The Africana Studies program is a new minor that was approved by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and introduced to Alfred University in 2020. It was co-founded by Dr. Brian Saltsman, who was the former director of the ICU, and Dr. Mallory Szymanski. This is a program that is a response within the gap of other academic programs as this program calls for students some with diverse backgrounds and others who want to find different stories than the ones students are so often told in traditional textbooks. This minor examines Black, African, and African diasporic people and their ideas, creativity, and academics. This minor look at how these Individuals and communities have touched almost every aspect of life and are at the core of various disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A student who has graduated with this minor Adeye Jean-Baptiste founded the Black Glass Artist Series which has been introduced on campus and she used her work within her Africana studies to build this program that remains even after her graduation and is highly promoted on campus. While this minor is new the possibilities are endless where it can take students; it has already left a legacy on campus as seen through the Black Glass Artist Series. Interested students can sign up by contacting Dr. Szymanski and completing a declaration form. While the course rotates each semester it is also flexible. Since this program is fairly new there are always suggestions and changes that are encouraged especially by students who want to help see this program flourish with this being said other faculty would like to hear more courses that relate to this minor as they might introduce these courses within their disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the courses that was just added per student\u2019s request was African American history which reclaims and sheds light on the voices of African Americans throughout history and challenges traditional textbooks that seem to only share one narrative of American history. All are encouraged to reach out to Dr. Szymanski whether that be a student, faculty member, or staff. This is a wonderful program that draws attention to the needs of so many underrepresented and silenced voices within the world. This program helps explore the African community from Africa to America and over a wide range of areas. Dr. Szymanski has done a wonderful job with this program within the brief time that it has been on campus. Her dedication to students and to this program is unwavering and we need more educators committed to keeping conversations about diversity and the human experience and stories going. Help Dr. Szymanski grow this program and keep diversity alive and thriving on campus, especially within academics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fall 2024 Courses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dance 227 African Dance<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HIST 232 African Kingdoms<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HIST 330 Southern Africa: Between Mandel and Mugabe<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Contact Information: Dr. Szymanski (szymanski@alfred.edu)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Africana Studies program is a new minor that was approved by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and introduced to Alfred University in 2020. It was co-founded by Dr. Brian Saltsman, who was the former director of the ICU, and Dr. Mallory Szymanski. This is a program that is a response within the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-wide.php","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"apple_news_channel":"primary","apple_news_api_id_2":"","apple_news_api_created_at_2":"","apple_news_api_modified_at_2":"","apple_news_api_revision_2":"","apple_news_api_share_url_2":"","apple_news_sections_2":[],"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"Written by Sophia Carter, an informational article about the Africana Studies minor","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[121],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiat-lux-features-stories","category-_newspack_news","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n