Our year in review

Photo Credit: Year in review graphic
by Ellen Kratzer Mon, 06/22/2020 - 14:58

After an unexpected ending to the spring semester, the institute is happy to be able to look back on our 2019-2020 academic year and all we accomplished together.

Faculty Accomplishments

Our faculty has accomplished great things this past year, and we are grateful for their engagement in the community and the classroom.

  • Kwakiutl Dreher, associate professor of English and ethnic studies, along with Michael Burton, assistant professor of textiles, merchandising, and fashion design, and William Thomas, professor of history were awarded a $2,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to pursue their project “The Bell Affair: A Film Reframing American Slavery and Freedom.” This will be an animated film project, following the completed film “Anna,” which was created by the same team. “Anna” and the “O Say Can You See: Early Washington D.C., Law and Family” online archive were awarded the Mary Dudziak Prize for Legal Digital History.

Kwakiutl Dreher, William Thomas, and Michael Burton

My Time Among the Whites book cover

  • Jennine Capó Crucet published her book My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education, a collection of essays in which Crucet explores her experience as a woman of color and a first generation American.
  • Patrick Jones has made great strides in creating a digital archive of Roz Payne’s media records of 1960s activism. These artifacts will be digitalized and hosted by the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities.

Events

We were thrilled to be able to host a number of quality events that demonstrated the values of the institute.

Mukoma Wa Ngugi

  • In September, Mukoma Wa Ngugi (pictured left), who joined us as a visiting lecturer from Cornell University, gave a lecture titled "Blackness, Africans, and African Americans: Complex Solidarities and Beauty." 
  • Justin Castro, professor of history at Arkansas State University gave a lecture on Modesto Rolland and the engineers of the Mexican revolution.

Sowande Muskateem

  • To commemorate the 400th anniversary of African enslavement in North America, Sowande Muskateem (pictured right) gave a lecture on ‘Ghosts of the Atlantic: Decoding America’s Slave-trading Past." The lecture was followed by a performance from Sowande's band, Amalghemy, at the Nebraska Union.
  • Native American studies hosted a screening of Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World in observance of Native American heritage month.
  • In February, we hosted a lecture by Daniel Howell on Cuban nationalism in the 19th century.

Student Accomplishments

We are proud of everything our students have accomplished during the past year.

  • 2nd Lieutenant Kamryn Lynnae Sannicks, a student in ethnic studies, political science, and sociology, received her military commission in May.

After an exciting year of accomplishments and events, we are excited to get back to campus and continue our work this fall.