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“That’s part of what makes it so
captivating — the fact that it’s never taught,” says Michael Dickinson,
who earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in history from
UD in 2011, 2013 and 2017, respectively, and now teaches African
American history at Virginia Commonwealth University. “The world made
more sense as I took more of these classes.”
That is, indeed, the goal.
“What do people do with Africana studies?” asks Prof. Monica Coleman.
“They discover what they don’t know about Black people and fill the
gaps.”
This gap-filling might benefit a health sciences major who will
interact closely with Black populations. Or someone like Colonna, who
wanted to work in politics but “didn’t think it was responsible to
represent people without learning their history and knowing their
culture.” In her first job as a legislative aide, Colonna managed
constituent services for a racially diverse district and quickly
learned, “To serve people, you need to be able to relate to them.”
Strengthening racial relationships is a powerful byproduct of
Africana studies. But its main goal is to help students question the
assumptions they hold about life and the wider world.
Ultimately, the goal for all students is to ask better questions,
much like the ones Emily Wheatly pondered on a European vacation. The
2013 alumna holds joint degrees in political science and history and had
taken numerous classes with Maloba before flying overseas.
Struck by the grandeur and beauty of the architecture before her, she
paused and remembered the ways in which resource-rich African nations
had been bled dry for Western and European gain. “Where did this marble
come from?” she asked herself. “Where did these jewels originate?”
It’s a question few would stop to consider. But for those who study
the world and its people — past, present and future — it’s an answer
worth knowing.