Brown Bag Discussion, "Global Diaspora Conversations"
Dr. Masonya Bennett, Assistant Professor of Black Studies, "The Great Global North
Escape & What It Means for the Global South: Black on Black Tourism, Entrepreneurship,
and Other Transnational Exchanges in the Neoliberal African Diaspora."
In 2019, U.S-based Black American travelers spent 129.6 billion on domestic and international leisure travel, yet this demographic remains largely understudied (MMGY 2021). Ghana’s Year of Return campaign in 2019 presented a clear impetus directing Black Americans’ return to Africa with an emphasis on “roots tourism” and opportunities for economic investment as an incentive for relocation. At the same time, due to proximity, more affordable travel costs, and the realization of prominent African descendent populations outside of the US and Africa, countries such as Brazil and Colombia have become major destinations for Black American tourists and expats. My on-going research aims to (re)shift our understandings of resistance, movements, and migrations from those associated with the Transatlantic Slave Trade to those stirred by Contemporary Globalization. Further, by reconceptualizing the idea of migration as an upward trajectory from “South” to “North” to one of “North” to “South,” my work endeavors toward an interdisciplinary and comparative analysis of the ways in which sociocultural and economic exchanges premised on interactions between Black American tourists/expats and Afro-descendants in the Global South foster transnational forms of economic sustainability, resistance, and collective identity. The study also begs the question of how Black Americans potentially reify Global North socioeconomic hierarchies, intra-racially, within the Global South.
Date: November 13, 2024
Time: 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Location: ALC4103 (Academic Learning Center)
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Brown Bag Discussion, "Global Diaspora Conversations"
Dr. Barbara Combs, Chair of the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice and Professor
of Sociology, "What We can Learn from The Alabama Riverboat Brawl."
In Barbara Harris Combs’ 2022 book, Bodies Out of Place: Theorizing Anti-blackness in U.S. Society, she argues that anti-Black racism is not better than it used to be, it just takes different forms.
In this discussion, Dr. Combs will utilize her theory to unpack the August 5, 2023, Alabama Riverboat Brawl in Montgomery, Alabama a city known as both “the cradle of the confederacy” and “the “Birthplace of the civil rights movement.” In her talk, she weaves a discussion of Black resistance to continuing racial oppression and Black cultural pride amidst the backdrop of overt and covert white supremacy.
Date: October 24, 2024
Time: 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Location: ALC4103 (Academic Learning Center)
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CAS Lecture Series: "Complex Identities of the African Diaspora"
Dr. Derrick R. Brooms, Executive Director of the Black Men's Research Institute &
Professor of Africana Studies, Morehouse College, "A Meditation on Black Male Identities
and Black Masculinities"
Date: October 15, 2024
Time: 12:30pm - 1:45pm
Location: ALC1201 (Academic Learning Center)
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Symposium & Panel Discussion, "American Elections and the African Diaspora: Implications
of a Harris or Trump Presidency."
The Center for Africana Studies, led by SGIA professor Nurudeen Akinyemi, is organizing panel discussion on the potential global impact of the 2024 American presidential election, with a focus on Africa and the African diaspora. Titled “American Elections and the African Diaspora: Implications of a Harris or Trump Presidency.”
The event will feature panelists Dr. Farooq Kperogi (Professor of Communication, Ƶ),
Dr. Seneca Vaught (Professor of History, Ƶ), Dr. Carlton Usher (Associate Professor
of Interdisciplinary Studies, Ƶ), and Dr. Nurudeen Akinyemi (Director of the Center
for Africana Studies, Ƶ) as the moderator.
Date: October 8, 2024
Time: 12:30pm - 1:45pm
Location: HS2204 (Prillaman Health Sciences)
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Brown Bag Discussion, "Global Diaspora Conversations"
Dr. Seneca Vaught, Professor of History, Department of History and Philosophy, "Broadening
the Path to Student Success: Journey-Based Learning as a Holistic Model for Student
Achievement."
Date: September 24, 2024
Time: 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Location: ALC5103 (Academic Learning Center)
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CAS Lecture Series: "Complex Identities of the African Diaspora"
Dr. Luciane Rocha, “You don’t look like a Brazilian”: Reflections on Brazuca’s Racial Identities.
Brazil, known for its cultural diversity, has a complex tapestry of racial identities.
While most Brazilians identify as "pardo" or mixed-race, there are also significant
populations of self-identified Blacks, Whites, Asians, and Indigenous people. The
concept of race in Brazil is often fluid and influenced by historical and social factors
such as colonization, eugenic policies, colorism, and even gaining an advantage in
affirmative action. Many factors, including skin color, ancestry, and cultural heritage,
shape Brazilian identities. And it is even more complex when Brazilians migrate or
visit North America, Europe, or Africa. This presentation will reflect on these questions
using a socio-historical and personal account.
Date: September 19, 2024
Time: 11:00am - 12:15pm
Location: ALC2105 (Academic Learning Center)
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Symposium & Panel Discussion, "Elections, Democracy & Political Change in Africa.
Examining Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, & Kenya
Panelists:
Dr. Oumar Cherif Diop, Professor of English (Senegal) Dr. Farooq Kperogi, Professor of Communication (Nigeria) Dr. Samuel Abaidoo, Professor of Sociology (Ghana) Ms. Muthoni Mpuria-Richards, Consulting Group, KuFaaNa, (Kenya) Dr. Nurudeen Akinyemi, Director of Center for Africana Studies (Moderator) A (re)examination of the challenges, opportunities, implications, lessons learned
from and sustainability of western style democratic experiment in African countries,
and its ability to deliver economic dividends, political stability and peaceful coexistence
among Africa's very diverse societies.
Date: September 10, 2024
Time: 12:30pm - 1:45pm
Location: BB371 (Burrus Building)
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"Celebrating The Ties That Bind" Annual Cultural Festival
Join us this year as we celebrate and honor the cultural connections between Africa & the Diaspora. FREE authentic African & southern cuisine, fashion, music, dance & vendors providing a wide variety of goods & services available for purchase!
Performing this year: Soul Food Cypher, & southsidepoet. Fashion show featuring Ƶ staff & students!
Featuring DJ Rasyrious
We hope to see you there!
Date: Thursday, April 18, 2024, 11am-4pm
Location: Carmichael Student Center University Rooms
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Year of Senegal Keynote Address, Q&A, & Panel Discussion
Dr. Souleymanr Bachir Diagne, Columbia University, will present a keynote address
titled, "Senegal, a tradition of Sufism," followed by a Q&A.
Panel discussion, "Muslim Brotherhoods in Senegal" will feature, Drs. Diagne, Laura
Cochrane, Central Michigan University, and Beth Buggenhagen, Indiana University, Bloomington.
Date: Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 11am-1:00pm.
Location: Prillaman Hall, HS 2204.
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Year of Senegal Lecture Series, T.I.E.
As part of the Year of Senegal programming, and in honor of Women’s History Month, the Center for Africana Studies presents Senegalese artist, singer, poetess, songwriter and music producer, T.I.E. focusing on her research in experiential discovery questioning the function of the notion of gender in the balance of power in society, and Senegalese art and culture.
Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2024, 11am - 12:15pm.
Location: Burrus Building, BB380
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Come and join an event that will showcase an important part of the Black experience
from both historical and cultural perspectives while developing a greater sense of
awareness and understanding.
Sponsored by the French Club, the Center for Africana Studies, Engagement & Belonging,
and Black Studies.
Date: Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 7pm - 9pm.
Location: Carmichael Student Center, UV Rooms.
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Year of Senegal Black History Month Series
Join us for a discussion on the importance of ideas across disciplines & cultures
featuring:
Dasha Chapman (Dance), Kadian Callahan (Math), Trina Queen (Science, Tech, & Society),
Seneca Vaught (Black Studies), Lucie Viakinnou-Brinson (French)
Date: Tuesday, February 27, 2024, 3:30pm
Location: Social Sciences Bldg, Room 1019
Sponsored by: Black Studies Program, Global Education’s Year of Senegal, Center for Africana Studies
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Center for Africana Studies Lecture Series
Speaker: Dr. Jason Mueller, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Ƶ
Topic: "With friends like this, who needs enemies? US 'humanitarianism' in Somalia."
Date: Tuesday February 27, 2024
Time: 11:00am - 12:15pm
Location: English Building 182
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In Celebration of the Year of Senegal, this year's book club selection is "Brotherhood,"
by Senegalese writer, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
“Written with maturity and unmatched sensitivity and empathy, Brotherhood explores many aspects of life under the Islamic fundamentalist regime. This book is multilayered, told in two parallel narratives: one told through the letters of grieving mothers and second one told through the story of a group of friends who stand up to the barbarism of the Brotherhood through publishing the journal condemning the crimes of the group.
Book Club Discussion - Friday, February 16, 2024, 3:00pm - 4:30pm.
This will be a hybrid event. In-person option, ALC Bldg, Room 4201. Teams link will be sent to all participants.
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