Montgomery College Awarded $159,406 NEH Grant to Study Black Diaspora in the US

Montgomery College (MC) has received a $159,406 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support the project, “Concepts of Black Diaspora in the United States: Identity and Connections among African, Afro-Caribbean, and African-American Communities.” This prestigious grant is part of the Institutes for Higher Education Faculty program. The MC project was one of 12 funded in this category, one of 239 funded in the summer cycle, and one of five awarded in Maryland.

HU's 1st African Language Summer Institute produces language proficiency

During Howard University’s first African Language Summer Institute 7 languages were taught. These languages were Amharic, Arabic, Somali, Swahili, Yoruba, and Zulu. There were close to 60 participants at different levels from different universities. What was covered in the summer is what students would cover in one year during the regular semesters.
 

Howard University Leads in Critical African Language Training

Student enrollment in African language courses reached 772 during the 2020/2021 academic year at Howard University! This represents the largest enrollment in one year in African languages of all US Title VI universities. From 2014-2020 HU also had the highest African language enrollment of all US Title VI universities - reaching 3481 students. 70% of students taking African languages credit Howard’s African languages offerings as an important factor in their decision to come Howard. The University is growing due to this language training.

The Language of Diplomacy

For senior Ashley Tousana, learning languages is the first step to building foreign relations. She has spent enough time studying Mandarin and living abroad in China that she considers it a second home. It has also reinforced her interest in possibly pursuing a career in China-Africa development affairs, specifically in their trade policy and economic relations.

Krista Johnson awarded a CADFP Fellowship

Krista Johnson, Director at the Center for African Studies (CfAS), Howard University, and Professor Ade Adebajo at the University of Johannesburg were recently awarded a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship for the upcoming year. As a CADFP Fellow, Dr.

Howard at 63rd ASA

This year, at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association (ASA), Howard University has a strong representation. Below please find the Howard faculty and students who are presenting along with their sessions and paper titles.

The African Studies Review together with the ASA Board launched a distinguished lecture in 2011 featuring state of the art research in African Studies. This year, the speaker will be Bob Edgar, Professor Emeritus of Howard University.

The ASA Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of Africanist scholars in the world.

Our former Amharic/Arabic FLAS fellow, Sara Swetzoff, is awarded a 2020-2021 Fulbright Research Fellowship

Our former Amharic/Arabic FLAS fellow, Sara Swetzoff, has been awarded a 2020-2021 Fulbright Research Fellowship. Her Fulbright research focuses on the resilience and community-building within the shared network of Ethiopian returnees and Yemeni refugees in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Since the 2014 start of the ongoing war in Yemen, hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian and Yemeni nationals have fled from Yemen to Ethiopia; many individuals belong to bicultural and mixed-citizenship families who call both countries home.

Dr. Krista Johnson receives a UMBC Inclusion Imperative Fellowship

Dr. Krista Johnson, Associate Professor in the Department of African Studies at Howard University, will be participating in the Inclusion Imperative Visiting Faculty Fellowship Program at the University of Maryland in the Fall of 2020.

Congratulations to Bathsheba Bryant-Tarpeh!

The Center for African Studies would like to congratulate a recent PhD graduate from the African Studies Department at Howard University. A Mellon ACLS Public Fellow, Dr. Bryant-Tarpeh was appointed as Global Science Officer at the Smithsonian Institution Office of International Relations.

Visit her ACLS profile.

TED Talk Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu

Our own 2011 PhD graduate, Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu, from the African Studies Dept. at HU presents her own TED Talk. Since its release on October 9th it has already been viewed over half a million times! 

View the TED Talk here.