Africana initiatives connect academics, activism

Center aims to become hub for students interested in research, current issues and making an impact.

Examining black 'transness' through contemporary media

For C. Riley Snorton, assistant professor of Africana studies and of feminist, gender and sexuality studies in Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences, winning a coveted National Endowment for the Humanities-Schomburg Center Scholar-in-Residence fellowship is the chance of a lifetime. 

He will examine a topic that has intrigued him since college, when he first self-identified as a transgender person – and write a book about it.

Noelani Gabriel: 'We all have the opportunity to create change'

Noelani Gabriel

Africana Studies

Springfield, MA

How did any of your beliefs or interests change during your time at Cornell?

Rooks on Morrison's "The Bluest Eye"

"When My Friends First Came to Visit"

Farred on Heidegger's "Was Heißt Denken?" (What is Called Thinking?")

I have long been troubled by Henri Bergson’s notion that all of us have only one idea. In spite of our best efforts to constantly do new work, we keep returning to this one idea. For academics, Bergson’s is a depressing proposition because a career marked by repetition is, surely, a career lacking in originality. And who would want that?

Alumna curates 'brilliant' art exhibit at Williams College Museum of Art

"An art show, like a book, has to tell a story," says Salah Hassan, Goldwin Smith Professor in the Department of History of Art and Visual Studies and professor of Africana studies, noting that when art produced by white artists is defined as "American" and art produced by African-Americans is defined as "ethnic," that story is one of exclusion.