Current Events - DePaul Center for Black Diaspora

The Center for Black Diaspora was established to promote and support the production of scholarly, cultural and creative work related to the experiences of Black people in the Diaspora. The Center encourages and supports the study of Black Diaspora in all its complexities as shaped by the historical experiences of Africa and the West, and actively promotes comparative perspectives to illuminate the particular experiences of African people both on the continent and in the Diaspora.

As a unit of the university, the Center seeks to strengthen the university's commitment by:

providing and nurturing an intellectual and supportive environment in the production and dissemination of historical and cultural knowledge about people of African decent;
generating knowledge through support of conferences, seminars and colloquia; serving the university's external community with programming of interest and relevance to the diverse population of Chicago;
collaborating with other academic units, centers and programs in sustaining an intellectual culture which promotes greater understanding of people of African decent.

The Center promotes collaborative, interdisciplinary and comparative scholarship, expressive cultural and creative works, and programming which primarily focus on Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean. It seeks to establish reciprocal relationships with other academic units, centers, programs and community organizations and their constituents through community outreach. The Center's programs are open to faculty, students and staff, and the community-at-large.

For our various constituents we invite you to participate in our activities which are designed to foster awareness and promote intellectual engagement about African and Black Diaspora Studies.

We invite individuals and groups from the broader community to participate in intellectually stimulating programs designed to promote scholarship, research, creative and artistic expression of the Black Diaspora. Our programming involves guest speakers, the Annual Frederick Douglass and Frantz Fanon Lecture series, colloquia and conferences, book discussions, as well as film and video screenings that explore issues related to the culture and history of the Black Diaspora. Center activities are free and open to the public.

The Center's programming that features scholars, researchers and expressive artists whose work focuses on the Black Diaspora, complements and enhances the intellectual mission of the university. The guest lecturers, Distinguished lecture series, film and video screenings, and colloquia are designed to actively involve students in gaining a deeper understanding of issues related to the history and culture of the Black Diaspora, past and present. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in the programming and activities of the Center which complement their academic work and relate to diverse fields of study.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to actively participate in intellectually engaging programs that promote and support scholarship, research, creative and artistic expression of the Black Diaspora. Our programming complements and enhances the intellectual mission of the university through the following activities: the Annual Frederick Douglass and Frantz Fanon Lecture series, guest speakers, the colloquia and conferences, film and video screenings, as well as book discussions that explore issues related to the culture and history of the Black Diaspora, past and present.

Center for Black Diaspora
2320 N Kenmore Ave., Room 551
Chicago, IL 60614
Phone: (773) 325-7512
Fax: (773) 325-7514