Cornell Announces First Africana Studies Ph.D. Program In New York

 NEW DOCTORAL PROGRAM IS ONE OF ONLY TEN IN US

PRESS RELEASE
CORNELL UNIVERSITY NEWSROOM/NEWSWISE
NOVEMBER 25, 2013

ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences has announced the establishment of the first Ph.D. program in Africana Studies in New York State.

Although 300 undergraduate programs in Black and Africana studies have been founded in the U.S. over the last 40 years, there are only 10 doctoral programs. With 20 to 30 percent of current faculty in the field likely to retire over the next decade – and only about 10 Ph.D. degrees granted in the field each year – Cornell’s new doctoral program will be an important contribution to the vibrancy of Africana studies.

“With a critical mass of scholars whose work represents the cutting edge in Africana Studies, Cornell is especially well positioned to implement a doctoral program that will meet the future demand for scholars with rigorous intellectual training,” said Gretchen Ritter, the Dean of Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences.

“Cornell’s unique resources, with its renowned faculty, seven colleges and world-class libraries, will enable this to quickly become one of the top doctoral programs in the field,” said Cornell University Provost Kent Fuchs.

As an interdisciplinary field, Africana studies examines issues such as race, ethnicity, class, gender and sexuality in relation to the history, society, culture and arts of people of Africa and people of African descent in the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America and the broader African diaspora. Cornell’s degree program will consist of two thematic tracks, one focused on “Historical, Political, and Social Analysis” and the other on “Cultural, Literary, and Visual Analysis.” Students within each track will choose a geographic area of concentration: Africa, African America, the Caribbean and Latin America, or “Emerging Studies of the Global African Diaspora.”

Cornell’s Africana Studies and Research Center (ASRC), the administrative base for the new program, was established in 1969, making Cornell a pioneer in the field. About 150 students have received the master’s degree since 1973, and almost one-third of those students have continued on for further graduate study at some of the most selective research universities in the country. Many of them have completed the doctorate and are now teaching at colleges and universities throughout the United States, with most having received tenure.

The new Ph.D. program will build on this success, continuing the ASRC’s tradition of close mentoring and student interaction with faculty. Students will have opportunities to assist faculty with research, teaching and organizing programs, and will be encouraged to participate in formal and informal study groups. They will also have the chance to design and teach freshman writing seminars.

“It is with much excitement that we look forward to welcoming our first class of doctoral students in Fall 2014. We anticipate enrolling four to five students in the doctoral program for academic year 2014-15, with a projected five-year enrollment of 20 to 25 students,” said Salah Hassan, Professor of African and African Diaspora Art History and Visual Culture, and Director of ASRC.

Partly in anticipation of the new Ph.D. program, the ASRC has expanded significantly in the last few years, with five new faculty members and the recruitment of two more underway. This is in addition to the expansion of its African Languages Program, which offers instructions in three African languages, with anticipation of more. The ASRC’s space has been renovated and expanded by over 5,000 square feet, including more space for the John Henrik Clarke Africana Library, faculty offices, four seminar and classrooms, lounge areas for faculty and graduate students, and a large multi-purpose room.

Note: For additional information, see http://africana.cornell.edu/graduate/index.cfm.

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