African American Studies program celebrates 10 years at MSU
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥 The African American Studies program is celebrating a decade of service and pride at 草莓视频.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been really exciting to make an impact on students through our events and programs, and we look forward to furthering the university鈥檚 mission of fostering diversity and multiculturalism in the years to come,鈥 said Donald M. Shaffer, 草莓视频associate professor of English and African American Studies.
To kick off its yearlong celebration, the program is hosting two trailblazing figures of the 1960s African American Studies movement in higher education during the 2017 spring semester.
Taking place Monday [Jan. 23] in the university鈥檚 Colvard Student Union second-floor Bill R. Foster Ballroom, Irene Smalls鈥 and Vernon Smith鈥檚 presentations each will be moderated by Shaffer, who also is interim director of the program. A question-and-answer-session will follow both presentations.
Smalls, an award-winning author, historian and literacy entrepreneur, will present 鈥(Re)Telling Our Story: Reading and Discussion.鈥澛 A native of Harlem, New York, she holds a master鈥檚 in business administration from Cornell University. She a founding member and first president of her alma mater鈥檚 Black Alumni Association and its Wari House residence for undergraduate women of color. She initiated and directed the first sit-ins and demonstration that led to the takeover of Cornell鈥檚 Student Union, Willard Straight Hall. Smalls has penned 15 books for black children and twice has performed her stories by invitation at the White House. For more, visit .
A native of Natchez, Smith will give a presentation titled 鈥淥n Strike Shut It Down: The 1960s Call for Black Studies.鈥 He studied journalism and radio-TV-film production at San Francisco State University (formerly College), and was a member of the Black Student Union and a participant in the student-led strike that led to the founding of the nation鈥檚 first Black Studies Department and School of Ethnic Studies. After completing the Summer Program for Minority Journalists at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1969, he began his journalism career as a reporter for the California Independent Press-Telegram. He worked as a correspondent for Newsweek magazine and won the Detroit Press Club Foundation鈥檚 annual magazine writing award for an article titled 鈥淒etroit鈥檚 Heroin Subculture.鈥 He later became Newsweek鈥檚 Atlanta Bureau chief and a national correspondent.
Other springtime events include a Feb. 16, 2017, MLK Jr. Oratorical Speech Competition, and a March 28, 2017, Women鈥檚 History Month presentation by Rhonda Williams, founder and director of the Social Justice Institute at Case Western Reserve University. In addition to being founder and director of CWRU鈥檚 Postdoctoral Fellowship in African American Studies, Williams is the first African American to both earn tenure and achieve full professor in the history department at CWRU.
In the fall, the African American Studies program is planning to host a 鈥淏lack Arts Movement in the South鈥 event. Additionally, there will be a Black Studies Conference with a keynote address, film showing, as well as panel discussions featuring students and guest scholars and activists.
A complete schedule of events will be available at a later date. LaShundra Townsend, African American Studies administrative assistant, also may be contacted at 662-325-0587 and ltownsend@aas.msstate.edu.
Part of the College of Arts and Sciences, MSU鈥檚 African American Studies program offers courses leading to a minor in African American Studies. For more information, visit .
草莓视频is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .