The Ground on Which I Stand: Eric Gardner: Chocked to Death by NYPD Police

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It has been sixty years since the African Studies Graduate Program at Howard University was initiated. Since then, hundreds have graduated. This page is a celebration. We welcome past alumni to reconnect, by chatting on our Anniversary Discussion Board.

Virtual Summer Institute 2020 - Participant Evaluations

The Education of Black People by W.E.B DuBois: #5. Edu. and Work/1931

Abstract: Focus of Lecture #5

The eloquence of the spoken word and the devotion to writing—the art of language by line—are highly valued in African American culture. You are heirs of a long tradition of peoples who equate reading and writing with the expression of self-identity, self-possession, self-empowerment, and self-esteem. Indeed, once the commitment to academic excellence is successfully cultivated, it becomes clear that there is nothing as intellectually liberating as self-expression.

The Education of Black People by W.E.B DuBois: #4.Diuturni Silenti/1924

Abstract: Focus of Chpter 4 & Lecture 4.

2013 Common Text author Wole Soyinka argues that as long as the past “is fictionalized or denied, Africa is doomed to the curse of repetition, albeit in disguised, even refined forms.” The sacred space of memory, he suggests, must be preserved.

The Education of Black People by W.E.B DuBois: #3.College-bred Community/1910

Abstract; Focus of Lecture 3.

Forced separation from our ancestral homelands due to enslavement threatened to dismember Africans, physically, emotionally and spiritually. These Africans—faced with deep trauma and accompanying feelings of abandonment in the unfamiliar, alien, and hostile colonial worlds of the Western Hemisphere—maintained and created memories, traditions, and communities from the rich and complex cultures of the African worlds they brought across the ocean.

Gold Road Trade Routes Map

The Education of Black People by W.E.B DuBois: #2. Galileo Galilei/1908

Abstract: Focus of Lecture #2, Omuluabi: Self Actualization and Communal Responsibility.

Success in acquiring true learning requires a certain kind of personality. From an African cultural perspective, Omoluabi is the essence of the human person, a wellspring of good character, exemplified by an understanding of the self and its responsibilities to the community. This lecture analyzes the concept of Omoluabi and its relevance in the project of useful learning. 

--Dr. Segun Gbadegesin

The Education of Black People by W.E.B DuBois: #1.The Hampton Idea/1906

Abstract/Focus on Lecture #1

Transformative learning experiences involve more than acquiring academic knowledge. Such experiences must facilitate the gaining of wisdom, helping to build an enduring capacity to apply learning to meet communal challenges. This lecture examines the contribution to global traditions and innovations in teaching and learning from classical, medieval, and contemporary African experiences.

-- Dr. Gregory Carr

The Education of Black People by W.E.B DuBois: W.E.B. Du Bois: The Ideal Negro College

On What A Negro College Should Be: Excerpted from The Field and Function of the Negro College

Lengthy... 
Because it should be read in its entirety.

"Once upon a time some four thousand miles east of this place, I saw the functioning of a perfect system of education. It was in West Africa, beside a broad river; and beneath the palms, bronze girls were dancing before the president of Liberia and the native chiefs, to celebrate the end of the Bush retreat and their arrival at marriageable age.