The Department of African American Studies (AAS) at Syracuse University is an academic department supporting Africana studies. It is located at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. It is part of the Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences. The Department supports an external community based unit that is a part of the department and has played a central role in shaping culture and arts in the Syracuse city community - Community Folk Art Center (CFAC). It has also supported the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company (PRPAC) in the past. These are both independent units that were housed or founded by the departmentMugo, Micere, "Message from the Chair", Pan African Studies at Syracuse University Newsletter, 2007–2008. The department also houses the award-winning library, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. It currently oversees the internationally recognized university wide initiative "Africa Initiative". Its other projects include the nationally recognized "Paris Noir" and the Ford Foundation Environmental Justice and Gender Project. It has had a long history of activism within the university, surrounding community, and abroad through its strong international network. The AAS department has housed many renowned scholars in African, Afro-Caribbean, African-American, Afro-Latin American, and Afro-European studies.
History The AAS department was created in the spirit of revolutionary thinking.Pan African Studies Newsletter, "history", Department of African American studies, Syracuse University, 2004, p. 1. Syracuse students were among the first in the United States to rebel against institutionalized injustices in education in the 1960s.Davis, Barbara Sheklin, Syracuse African Americans. Arcadia Publishing. 2006 When Ernie Davis became the first Black football player to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961, it was a major landmark for progress for African Americans in higher education."JBHE Chronology of Major Landmarks in the Progress of African Americans in Higher Education", The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 2006. Syracuse alumnus Joe Biden noted in a tribute speech in 2011, that Ernie Davis "gave a whole group of people hope".Wes Cheng, "Friends, Teammates Honor Anniversary of Ernie Davis Winning Heisman". The Juice, December 10, 2011. Subsequently, racial discord in the football program began to be highlighted, which resulted in an increase in racial tension. This tension began in 1969 when a group known as the "Syracuse 8" highlighted the discrimination they faced in football by coach Floyd "Ben" Schwartzwalder. By the opening pre-game of the season, tensions were so high that they resulted in a confrontation between nearly 100 policemen and at least 400 students at the football stadium at Syracuse University."The 'Syracuse 8,' A Commitment For Change" , African American Registry, April 9, 1970.
Due to increasing racial tension and in response to the civil rights movement, in 1968, Black students at Syracuse University staged a protest outside of S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, demanding that the university offer Black Studies classes that highlighted and included the intellectual, historical and cultural contributions of African Americans.Powell, Karla, "A Look Back through Our struggles", Pan African Studies at Syracuse University Newsletter, Special -Edition, 2004/2005. The administration at Syracuse University subsequently began to make concessions by offering Black Studies classes as an elective.John Robert Greene, Syracuse University: Eggers Years, 1998, p. 98. African American Studies (AAS) began as a program in 1972 Alt URL and then became a department as part of the College of Arts and Sciences in 1979.Davis, Deborah R. Black Students' Perceptions: the complexity of persistence to graduation at an American University, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, 2004, 2007. The 1960s student protests also resulted in an Afro-American Cultural center and marked the beginning of the MLK library collection. The first conference on Critical Issues in Afro-American and African Studies was held at Syracuse University in 1976.The Yale Journal of Law and Liberation, Vol. 1, p. 92, 1992.
During the 1980s, Syracuse students again advocated the administration to widen the pool of African American faculty applicants, hire a department chairperson and in order to increase the staff in the AAS department.Davis, "Black Students' Perceptions" (2004, 2007), p. 15. The department has stayed without a chair and other key positions for more than a year. Members of the Syracuse African-American Students Association (SAS) were at the forefront of this movement.Davis, Black Students' Perceptions (2004, 2007), p. 16. In 1989, 120 SAS member students confronted Chancellor Melvin Eggers at a round table meeting in order to air their grievances. The group's efforts led to a 400-student protest in 1990 led by SAS President Quentin Stith. The students also advocated for a program that allowed all students (not just those of African-American descent) to learn about the contribution of African Americans in American history. The students were concerned with preserving Black identity and saw their dedication towards African studies as a collective struggle. Throughout the 1980s, students continued to play an active role on the university campus.
It has now grown into a national and international renowned program that explores linkages between Africa and the African Diaspora. It continues to pioneer revolutionary thinking in its projects, programs, and academics.
AAS auxiliary units Community Folk Art Center (CFAC) CFAC is an extension (unit) of AAS founded in 1972 by Herbert T. Williams and Harry Morgan that aims at showcasing Black art and artists from underrepresented groups."Exhibit: David MacDonald in Syracuse Aug 11, 2011". Alison Moutz, Eli B. Moore and Lori Brown, "Participatory Action Research as Pedagogy: 2 – Boundaries in Syracuse" , ACME, 2008.Melinda Johnson, "Community Folk Art Center closed because of flooding, leaking from storm", Syracuse.com, April 29, 2011.Watkins, Jason, "Interview with Prof. Bill Rowland and Kheli Willetts", Pan African Studies at Syracuse University Newsletter, Special Edition, 2004/2005. It hosts exhibitions, films, artist workshops, art classes, and dance performances for the community and students. It is housed with the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company, Inc. (PRPAC) and serves as an artistic hub in the Syracuse community."Herbert T. Williams, 63, Syracuse U. professor, art gallery founder, dies". Jet (Chicago), June 28, 1999. Vol. 96, Iss. 4; p. 20, 2 pp. Past exhibits at the Community Folk Art Gallery include works by Palmer HaydenEvans, Stephanie Y. African Americans and Community Engagement in Higher Education: Community. SUNY Press, 2009. Projects also include oral history programs in Syracuse.Paul Riede, , The Post-Standard, February 27, 1991.
Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company (PRPAC) A former unit of AAS, the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company, Inc. (PRPAC) was founded by William H. Rowland and Roy Delemos in 1982 as a non-profit performing arts company."Syracuse Cultural Tour, Syracuse" , GPSmyCity.com. It was founded as a non-profit performing arts company in Syracuse. It was named after African-American concert singer, recording artist, athlete, actor, and activist Paul Robeson. It became a part of the university and AAS in 1989 and has worked at improving art education on the Syracuse university campus and in the Syracuse community.
Academics AAS offers students opportunities for academic study, research, community involvement and study abroad."SU's Department of African American Studies receives major Ford grant for 'Gender and Environmental Justice' project", Syracuse University News, April 2, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2023. The department's interdisciplinary curriculum enables students to engage, analyze and create knowledge involving African Americans, and make linkages with areas of Latin America, the Caribbean and continental Africa.
Gender and Environmental Justice Focus The Department received a Ford Foundation grant in order to support the development of gender and environmental justice in Africana studies nationally.Carty, Linda, "AAS Gets Ford Foundation Grant", Pan African Studies at Syracuse University Newsletter, 2007–2008, p. 12. The project is entitled "Gender and Environmental Justice," and makes AAS the only department of its kind in the nation to recognize the importance of environmental justice in its curriculum. The Ford Foundation also awarded support towards a postdoctoral program focusing on civic engagement in the arts, public humanities, architecture and the media. The Ford Foundation grant facilitated a Black feminist lecture series "Black Feminism and Environmental Justice" lecture series, research grants, Community Mapping and Photovoice Research project, and symposiums for Black women and other minorities.
Undergraduate Studies - African American Studies The department offers a major and minor in African American studies that is interdisciplinary and focuses on international studies.Simson, Renate, & Holly K. Norton, "Conversations with the Director of Undergraduate Studies", Pan African Studies at Syracuse University Newsletter, 2007-2008, p. 3. The undergraduate studies program focuses on community involvement and on building an international experience for students. It has pioneered groundbreaking study abroad programs such as "Paris Noir", "Beyond the Beach:The Caribbean as a Place, Not just Playground", and a study abroad programs centered on Black Austria (University of Graz) and Zimbabwe.Wells, Monique, "Paris Noir: A Syracuse University Study Abroad Experience in Paris", Contempora2 (October 31, 2001): 26.
Graduate Studies - Pan African Studies The Masters in Pan African Studies Program began as a unique program in Black Studies in the United States in both its design and delivery.Carty, Linda, Pan African Studies at Syracuse University Newsletter, Special Edition, 2004/2005, p. 4. It began in 2005 as a uniquely innovative program that has an emphasis in the area studies of Africa, the Caribbean and the United States. Whereas most programs concentrate on history and biographies, it focuses on the linkages between Africa and the African Diaspora from a multi-disciplinary approach involving cultural, social scientific, political, economic and environmental perspectives. It also provides for intellectual inquiry into philosophy of Pan Africanism and Pan Africanism as a historical, cultural, and contemporary movement. It is the only masters program in Pan African studies that focuses on field research and theory.Baker, David, "Crossing Borders", Pan African Studies at Syracuse University Newsletter, Special Edition, 2004/2005. The Program has an experiential component through affiliations that the department has with institutions abroad that leads to all students studying in Africa, the Caribbean, Canada, or African American sites.
Africa Initiative