Africana Studies

Majoring in Africana Studies

Africana Studies represents a tradition of intellectual inquiry born from the Black freedom struggle and is thus fundamentally concerned with issues of slavery, colonialism, racism, and shifting notions of Blackness. It is a dynamic field at ÌÇĞÄTV that employs an interdisciplinary and transnational approach to cultural production & expression, historical investigation, and social & structural analysis in order to examine and understand the universal and particular experiences of Black people in Africa and throughout the African diaspora. The program strives to highlight a multiplicity of experiences using an intersectional lens that explores the connections between race, ethnicity, nation, class, gender, and sexuality.

Today what is called Africana Studies at ÌÇĞÄTV owes its existence to student activism on campus. In 1968, ÌÇĞÄTV students formed the Afro-American Society, proposed courses that focus on Black history and culture that were offered beginning in 1969-70, and in 1969 helped organize the vanguard Conference on Black Womanhood. The curriculum has been redesigned over the decades and now includes courses that center the experiences of peoples in Africa or in the African diaspora that are offered across a wide range of centers, departments, and programs. A minor in African (not Africana) Studies was first offered during the 1989-1990 academic year; when the major was established during the 1992-1993 academic year the program was changed to Africana Studies.

The major and minor in Africana Studies are grounded in a core course that introduces students to the history of ideas and topics central to the development of Africana and Black Studies and which presents a contemporary landscape of the field. The rest of the major and minor are completed by taking elective courses housed in a variety of departments â€” e.g. Anthropology, Art History, Dance, Economics, Education, English, Film Studies, French and Francophone Studies, Gender Sexuality and Intersectionality Studies, German Studies, Government and International Relations, Hispanic Studies, History, Human Development, Music, Philosophy, and Sociology â€” that are taught by faculty affiliated with the program.

The Africana Studies program is led by a program director and a steering committee of five faculty.

For more information, please email Shani Collins, Director of the Africana Studies Program: scollin2@conncoll.edu

Learn more about ÌÇĞÄTVections, ÌÇĞÄTV's innovative new curriculum.

A Glimpse at Africana Studies

Courses You Could Take

People You Might Work With

Sunil Bhatia

Lucy Marsh Haskell '19 Professor of Human Development, Chair of the Department of Human Development

Professor Sunil Bhatia is a globally recognized professor specializing in psychology and human development, particularly in cultural psychology, race, and identity formation. His research encompasses narrative psychology, racism, migration, and globalization, focusing on how cultural contexts shape psychological growth. He frequently explores the interplay of culture, identity, and human development within diverse sociocultural settings. Bhatia teaches courses including “Globalization and Cultural Identity,” "Media, Self, and Society,” "Qualitative Inquiry and Ethnographic Methods,” and “Language, Narrative, and Self."

Tristan Anne Borer

Professor of Government and International Relations, Chair of Government and International Relations Department, SATA Ireland, Spring 2019

Tristan Borer’s current research focuses on issues surrounding Western media portrayals of distant human rights abuses, especially those on the African continent. Prior to this, her research focused on human rights in both apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. Specifically, she has written extensively on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and gendered dimensions of transitional justice mechanisms

Kendell Coker

Associate Professor of Psychology

Kendell L. Coker is a clinical psychologist with a specialization in forensic psychology and an attorney. His primary research interests include the study of trauma, substance use, juvenile delinquency, and aggression/violence (e.g., community violence, interpersonal violence, group conflict). His research also explores racial and health-related disparities in the criminal justice system and the contributing impact of systemic bias/discrimination. These research areas tend to naturally intersect. It is not uncommon for trauma and substance use to co-occur among individuals and serve as risk factors for violence and criminal justice involvement. He emphasizes that we also cannot ignore the role of deeply rooted societal bias and discrimination as causal factors in multiple negative outcomes among minoritized populations.

Shani Collins

Professor of Dance, Director of Africana Studies

Shani Collins Achille first stepped foot on ÌÇĞÄTV’s campus as a performer in the OnStage performance series in Palmer Auditorium. She joined ÌÇĞÄTV in 2009 and now, with profound gratitude, shares her work with this community as she continues to experience teaching/learning, building history, and culture through dance.

Hubert Cook

Assistant Professor of English

Hubert Cook's research focuses on affect, emotion, and performativity in late nineteenth and early twentieth century African American and Caribbean literature.

Simon D. Feldman

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Simon Feldman regularly teaches Introduction to Philosophy, Ethics, Feminist Philosophy, Philosophy of Law and The Self. He recently developed two new courses, Philosophy of Race and Racism and a First-Year Seminar on The Meaning of Life. All of these courses explore questions about the relationship between the self and the larger community of persons and inquire into the ways in which our self-understandings and our affinities for others shape and reflect our values.

Leo J. Garofalo

Virginia Eason Weinmann '51 Professor of History, Social Justice and Sustainability Pathway Coordinator

Leo Garofalo teaches a first-year seminar: Castro, Che Guevara and Fifty Years of the Cuban Revolution, Introduction to Latin American and Caribbean History, Modern Latin American History: Nation and the Poverty of Progress, Rebellion and Revolutions in Latin America: Tupac Amaru to Subcomandante Marcos, History of Gender in Mexico and the Andes, Migration and Immigration in Latin America, and "Race" in Colonial Latin America.

Aida Heredia

Professor of Hispanic Studies

Professor Heredia’s teaching and research interests include Latin American and Caribbean literary and cultural production, Caribbean intellectual history, Haitian visual arts and literature, the Haitian Revolution, comparative postcolonial studies in light of ancestral communities in Latin America, and the African Diaspora. She has authored three books, De la recta a las cajas chinas: la poesía de José Kozer, La representación del haitiano en las letras dominicanas, Providential Narrative en la isla de Santo Domingo. She has published scholarly articles that explore the philosophical, historical and literary interpretations of colonial plantations in the Americas. In addition, her written work examines the interplay between history, legal systems and spiritual conscience anchored in social justice.

Nancy Lewandowski

Academic Department Assistant

nflew@conncoll.edu

Rosemarie Roberts

Dayton Professor of Dance, Chair of the Department of Dance, Bodies/Embodiment Pathway Coordinator

Rosemarie A. Roberts is a dance studies scholar, dancer and educator. Her artistic and scholarly work blend history, dance and theater in order to conduct social psychological and anthropological investigations of Afro-diasporic dance as embodiments of difference, knowledge and resistive power. Professor Roberts is an interpreter of traditional and folkloric Cuban, Haitian, Puerto Rican and Brazilian dance forms. In the Katherine Dunham tradition, dance is a forum for investigating the historical, cultural and spiritual richness of these forms.

Christopher B. Steiner

Lucy C. McDannel '22 Professor of Art History and Anthropology, Director of Museum Studies Certificate Program

Christopher Steiner teaches a range of interdisciplinary courses in art history, anthropology, and museum studies. His classes cover topics on the traditional and contemporary arts of Africa; on the visual representation of race and ethnic identity in art and film; on the history of museums, as well as on current museum controversies; on kitsch or "bad" art emerging from the margins, cracks and corners of the canonical art world; and on the history and practice of studio and vernacular photography.

Shakita Thomas Kpetay

Assistant Professor of Education and Africana Studies

A native of Chicago, Illinois, by way of Mississippi, my research and teaching broadly focus on culture, power, education, particularly, urban school closures, Black education, Black intellectualism, and Black identity. In my research I examine how the political economy continues to impact the education of African American communities. I ask the following questions: 1) What are the educational experiences of African American communities and 2) How do they make sense of their educational experiences? To answer these questions, I engage in interdisciplinary conceptual frameworks and methodologies, including critical, cultural, Black feminist theories, oral history, historiography, and ethnography. To name a few, I have drawn on the work of Eve Ewing, Pauline Lipman, Rose Brewer, Cedric Robinson, Robin D.G. Kelley, W.E.B Du Bois, Carter G. Woodson, bell hooks, Cynthia Dillard, Christina Sharpe, and Shauna Sweeney to document, explicate, critique, and reimagine the education of African American communities, the work of educators, and the role of critical ethnic studies in the work of educating all students.

Why Africana Studies?

Student Interview

Shameesha Pryor

Student Interview

Q: What drew you to Africana Studies?

A: I was excited about being involved in my history, learning about the cultural values of African Americans and other groups in a way that did not seem uncomfortable. I took "African American History" with Professor David Canton and loved the course. He also taught "Introduction to Africana Studies" and it opened my eyes to so much. It was my most rewarding course, heavy on history and heavy on reality. I learned so many things that made me angry, but also enlightened and uplifted.

Q: Why ÌÇĞÄTV?

A: I came to ÌÇĞÄTV because I wanted a different college story than my peers. I grew up on Chicago's South Side and experienced various tough encounters, but I believed in the power of education and was determined to attend college. I competed in a competition conducted by The Posse Foundation, a foundation that sponsors student leaders and encourages them to attend liberal arts institutions. Only four percent of nominees actually win a Posse Foundation Scholarship and I was one of the few selected by administrators, deans and leaders at ÌÇĞÄTV to become a scholarly Camel.

Q: What kind of research have you done?

A: My latest research project was "Performance for Justice." With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, I conducted research about the importance of community involvement and youth advocacy at Young Chicago Authors, a nonprofit supporting talented young people who are passionate about writing, performing and advocating for community change.

People You Might Work With

Sunil Bhatia, Lucy Marsh Haskell '19 Professor of Human Development

B.A., M.A., University of Pune, India; M.Ed., Ph.D., Clark University

Identity Formation In Global, Local and Transnational Cultural Practices; Cultural psychology and narrative theory; Ethnography and qualitative methods

Tristan Anne Borer, Professor of Government and International Relations

B.A., University of Texas at San Antonio; M.A., Ph.D., University of Notre Dame

Human rights; Human rights and the media; Transitional justice

Kendell Coker, Associate Professor of Psychology

B.A., Macalester College; Ph.D., Nova Southeastern University , J.D., Loyola University Chicago School of Law

Community/Gun Violence; Trauma; Criminal/Juvenile Justice

Shani Collins, Professor of Dance

B.A., Hollins University; M.F.A., Hollins University/American Dance Festival

Dance theory and composition; West African dance and folklore; Somatic practices

Hubert Cook, Assistant Professor of English

B.A., Carleton College; M.A., Ph.D., Vanderbilt University

Black studies; African American and Caribbean literature and culture; Black sentience

Simon D. Feldman, Associate Professor of Philosophy

B.A., Ph.D., Brown University

Ethics; Moral psychology; Feminist philosophy

Leo J. Garofalo, Virginia Eason Weinmann '51 Professor of History

B.A., Brown University in History, Hispanic Studies; M.A., Boston College, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin at Madison

Latin American and Caribbean history; The history of race and ethnicity; African diaspora and Afro-Latin America

Aida Heredia, Professor of Hispanic Studies

B.A., Queens College; M.A., Ph.D., SUNY, Buffalo

Latin American literature and culture; Caribbean literature and culture; Critical theory

Nancy Lewandowski, Academic Department Assistant

American Studies Program, Anthropology, Economics, Hispanic Studies, History, Sociology

Rosemarie Roberts, Dayton Professor of Dance

B.A., Hunter College; Enroute Master's Degree, Queens College, City University of New York, Ph.D., Graduate Center, City University of New York

Body, knowledge, power and difference; Dance studies; Intersection of arts and social justice in education

Christopher B. Steiner, Lucy C. McDannel '22 Professor of Art History and Anthropology

B.A., M.A., Johns Hopkins University; M.A., Ph.D., Harvard University

History of Photography; African Art; Offbeat Museums and Visionary Art

Shakita Thomas Kpetay, Assistant Professor of Education and Africana Studies

B.A., Sociology and Anthropology, Concentration: Educational Studies, Carleton College; M.A., Education Leadership and Administration, Certificate: Public Policy, University of Saint Thomas, Ph.D., Education, Curriculum, and Instruction: Culture and Teaching, University of Minnesota

Black Intellectual Thought; Culture Power and Education; Education Policy

ÌÇĞÄTV

Majoring in Africana Studies

Majoring in Africana Studies

A Glimpse at Africana Studies

Courses You Could Take

People You Might Work With

Sunil Bhatia

Tristan Anne Borer

Kendell Coker

Shani Collins

Hubert Cook

Simon D. Feldman

Leo J. Garofalo

Aida Heredia

Nancy Lewandowski

Rosemarie Roberts

Christopher B. Steiner

Shakita Thomas Kpetay

Why Africana Studies?

Student Interview

Shameesha Pryor

Student Interview

Q: What drew you to Africana Studies?

Q: Why ÌÇĞÄTV?

Q: What kind of research have you done?

Courses You Could Take

People You Might Work With

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