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Africana Studies

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The changing face of portraiture at Penn
portrait in leidy labs

Homepage image: A portrait in Leidy honors Nathan Francis Mossell, who, in 1882, became the first African American student to earn a medical degree from Penn. With its placement in the accessible portion of the building’s stairway, this new portrait gallery is highly visible to students, staff, faculty, and visitors who spend time in the Biology Department.

The changing face of portraiture at Penn

Efforts around campus aim to diversify those honored in portraits and rethink how to approach representation through art.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Du Bois College House celebrates 50 years
interim president wendell pritchett greets students

First-year students Mataeya McFadden, Sarah Oburu, and Danielle Uter chat with Interim President Wendell Pritchett at the Du Bois College House 50th anniversary kickoff. 

Du Bois College House celebrates 50 years

For five decades, the living and learning space has served as a home away from home for students, and the community has evolved into a family.

Lauren Hertzler

Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka on art and culture
two people sitting in chairs on stage talking

Playwright, novelist, and poet Wole Soyinka (right), the first African to win the Nobel Prize fo Literature, was the inaugural speaker for the Distinguished Lecture in African Studies. The event at the Penn Museum included a Q&A with Wale Adebanwi (left) a professor of Africana studies in the School of Arts & Sciences.

Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka on art and culture

Wole Soyinka, the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, spoke as the inaugural guest for the Distinguished Lecture in African Studies.
The pandemic’s psychological scars
swirly painting of faces and heads

(Homepage image) “What we needed to do for our physical health—quarantining, staying away from other people and social situations—even when that kind of avoidance is the right thing to do, it makes people more anxious,” says Elizabeth Turk-Karan of the Center for the Study and Treatment of Anxiety. What remains to be seen is how these emotions and many others will play out as the pandemic recedes.

The pandemic’s psychological scars

It’s been a long and uncertain road, with some groups shouldering a disproportionately greater burden of mental anguish from COVID-19. Yet now there’s a glimmer of hope. Has the page finally turned?

Michele W. Berger

Black histories and Black futures
students in lecture hall

Homepage image: Chinaza Okonkwo of Los Angeles was one of 65 students enrolled in the 2018 Africana Studies Summer Institute, now in its 36th year. The Institute is one of the hallmarks of the Africana Studies Department. 

Black histories and Black futures

Professors and students reflect on 50 years of Black studies at Penn.

Kristina García

Interfaith activism at the second annual University Forum on Social Equity and Community
A Zoom screen shows four women looking at the camera

Barbara D. Savage (top left) led Kameelah Mu’Min Rashad, founder of the Muslim Wellness Foundation; Rev. Leslie D. Callahan, first woman pastor of St. Paul’s Baptist Church; and activist Bree Newsome in the second annual University Forum on Social Equity and Community.

Interfaith activism at the second annual University Forum on Social Equity and Community

In the second annual University Forum on Social Equity and Community, the School of Arts & Sciences’ Barbara D. Savage moderated a conversation on interfaith activism.

Kristina García

A virtual day of service
People march waving signs that say "end segregated rules in public schools" and "we demand voting rights now"

Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy continues to inspire, offering opportunities to reflect and engage.

A virtual day of service

Penn’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Symposium on Social Change will be virtual this year, offering events for adults and children of all ages.

Kristina García

Penn’s Kwanzaa celebrates ‘regrounding our purpose’
Students watch a man lighting seven red and green candles for Kwanzaa. The table also displays plants, squash, and maize in representation of the harvest festival

Brian Peterson lights candles at the 30th annual Kwanzaa at Penn.

Penn’s Kwanzaa celebrates ‘regrounding our purpose’

Kwanzaa, an African American cultural holiday, starts on Dec. 26 and goes through New Year’s Day. At Penn, it's a time to come together and take stock.

Kristina García

‘Black Families Matter’
Two side by side profile pictures of Cary Coglianese on the left and Dorothy Roberts on the right.

Cary Coglianese (left), director of the Penn Program on Regulation, and PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts.

‘Black Families Matter’

In a lecture organized by the Penn Program on Regulation, PIK Professor Dorothy E. Roberts argued that the U.S. child welfare system is designed to police Black families, not to protect children, and must be abolished and replaced with a new vision of family support and child safety.

Kristen de Groot

Sudan coup, explained
Person in streets of Sudan in a protest crowd flashes the peace sign.

On Oct. 25, 2021 pro-democracy protesters flash the victory sign as they take to the streets to condemn a takeover by military officials, in Khartoum, Sudan. (Image: AP Images/Ashraf Idris)

  • Q&A

    • Sudan coup, explained

    Ali Dinar of the department of Africana Studies discusses last week’s military coup, and what comes next.

    Kristen de Groot