Welcome to the Africana Studies Institute

UConn’s Africana Studies Institute is a vibrant community of scholars who study the African American experience, Africa, and the African Diaspora. 

Learn more about the history of ASI

Moratorium, October 15, 1969. Students at the Vietnam War protest in front of the Student Union. (Howard Goldbaum Collection of Connecticut Daily Campus Negatives, Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut Library.)

What is Africana Studies?

Africana Studies is a field of study that is interdisciplinary in focus. The Institute teaches classes ranging from sociology, political science, history, and education among our diverse offerings. More specifically at UCONN, for decades we have trained our students to critically analyze the varied experiences of people of African descent globally and locally. We have a strong public history presence that focuses on Black people in New England and Connecticut that helps the program remain committed to the principles that Africana Studies was founded on, community engagement.

Why major or minor in Africana Studies?

It has become increasingly important to successive generations of students entering the workforce to develop and refine skills needed to practice cultural competence and critically analyze the varied experiences of African descended people in this country and around the world. The Africana Studies Institute offers a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree and a minor in Africana Studies, which provides a solid foundation for jobs in health care, law, education, journalism, government, and charitable, nonprofit organizations.

 

What we offer:

You will learn from some of UConn’s best teachers and mentors as well as trailblazers in their respective fields.

You will enhance your critical thinking, writing, analysis, and communication skills.

Opportunities to study abroad in Ghana and Kenya for course credit.

Faculty pairing: 1:1 academic advising, career mentoring, and research opportunities.

Celebrating 15 Years of Excellence in Africana Studies

30+
Undergraduate Majors

70+
Undergraduate Minors

16+
Core Faculty

26+
Affiliate Faculty

Undergraduate Advising

Three people seated on a beige couch in a library, surrounded by shelves filled with books. They are engaged in a study session with an open book and loose papers on a coffee table in front of them.

Major in Africana Studies

Dive into diverse cultures and histories of African descended people.

Explore the Major

 

Close-up of a bookshelf in a library with rows of books, and a blurred background of a reading area with tables and chairs.

Minor Options

The Institute offers two minors in Africana Studies and African Studies, coupled with study abroad opportunities in African countries.

 

Explore the Minors

ASI Staff and Dr. Molette at the Mollette Dinner 2023: A group of eight individuals stands in a line indoors for a photo, with one of them using a mobility aid, a walker. They are dressed in a mixture of formal and casual attire. The background features an exit sign above a door on the left.

Find a Professor

Explore our roster of faculty members and their areas of research expertise.

Explore our Faculty

IN THE NEWS

UConn Today: CLAS Connections: Fiona Vernal and Amanda Cannada

Feb 12, 2024

Five heartfelt minutes with Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies Fiona Vernal and Africana Studies Program Assistant Amanda Cannada.

Upcoming Events

Follow Us on Instagram!

UConn Africana Studies Institiute

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UConn's Africana Studies Institute educates its community about the important historical and cultural contributions of people of African descent.

Hello UConn Africana Family! Over the course of the next few days, we will be sharing our spotlights of featured students, alumni, facility. Get to know the students and faculty of ASI and their amazing accomplishments! ✨

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Hello UConn Africana Family! Over the course of the next few days, we will be sharing our spotlights of featured students, alumni, facility. Get to know the students and faculty of ASI and their amazing accomplishments! ✨

Hello UConn Africana Family! Over the course of the next few days, we will be sharing our spotlights of featured students, alumni, facility. Get to know the students and faculty of ASI and their amazing accomplishments! ✨ ...

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Join Prof. Alexis Boylan as she explores how visual culture shapes perceptions of violence, race, gender, empathy, and identity. This course highlights works produced by and about African Americans, critically examining the intersection of art and social understanding.
Please Contact alexis.boylan@uconn.edu for a permission number

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Join Prof. Alexis Boylan as she explores how visual culture shapes perceptions of violence, race, gender, empathy, and identity. This course highlights works produced by and about African Americans, critically examining the intersection of art and social understanding. Please Contact alexis.boylan@uconn.edu for a permission number

Join Prof. Alexis Boylan as she explores how visual culture shapes perceptions of violence, race, gender, empathy, and identity. This course highlights works produced by and about African Americans, critically examining the intersection of art and social understanding.
Please Contact alexis.boylan@uconn.edu for a permission number ...

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Real Life into Reel Life, Your Truth in Script Form
Asha Michelle Wilson, Writer/Producer/Actor/Showrunner
Join the event on YouTube Live on March 4th at 5:30pm with this link:
Link: s.uconn.edu/wilson

The most common advice given to writers is "write what you know." Determining how much of that should be in your script is a different story. This discussion will focus on how to bring your authentic and diverse POV to the script and screen, while maintaining story, comedy, and character. It will also speak to how to keep reality alive when writing genre television (animation, horror, sci-fi), and how to know when a truth from real life, might not fit into the reel life that`s been created.

About the Speaker:

ASHA MICHELLE WILSON is a writer currently in development on series with Sony TV and 20th Century Fox, as well as being Co-Executive Producer on the Fox animated series The Great North. She has previously developed with and written on series for Netflix, Amazon, Paramount, and FX, including American Horror Story and Archer. Her short film Friends Like These won the London Shorts Festival, and she was listed as one of BET’s Six Black Female Showrunners Who Inspired TV’s Diverse Renaissance.

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Real Life into Reel Life, Your Truth in Script Form Asha Michelle Wilson, Writer/Producer/Actor/Showrunner Join the event on YouTube Live on March 4th at 5:30pm with this link: Link: s.uconn.edu/wilson The most common advice given to writers is "write what you know." Determining how much of that should be in your script is a different story. This discussion will focus on how to bring your authentic and diverse POV to the script and screen, while maintaining story, comedy, and character. It will also speak to how to keep reality alive when writing genre television (animation, horror, sci-fi), and how to know when a truth from real life, might not fit into the reel life that's been created. About the Speaker: ASHA MICHELLE WILSON is a writer currently in development on series with Sony TV and 20th Century Fox, as well as being Co-Executive Producer on the Fox animated series The Great North. She has previously developed with and written on series for Netflix, Amazon, Paramount, and FX, including American Horror Story and Archer. Her short film Friends Like These won the London Shorts Festival, and she was listed as one of BET’s Six Black Female Showrunners Who Inspired TV’s Diverse Renaissance.

Real Life into Reel Life, Your Truth in Script Form
Asha Michelle Wilson, Writer/Producer/Actor/Showrunner
Join the event on YouTube Live on March 4th at 5:30pm with this link:
Link: s.uconn.edu/wilson

The most common advice given to writers is "write what you know." Determining how much of that should be in your script is a different story. This discussion will focus on how to bring your authentic and diverse POV to the script and screen, while maintaining story, comedy, and character. It will also speak to how to keep reality alive when writing genre television (animation, horror, sci-fi), and how to know when a truth from real life, might not fit into the reel life that`s been created.

About the Speaker:

ASHA MICHELLE WILSON is a writer currently in development on series with Sony TV and 20th Century Fox, as well as being Co-Executive Producer on the Fox animated series The Great North. She has previously developed with and written on series for Netflix, Amazon, Paramount, and FX, including American Horror Story and Archer. Her short film Friends Like These won the London Shorts Festival, and she was listed as one of BET’s Six Black Female Showrunners Who Inspired TV’s Diverse Renaissance. ...

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Africana studies would like to congratulate Dr. Deirdre Cooper-Owens on being named the Stafford Ellison Wright Black Alumni Scholar-In-Residence at Occidental College in California!
She will be in residence at Occidental starting on February 18th 2025 , giving a public lecture on Slavery, Gynecology and Black Placental Resistance. Read the article linked in our bio to learn more about this exciting accomplishment!

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Africana studies would like to congratulate Dr. Deirdre Cooper-Owens on being named the Stafford Ellison Wright Black Alumni Scholar-In-Residence at Occidental College in California! She will be in residence at Occidental starting on February 18th 2025 , giving a public lecture on Slavery, Gynecology and Black Placental Resistance. Read the article linked in our bio to learn more about this exciting accomplishment!

Africana studies would like to congratulate Dr. Deirdre Cooper-Owens on being named the Stafford Ellison Wright Black Alumni Scholar-In-Residence at Occidental College in California!
She will be in residence at Occidental starting on February 18th 2025 , giving a public lecture on Slavery, Gynecology and Black Placental Resistance. Read the article linked in our bio to learn more about this exciting accomplishment! ...

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2/7/25 - An Afro- Caribbean in the Nazi Era

Join the African American Cultural Center and the Africana Studies Institute for an informative session on one of the few Black Nazi Concentration Camp survivors.

About the Speaker:
Mary Romney-Schaab was born in New York City, but her family is from the Caribbean island nation of St. Maarten.

With roots in the Caribbean, She is interested in African Diaspora history, oral history, languages, and culture. As a retired educator, she spent over 40 years teaching English as a second or foreign language in Madrid, New York, Barcelona, and Connecticut.

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2/7/25 - An Afro- Caribbean in the Nazi Era Join the African American Cultural Center and the Africana Studies Institute for an informative session on one of the few Black Nazi Concentration Camp survivors. About the Speaker: Mary Romney-Schaab was born in New York City, but her family is from the Caribbean island nation of St. Maarten. With roots in the Caribbean, She is interested in African Diaspora history, oral history, languages, and culture. As a retired educator, she spent over 40 years teaching English as a second or foreign language in Madrid, New York, Barcelona, and Connecticut.

2/7/25 - An Afro- Caribbean in the Nazi Era

Join the African American Cultural Center and the Africana Studies Institute for an informative session on one of the few Black Nazi Concentration Camp survivors.

About the Speaker:
Mary Romney-Schaab was born in New York City, but her family is from the Caribbean island nation of St. Maarten.

With roots in the Caribbean, She is interested in African Diaspora history, oral history, languages, and culture. As a retired educator, she spent over 40 years teaching English as a second or foreign language in Madrid, New York, Barcelona, and Connecticut. ...

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