As an Institute that was created more than twenty years ago at Kent State University to respond to student concerns about the lack of courses and research agendas which were about or spoke to African American students and their particular histories, it is reasonable that at this juncture the agenda of the Institute be re-assessed so that it responds to current student concerns and research needs. In the 21st century curiosity about, interest in, and attachment to Africa are not limited to African American students. At the same time, African American students are mores sophisticated and aware of Africa than they were a generation ago. They are more cognizant of issues of race, gender, class and world disparities than previously. Further, the more significant the continent of Africa  becomes in world geopolitics and food production, for example, the more we can expect a growing demand for curriculum and research that enable students and professors to explore the meanings of these changes, as well as their individual relationships to such transformations. This is the challenge that we see that is facing the university community and the Department of Pan African Studies. Our lens focuses on the African American community, but in a community that is increasingly diverse, and which interfaces with other American ethnicities.

As North America evolves into a mult-ethnic society which discards its binary “black vs white” signature, multiple non-white ethnicities look to the history of the Civil Rights movement and issues of cultural integrity which were first brought to the forefront of public awareness and discussion by African Americans. We recognize the present danger that the African Diaspora (which in myriad ways engendered the New World) may not receive the scholarly attention it deserves unless research and pedagogy remain dynamic and reflective of current and potential social conditions. Thus, a re-framing of the IAAA focus is meant to stimulate new questions for research and new teaching commitment.

There are several salient issues that motivate us to add this addition “New World Studies” to the IAAA. In our era the United States has seen a dramatic increase in the number of African immigrants. The children of these immigrants, and their school colleagues, want to know more about Africa and African Americans; to study Native American, and Hispanic American history in a context that is inclusive. Historians and economists have made huge advances in the study and documentation of the impact of African peoples on the global economy, on the evolution of the modern state, and specifically on the culture and economy of the Americas. dy

Programs and Activities

Research Committees

The Institute will establish university-wide committees that constitute working research groups on specific themes. The output of these committees will be a series of Working Papers published by the Institute. The committees will also sponsor student-professor panels which will present at Oscar Ritchie Hall during the Week of Scholarship in late April-early May. Finally, the committees will be able to search for funding for on-going research work which can include student collaboration. We expect that professors in the departments of History, Geography, Sociology, Biology, Nursing, Political Science and others will participate. We also anticipate participation from professors from various programs such as the Water Management Institute and Women’s Studies.

Committees are:

Diaspora and Migration: Globalization and Sub-Altern Identity

Literature, the Arts, and the Media

Public Health and Public Opinion

Religious Communities and Race

Geography, Culture and Urbanization

Environment, Demography and Challenges to the Modern State

Definitional Conundrums: Idigenous, Native, Authenticity, Tradition, and Purity

The Kitabu

The Kitabu (literally, book in Swahili) is a publication formerly published by the IAAA. In the spring of 2009 the IAAA will re-launch this publication, which will serve as a forum for DPAS faculty and invited authors to present monographs relevant to the IAAA/New World Studies mission. During the fall of 2008 the Director of the Institute will invite scholars to serve on the editorial board for this journal. The anticipated length of the journal will be 50 pages, providing space for editorial comments, Institute announcements, and the monographs.

Institute Brown Bag Lectures

The Institute will initiate a program of “brown bag lectures” beginning in September, 2008. These lectures will be informal, and typically held at lunch time, at Oscar Ritchie Hall. Speakers will be DPAS faculty, other KSU faculty and administrators, invited scholars from other universities and colleges, practitioners in various pertinent fields (international development, community organizing, police and public safety, etc., and DPAS graduates who return to share their experiences in the professional world.

Invited Lecture Series

During academic year 2008-2009 the IAAA director, in collaboration with the key university resource people, will seek funding for an outside lecturer series. This series is intended to bring eminent scholars from the fields of African American Studies, African Diaspora Studies, Africana Studies, and African Studies, as well as speakers who work on related themes in the disciplines of History, Anthropology, Health, etc. to the KSU main campus and possibly regional campuses. Our goal is to offer an opportunity for students and faculty to attend lectures of well known and established senior scholars on various topics of interest. Each scholar will be invited to a lecture and discussion session that would average approximately one hour, as well as be a DPAS guest for lunch, visit the University, and meet with students in a separate session. We envision three lectures per semester.

Arts Program

The Arts Program will be initiated locally with the goal of attaining outside funding for invited performances. It might also collaborate with other KSU departments, and programs, such as Fine Arts for special exhibitions, in conjunction with the Oscar Ritchie new Umbaaji gallery. The purpose is to bring musicians, mixed media, visual artists and writers from the Diaspora and the African continent for the enjoyment of the general University community. The performances will be open to the public and we are hopeful to secure sufficient funding that fees will not be prohibitive. Concerts will be in Oscar Ritchie Hall, though on occasion may be on the KSU Main Campus plaza outside of the Student Center. We expect to co-sponsor with other departments and campus organizations.

IAAA/New World Studies Book Fairs

The Institute will seek to establish a calendar of Book Fairs for authors publishing in the field or on related themes. Our goal is to put KSU on the map for author itineraries so that we can host book parties that will provide exposure to authors and stimulation to the KSU community.

IAA/New World Studies Website and Newsletter

During the summer of 2008 the Institute Director will invite DPAS 2008 Moulton Scholars Kbir Idris Syed and Amoaba Goodenas well as cineast Tracey Williams, to assist in the development of a new website that will also have a link to the DPAS website and an Institute Newsletter. The Newsletter will be published on a quarterly basis. If funds later permit, a paper version of the newsletter will also be produced for local dissemination.

Student Exchange and African University Interface Project

This project objective is to establish an annual study abroad activity to Ghana and Senegal for students and faculty to interface with West African counterparts. It will also work to bring counterparts to Kent for a summer or semester visit.