Celebrating Excellence, Innovation, & Community in the Institute for African American Studies

Gathered by: Chera Jo Watts

               The Institute for African American Studies at The University of Georgia proudly hosts an undergraduate major, minor, and graduate certificate in African American Studies. Our core nine Faculty and numerous Affiliate Faculty are active researchers in their fields, teach courses, and engage within the community on several initiatives. We invite you to keep reading to get a sense of our Institute’s current happenings, and if you have questions regarding a specific initiative, please contact that Faculty member directly via email. 

               First, we congratulate our Institute Director, Dr. Carolyn Jones Medine, on being named as the President of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies. Also, Medine has an essay in the new collection, Masquerade: Scripturalizing Modernities through Black Flesh (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023). Other Faculty celebrating new publications include two by Dr. Ed Pavlic: “James Baldwin’s Day of Mourning” in Boston Review and “Anita Baker Introduced Us and Patrice Rushen did the Rest,” in Oxford American; Dr. David Diamond’s forthcoming book, Reading Character After Calvin: Secularization, Empire, and the Eighteenth-Century Novel, to be published by University of Virginia Press in April 2024; and also, Dr. Tracey Johnson’s forthcoming article in the spring Journal of African American History entitled, “Value, Access, and the Role of Black Art Collectors During the Financialization of the Visual Arts in New York City, 1975 – 1993.” Also, Johnson signed a contract for her manuscript, Black Arts Democracy: How Black Arts Education Advanced Black New York, 1929 – 1993, with the UNC Press. 

               Additionally, our talented Jazz Faculty in the HHSOM recently released albums. For instance, Dr. Greg Satterthwaite celebrated his album release for “Savannah Blue” and Professor James Weidman released “Sonic Realities,”his first recording in five years. Weidman’s album, which made JazzWeek top 100 for 2023, features bassist Harvie S. and drummer Alvester Garnett performing original compositions and includes works by Charlie Parker, Kurt Weill, and Hale Smith. Weidman also presented in the 2023 Annual Torrance Conference whose special guest was ethnomusicologist, Portia Maultsby, and was a researcher, collaborator, and music director in the multidisciplinary project, “Favored by the Muses,” about the iconic poet Phillis Wheatley Peters as part of the yearlong celebration, “The Genius of Phillis Wheatley Peters,” coordinated by Institute Affiliate Dr. Barbara McCaskill. 

               Dr. David Diamond also participated in and helped organize two events for “The Genius of Phillip Wheatley Peters,” again along with Dr. Barbara McCaskill and her collaborators at Texas Christian University. These included: a virtual roundtable on “A Poet and her Legacies,” and a hands-on rare books workshop on race and Atlantic slavery from the early modern period to the Romantic era. Along with these accomplishments, Diamond also presented a scholarly paper on the Black British abolitionist Ignatius Sancho at the annual conference of the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies in St. Louis, MO. Finally, he planned and taught two brand-new undergraduate courses cross-listed between English and African American Studies, AFAM/ENGL 3480, “Literature and the Black Atlantic,” and AFAM/ENGL 4470, “18^th-Century Literature and the Black Atlantic.” Students interested in these new courses should reach out directly to Dr. Diamond with any questions. 

               Finally, we are excited about the many events and community outreach happenings taking place out of the Institute. For instance, Dr. Tracey Johnson presented at the Urban History Association in October 2023, and Dr. Carolyn Jones Medine spoke on the WUGA radio show, “African Perspectives,” in February 2024. Additionally, the Institute welcomed Dr. Stephanie Evans, Professor at Georgia State University and scholar of Black women’s historical wellness, for a day-long visit in February 2024 which included a traditional lecture along with lovely informal conversation over lunch with attendees. Her book, Black Women’s Yoga History: Memoirs of Inner Peace, explores Black women’s narrative histories of health, healing, and wellness with a focus on yoga practices. To conclude the month of February, Dr. Lesley Feracho and Dr. Carolyn Jones Medine visited Whit Davis Elementary School to celebrate Black History Month with K-5 students. The event included a student art show, readings, and more. 

Students, community members, and potential partners interested in the programs, courses, major, minor, or graduate certificate in African American Studies are encouraged to connect with our office. We look forward to hearing from you! 

In order to direct your inquiry to the appropriate contact, please see below: 

If you are a prospective undergraduate student, please contact our Academic Advisor, Dr. Jessica Couch, with questions or to set up a meeting (couchj@uga.edu). If you are a prospective graduate certificate student, we encourage you to connect with Dr. Lesley Feracho, Associate Director of the Institute (lferacho@uga.edu). Finally, please direct all additional questions to Dr. Carolyn Jones Medine, Director of the Institute (medine@uga.edu).