The Center for Africana Studies continues to grow with an increasing number of minors and affiliated faculty. Within the past three years, the Center completed a Yoruba Online Dictionary coordinated by Professor Frank Arasanyin. The Project was funded by the U.S. Department of Education grant submitted by Professors Arasanyin and Jallow. The number of classes offered have increased and new classes were developed by Professors Francys Johnson and Sharon Tracy. Professor Erik Brooks’ Civil Rights class and Professor Arasanyin’s Yoruba classes have generated a lot of interest as the number of students taking these classes continues to rise. Professor Alfred Young, a member of the National Council for Black Studies’ Executive Committee has been very successful in recruiting our faculty to present papers at the annual conferences.
The Center for Africana Studies, in a consortium with the University of Georgia Africana Studies Institute and Columbus State University, received a two-year $350,000 grant to infuse Africa-content in the University System of Georgia institutions. Two of our colleagues, Professor Cathy Skidmore-Hess and Robert Shanafelt received funding to design new courses or revise old ones. Two other faculty members, Professor Thomas Klein and Alain Sukam received Chancellor’s Awards from the Board of Regents System’s Council on International Education Africa Council. The Africa Council which I chair, is proud to have two of our colleagues receive these awards. They will be traveling to Cameroon and Nigeria this summer, as part of the Africa Council Faculty Development Seminar held every two years in a region in Africa.
Our students performed exceedingly well at both the Southeast Model African Union (SEMAU) in 2005 and at the 2006 National Model African Union simulations held at Columbus State University and Howard University, respectively. The Georgia Southern delegates represented the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa in Columbus, Ga, and at Howard University, they represented the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania. The faculty advisors for SEMAU were Professor Mildred Pate and myself, and at Howard, it was me and Professor Young. Some of our student delegates were selected by their peers representing 43 universities and colleges to chair some of the most important committees of the African Union. The students were briefed by the ambassadors of the respective countries which they represented.
The trip to Sapelo Island was a huge success. Nearly thirty students, faculty, staff and community members joined us to celebrate Gullah Culture. The group listened to storytellers, watched traditional dance groups, and bought African and Gullah artifacts, paintings, masks, etc.
The Center for Africana Studies also sponsored a one day Civil Rights trip to Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama. Professors Brooks and Jallow along with thirty-two students visited civil rights sites in the two cities. Some of the sites visited included the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum, the Martin Luther King parsonage, the Dexter Church where Dr. King preached and the Southern Po9very Law Center. Our thanks to Professor Brooks’ family in Montgomery who invited the group for a meal on the last leg of the trip.
