News

Source: https://africana.cornell.edu/news Parent: https://africana.cornell.edu/alumni

Historical marker commemorates Toni Morrison’s time in Ithaca

Cornell faculty, staff, students and community members celebrated the 95th birthday of Toni Morrison, M.A. ’55, by unveiling a new historical marker in front of 513 N. Albany St., where she lived while in graduate school.

CAU Summer Courses: From wine pairings to town-gown history

Registration is now open for the two sessions of weeklong offerings, with the option to stay in a newly renovated Balch Hall

Nigeria's Tinubu 'should be commended' for accepting US counterterrorism assistance, says Cornell expert

Olúfémi Táíwò, professor of Africana studies, shares insight into Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu's deployment of an army battalion to central Kwara state after suspected jihadist fighters killed at least 170 people on Tuesday night, hours after the United States said it had a small number of troops in the country.

Composer Michael Abels, famous for work on Jordan Peele films, to visit March 6-7

Events include film screenings, panel discussions and a concert by the Barbara & Richard T. Silver Wind Symphony.

How music galvanized the fight for civil rights

Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches tapped into a Black musical tradition that animated the Civil Rights Movement, says Ambre Dromgoole, assistant professor of Africana religions and music.

Combining humanities and tech for research gains

An interdisciplinary project is sparking collaborations among those interested in digital approaches to the study of history, languages and culture.

Redbones and racial nuance in Louisiana Lumber War

Klarman Fellow Kendall Artz wants to push beyond the assumption – one replicated by scholars – that company rosters and state records hold all there is to know about racial expression.

Medical anthropologist to deliver annual Society for Humanities lecture

Stacey Langwick, associate professor of anthropology in the College of Arts & Sciences, will speak on "Healing in a Toxic World: Reimagining the Times and Spaces of the Therapeutic."

African Union must condemn Madagascar coup, says Cornell expert

Olúfémi Táíwò, professor of Africana studies at Cornell University, said the move is another coup d’etat that Madagascar, and the African continent, does not need.

Inaugural “Freedom Party” in downtown Ithaca centers on community connection

A Sept. 27 event taking inspiration from the foundations of the Harlem Renaissance will highlight collaboration, resource sharing and storytelling.

In new book, Farred breaks down his long-time sports fandoms

Grant Farred remembers the exact moment that 52 years of intense allegiance to Liverpool Football Club (LFC) began. He also remembers how and when it took on a new, less-consuming form. Farred, a professor in the Africana Studies and Research Center, and professor of literatures in English, in the College of Arts and Sciences, chronicles his passionate, albeit long-distance love for his Reds – and an unexpected bonding with the Cornell men’s basketball team, spurred in part by his hoops-loving teenaged son Ezra – in “A Sports Odyssey: My Ithaca Journal,” published July 25 by Temple University Press.

Four-day event celebrates 70 years of Toni Morrison’s Cornell legacy

A four-day event featuring films, panels, workshops, the unveiling of a mural and other activities will celebrate the 70th anniversary of her degree, life and work. “Toni Morrison: Literature and Public Life” will take place Sept. 18-21.

2025 Nexus Scholars talk about academic growth, transformation

Ten students who participated in this summer's Nexus Scholars Program share their stories..

Tune in: Alumni-hosted podcasts offer something for everyone

Your fellow Cornellians can keep you entertained and informed—with shows on topics from science to sports and beyond.

History Center exhibit chronicles excavation at Ithaca’s ‘Freedom Church’

The exhibit on Ithaca’s St. James A.M.E. Zion Church will open on Juneteenth with a community event scheduled for 4 p.m.

From posters to precedent, humanities scholars showcase their research

Projects spanned topics from Confederate cemeteries to Korean textiles.

'I've been pushed to craft work that is both intellectually rigorous and deeply informed'

Kaylani Williams is an English major.

'I have learned to navigate academic spaces on my own terms'

Kendahl Wesley is a psychology & Africana studies major.

Conference on African political economy honors van de Walle

“Politics, Markets, and Governance in Africa: A conference in honor of Nicolas van de Walle,” set for May 8-9, will focus on the core themes of African political economy, regimes, and modes of electoral and social participation and contestation.

Student creates company focused on luxury African bags

The newest episode of Startup Cornell, a podcast hosted by Entrepreneurship at Cornell, features Cornell senior Micere Mugweru ’25, the founder of Mizoma Africa.

CAU lets you go back to school (without those pesky prelims)

For more than half a century, Cornell’s Adult University has offered summer courses on the Hill — from cooking to cycling and beyond.

New Klarman Fellows to join the College of Arts and Sciences

Fellows will pursue research in the sciences, social sciences and humanities.

Explore home space in a teenage sitcom during upcoming lecture

"Sanctuary from the Storm: Making (My) Room with The Torkelsons," will explore Sheppard’s fondness for the 1990s television show and what the show’s representation of home spaces can tell us about the way television influences living practices.

Your December 2024 reads

This month’s featured titles include a history Harlem by a government alum and a prof’s memoir about his education under Apartheid.

Sophomore's organization fosters conversations on racial justice, mental health

"Poetry and artwork were my ways of processing the world around me."

Farred analyzes his apartheid education in ‘philosophical memoir’

In “The Perversity of Gratitude: An Apartheid Education," Grant Farred describes his experience of flourishing intellectually, despite and even thanks to being educated under apartheid, while also analyzing concepts that made such an education possible.

Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures holds first event

During “Beyond 2024: Envisioning Just Futures and Equitable Democracy,” faculty and students from across the university will come together to creatively showcase research and art, build community and be inspired to imagine a better future.

Conference considers medicine from historical standpoint

The Nov. 2 conference will focus on an interdisciplinary approach.

‘Icon of national femininity’: Beyoncé to appear at VP Harris Houston rally

As Election Day closes in, a Cornell expert in Black feminism sees 'deep meaning and significance' in superstar Beyoncé's support for Vice President Kamala Harris.

A&S announces membership in MLA Strategic Partnership Network

“We felt this is an important resource that should be available to our humanists at all levels, whether they have the resources to pay for membership or not,” said Peter John Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences.

Professor’s feature-length documentary film debuts at Cornell Cinema

“Possible Landscapes,” a new feature-length documentary film exploring the lived experience of landscapes and environments in the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago, will have its debut screening on Sept. 25 at Cornell Cinema.

Black print history, community featured in exhibit

The exhibit reveals how newspapers served as a powerful vehicle for literature, culture and community-building.

Language ‘Sustainability through Collaboration’ Conference at Cornell

Cornell, the only institution offering regular multilevel instruction in all six of the major Southeast Asian languages – Burmese, Indonesian, Khmer, Filipino (Tagalog), Thai and Vietnamese – will host a conference on the teaching of these languages on Sept. 19-21.

Cornell hosts major international meeting on education

The global conference, held in July, received 1,150 submissions from scholars and practitioners from 112 countries, representing five continents.

Prominent American scholar to visit campus September 13

Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr., New York Times bestselling author, political commentator and academic scholar, will deliver a keynote discussion at 6:00 p.m. in the Alice Statler Auditorium on September 13, 2024.

Cornell expert: Africa doesn’t need China’s help

As more than 50 African leaders gather in Beijing for a summit aimed at increasing the influence of China in the developing world, professor Olúfémi Táíwò says it’s ironic that the same African leaders who have denounced colonialism, might now find common ground with the People’s Republic of China.