The University of Pittsburgh's Daily Student Newspaper

The Pitt News
The University of Pittsburgh's Daily Student Newspaper

The Pitt News
The University of Pittsburgh's Daily Student Newspaper

The Pitt News
Dr. Rashawn Ray speaks at a Zoom webinar on Wednesday titled “Rotten Trees: Racism and Bad Apples in American Policing.”

Rashawn Ray discusses policing, implicit bias at Africana Studies event

By Gianna Longo, Staff Writer • October 20, 2023

A study researching implicit bias in American police forces found that people have the same reaction to snakes and spiders as they do to Black individuals in close proximity, Rashawn Ray, professor of...

Posvar Hall, which houses the Department of Africana Studies.

‘We are connected’: Pitt plans new Africana Studies Ph.D. program

By Khushi Rai, Staff Writer • March 15, 2023
The Department of Africana Studies is accepting its first cohort of applicants for its new Ph.D. program, which is set to start this fall. The program allows its candidates to follow three concentrations — Race and Equity, Migration and Community Transformation, and Culture and Creative Production.
A virtual panel called “Reflections on Africana Studies at Pitt” hosted by the Department of Africana Studies on Friday.

‘Seized the time’: Panelists discuss past, present and future of Africana studies at Pitt

By Samantha Salz, For The Pitt News • April 3, 2022
To honor its 50th anniversary, Pitt’s Africana studies department hosted a series of four, one-day virtual symposium panels last week under the title “Reckoning and Re-envisioning: Africana Studies at 50 and Beyond.”
Panelists discuss importance of digital communication in preserving culture

Panelists discuss importance of digital communication in preserving culture

By Alaina Goldberg, Staff Writer • February 28, 2022
A panel of Afro-Latinx scholars and digital curators spoke at the "Transnational Dialogues in Afrolatinidad - Digital Afrolatinidad" virtual webinar on Friday.
Robert Patterson, left, and Robin Brooks discuss Brooks’ new book “Class Interpretations: Inequality and Division in African Diasporic Women’s Fiction” at a Tuesday Zoom event organized by the African Studies Department and the University Library System.

Pitt professor talks new book, class disparities and Black women’s literature

By Allison Radziwon, Senior Staff Writer • February 3, 2022
The Africana Studies Department and the University Library System held an event on Tuesday on Zoom to discuss Brooks’ new book, “Class Interruptions: Inequality and Division in African Diasporic Women's Fiction.”
Gamby Camara, visiting lecturer in the Africana Studies department, gave a lecture on Black art and literature in Posvar Hall on Wednesday.

Camara leads lecture on Black representation behind the camera

By Ebonee Rice-Nguyen, For The Pitt News • November 4, 2021
Gamby Camara, a visiting lecturer in the department of Africana studies, gave a lecture Wednesday about how art and literature have been and continue to be a method for social change.
Eric Beeko, Yolanda Covington-Ward and Michele Reid-Vazquez (left to right) each teach in the Africana Studies department.

‘Find it all’: Africana Studies department reflects on teaching Black history, culture

By Griffin Floyd, Staff Writer • March 10, 2021
Professors in the Africana Studies department have worked to highlight the department’s courses as well as Black history and culture throughout the year, but especially during Black History Month in February.
Hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters raise their fists in solidarity at the intersection of Forbes Avenue and South Bouquet Street on June 13.

Op-Ed | Grappling with systemic racism

By Jack Daniel, Retired Pitt administrator • July 7, 2020
Jack Daniel, the first chair of Pitt’s Africana Studies department, says in an op-ed that we in America, and at Pitt, must confront an elephant in the room.
Protesters march across the Birmingham Bridge during a protest on June 4.

Letter to the editor | Africana Studies as a resource for Black studies courses on campus

By Yolanda Covington-Ward, chair of the Department of Africana Studies • June 16, 2020
Yolanda Covington-Ward, the chair of the Department of Africana Studies, asks students in a letter to the editor why they have or have not taken Africana Studies classes.
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