The 40th Anniversary of the Department of Africana Studies, 2009 Serving Students, Serving the Community, and Serving the World

Mission:
The Department of Africana Studies at the University at Albany promotes excellence in teaching, research, and service. The Department is concerned with the study of the experiences of the people of Africa and the African diaspora. Through the study of such disciplines as history, politics, economics, culture, literature, sociology, and psychology, the Department aims to engender an appreciation of diversity and emphasize the ways in which Africans and people of African descent in the Americas have constructed and interpreted their own lives and cultures.

Departmental Aims and Objectives:

• Provide students with an interdisciplinary understanding of the Black experience in Africa, the United States, and other areas of the Diaspora.
• Foster research on African and African-American issues.
• Provide conceptual frameworks to illuminate the causes and effects of Africana people's subordination and their struggle for liberation.
• Prepare students to think critically, to express themselves creatively, to respect cultural diversity, and to make independent and rational judgments.
• Promote and share in the University's stated objectives to provide for a racially and gender-balanced curriculum and contribute to the elimination of racism and the creation of a more equitable society by offering new knowledge and research paradigms.
• Encourage faculty to share their expertise with the community and maintain a community service component that promotes special classes, symposia, forums; and contribute to the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual growth of the community.
• Promote internships that allow students to integrate their academic and practical knowledge.
• Reinforce the study of cultural ideals and provide a liberal education in values and wisdom.