September 2, 2019-November 15, 2019, Special Collections Library
An exhibit marking fifty years of African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University will be on display in Vanderbilt University’s Special Collections through November 15, 2019. The exhibit highlights materials held in Vanderbilt University Special Collections, University Archives, as well as items loaned from the Department of African American and Diaspora Studies.
The Department of African American and Diaspora Studies was initially named the Afro-American Studies Program. It was not a new academic field when it was first offered at Vanderbilt University in 1969. In the years prior, student movements intersected the Black freedom struggle. Campus visibility led numerous American institutions to offer courses and programs about the African American experience. Many of these programs were only instituted after protracted campus and community struggles.
A reception for the exhibit will occur in Special Collections on Friday, October 11, from 12:00 -1:00 p.m.
There will also be a Curator’s Talk discussing the exhibit on Thursday, November 7, 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m., also in Special Collections.