PHILADELPHIA
Penn State recently opened its newly created Center for Africana Studies, which the university describes as a space for the critical examination of the cultural, social, political, economic and historical experiences of the African Diaspora.
“The center is a mecca for research projects, fellowships for emerging and established scholars, publications, conferences and working groups,” says Dr. Tukufu Zuberi, the center’s director and sociology professor.
The new facility merges the university’s Afro-American Studies Program and the Center for the Study of Black Literature and Culture, but will continue to “promulgate the mission of the Afro-American studies program by offering a major and minor in African American Studies, and producing cutting-edge programming that includes public conferences, lectures, book talks and forums,” Zuberi says.
The university’s Afro-American Studies Program was founded in 1972 in response to the national movement by college students across the nation to add courses exploring Black history, literature and culture to their school’s curricula. It is one of the nation’s oldest research programs dedicated to the study of Africa and the African Diaspora.
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