About Us

Dr. Erika Williams, associate professor of English and Africana studies, instructs a section of AFRA 3215W. 20th and 21st Century African American Literature.

Africana Studies at UConn

Established in 1989, the primary mission of the Africana Studies Institute (formerly the Institute for African American Studies) is to enlighten and inform the University of Connecticut community and the people of the State of Connecticut, the nation, and the world about the history, culture, contributions and experiences of people of African descent in the United States and abroad. To achieve this goal, the ASI promotes high-quality research, scholarship, and teaching of the African American experience and sponsors a wide variety of programs on topics and issues that are critical to Black America and pertinent to a better understanding of the Black world.

The ASI functions with a director and tenured as well as tenure-track faculty with specializations in a broad range of disciplines and a special interest in the African American and African Diaspora experience. Our faculty have joint appointments in the departments of history, sociology, drama, art and art history, political science, English, philosophy, women's studies, psychology, and Caribbean and Latino studies. We also have an Institute coordinator, an assistant to the coordinator, a strategic marketing and communications team, as well as undergraduate student researchers. The Institute is centrally located on the main campus in Storrs, with offices in Wood Hall.
 
Contact the Institute

Oscar D. Walters, Associate Professor of Art & Art History, 1966-1995
Professor Oscar Walters, Associate Professor of Art & Art History from 1966-1995, surrounded by his students

Fernando Betancourt, Executive Director of the San Juan Center Inc., a Latino nonprofit agency in Hartford, and Fiona Vernal at the opening of EPOCH's Housing Discrimination exhibition in 2019 (photo courtesy of Defining Studios)
Fernando Betancourt, Executive Director of the San Juan Center Inc., a Latino nonprofit agency in Hartford, and Fiona Vernal at the opening of EPOCH's Housing Discrimination exhibition in 2019 (photo courtesy of Defining Studios)

Our History

While the Africana Studies Institute was established in 1989, Black students, faculty, and staff began paving the road for future generations decades prior.

Timeline

Year Event
1933 Harrison Brooks Fitch became the first African-American student to play on the freshman basketball team. The following year, Brooks Fitch became the first to play for the varsity team, then Connecticut State College. He did not return for his junior year.
1951 UConn students established a campus chapter for the NAACP.
1968 William Dehomer Waller became the first African American appointed to the University's Board of Trustees. The Organization of Afro-American Students was established.
1969 UConn established the Center for Black Studies, directed by Floyd Bass. On October 9, conflict erupted between Black and white students outside of the Delta Chi fraternity and Lancaster House. Later that year, President Homer Babbidge announced the development of Black Studies courses.
1970 Floyd Bass, Hale Smith, and James Eversole launched the groundbreaking course, Black Experiences in the Arts course.
1974 On April 22, UConn students hosted a sit-in at the Wilbur Cross Library. Their demands included adequate resources for Black students and the expansion of the Afro-American Cultural Center and Center for Black Studies.
1989 The Center was renamed the Institute for Black Studies.
2006 African American Studies major first offered.
2014 African American Studies major and minor renamed to Africana Studies.

Harrison Brooks Fitch pictured with the Freshman Basketball Squad in the 133 Nutmeg. University of Connecticut Archives.
Harrison Brooks Fitch (top row, second from the left) pictured with the Freshman Basketball Squad in the 133 Nutmeg. University of Connecticut Archives.

Afro-American Student Organization pictured in the 1968 Nutmeg. University of Connecticut Archives.
Afro-American Student Organization pictured in the 1968 Nutmeg. University of Connecticut Archives.
Photo of a student getting arrested during Black student protest in Wilbur Cross Library, April 1974. University of Connecticut Archives.
Student arrested during Black student protest in Wilbur Cross Library, April 1974. University of Connecticut Archives.