2/17/2016
Story by Mary Sparacello
Laura Rosanne Adderley,
Associate Professor of History and
Director of the Africana Studies Program
The Africana Studies Program in the School of Liberal Arts at Tulane has a new name, a new home, and a renewed focus both on internationalism and black experience in the United States. Academic leaders are hopeful that the new name will increase the program’s visibility and educate more members of the Tulane community about the program’s important work.
“I view the name change as a jumping off point,” says Laura Rosanne Adderley, associate professor of history and director of the Africana Studies Program.
The program changed its name in January from African & African Diaspora Studies to Africana Studies, a name that is more meaningful and aligned with similar undergraduate programs nationwide.
Five Tulane faculty members are jointly appointed as Africana Studies professors, and at least 20 professors, including Adderley, are affiliated with the program. The breadth and depth of their research displays an interdisciplinary vibrancy that is the hallmark of a Tulane education, Adderley says.
The program’s offices moved from Norman Mayer to the third floor of Hebert Hall in September 2015. The new space offers strategic connections for the program’s international interests, especially in Africa, Latin American, the Caribbean, and also Europe.
Now, Africana Studies shares an office suite with the International Development coordinate major, the Altman Program in International Studies & Business, and the Linguistics Program that includes both graduate and undergraduate students studying African languages. “There is an intellectual synergy with our partners in our space,” Adderley says.
“This shared space will encourage students to think about Africana Studies as part of their global education,” says Adderley, adding that opportunities abound for students to study abroad in Africa and elsewhere.
The School of Liberal Arts is dedicated to providing resources that will help the Africana Studies Program reach its potential. According to Dean Haber, “Africana Studies provides students throughout Tulane with a unique interdisciplinary perspective incorporating history, literature, anthropology, psychology, political science, and a wealth of foreign languages.”
The Africana Studies Program co-sponsors programming that focus broadly on African Americans, the African continent and the African diaspora. Last fall, for example, the program helped sponsor a three-part lecture series on Afro-Brazilian culture connected with Professor Christopher Dunn’s Duren Professorship class. Dunn is an associate professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and holds a joint position in Africana Studies.
The Africana Studies Program is committed to raising its profile. Right now Adderley is working to curate an exhibition featuring 50 years of African-American presence at Tulane. The exhibition will include oral histories of African-American alumni from Tulane.
Adderley says there is a “spirit of renewal” pervading Tulane right now.
“We want more visibility (for Africana Studies),” she says. “We want alumni and students and the university invested in the program. The program is good for Tulane and the kind of student we want to put out in the world.”