dr. Anthony Jack
A kick-off event for UF’s First-Generation Student Celebration, join Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Dr. Anthony Abraham Jack, who will discuss the challenges faced by first-generation college students at predominantly white universities.
“Taylor was a young black woman who dedicated her life to serving others and she did not deserve this.”
The African Americas Studies Program faculty at the University of Florida would like to express our disappointment with the grand jury’s decision in the Breonna Taylor case. Taylor was a young black woman who dedicated her life to serving others and she did not deserve this. She had dreams and goals like our students […]
Celebrating 50 Years of African American Studies at UF
Sankofa: Looking Back and Moving Forward The Journey Continues The Dr. Ronald C Foreman Jr. Symposium Thursday, February 20, 2020 Symposium- Watch it Here The 50th Anniversary Community Celebration Friday, February 21, 2020 Historic Marker Unveiling- Watch it Here Community Celebration-Watch it Here See photos of the Celebration Event Thank you for Celebrating 50 Years […]
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A Heavy Crown – Black Hair Politics
Amazing work by the AFA 4225 Class and the Omicron Zeta Chapter of Omega Psi Phi in their presentation of a Heavy Crown: Black Hair’s Journey throughout History.
AFA at the Home Coming Parade!
Continuing the celebration of the African American Studies Program’s 50th year at UF. The program participated in the Homing Coming Parade, a day where Gainesville schools and UF are closed for the community to come out and enjoy the afternoon.