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In August, Jehlia Andrew-Brown, a fourth-year student in our program, began her independent research as an Alexander Grass Scholar in collaboration with the Matheson History Museum, under the supervision of Dr. TehQuin Forbes.
In November, she presented her preliminary findings, “Black Gainesville: The City that Rallied Around Black People Living with HIV/AIDS.” During this time, Jehlia was also selected to be one of the nine African American studies students to join the AFAM Mellon Scholars Program.
Jehlia rounded out the fall semester on the Dean’s List before travelling to San Juan in January to present on Black political identity in France at the Southern Political Science Association meeting or annual conference?.
African American studies would like to congratulate Sophia Williams who was awarded the 2025 Terry Kershaw Undergraduate Student Essay Contest for her paper, “From Colonial Injustice to Contemporary Challenges: Unraveling the Complex Narratives of Beauty, Body Image, and Anti-Blackness among African American Women.”
Sophia is a 2023-2024 AFAM Mellon Scholar and AFAM honors student with a double major in African American studies and sociology.
Field Trip:
Dr. Barnes took her “Black in Florida” class (Spring 2025) on a Field Trip to the Historic Haile Homestead and the Gainesville Pleasant Street Historic District, led by Ms. Terri Bailey and Mr. Turbado Marabou . The Pleasant Street Historic District is the city’s oldest, most intact, comprehensive, African American neighborhood.
Student Involved Conference:
American Anthropological Association. November 21 2024, Tampa, FL. “Zora Neale Hurston’s Praxis in the University of Florida Classroom”
