By: Leah Chiappino

Hofstra administrators were called to task at a recent town hall over what some say is an inadequate African Studies program.A petition was started by Dr. Jonation Lightfoot, a professor of teaching, learning and technology and Director of the Campus Center for Race Culture and Social Justice to revive the African Studies program by 2021 in mid-October on change.org. Since then, it has gotten 330 signatures. The petition demands the university commits to a “plan to revive” the African Studies program, hires designated faculty, and explore the possibility of offering five-year masters programs in coordination with the law, medical and business school, along with other graduate programs.

“We’re trying to revive the program for a 21st century model,” Lightfoot said. “The university and the world were a lot different in 1971 than they are now.”

 Originally started in 1972 after demands were placed on universities to offer Black Studies in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, the program now lacks office space, an annual budget, a program director, a department chair, academic advisors, and dedicated faculty. It once offered study abroad opportunities to Africa and an international exchange program for African students and sponsored speakers. Both of these programs have been discontinued. The number of courses in African Studies is limited compared the studies of geographic regions. Out of the Cross-Cultural distribution classes offered, 1.4 percent focus on African studies,  while 20.7 focus on Latin America and the Caribbean,10.7 percent focus on Asia, 20.7% focus on the Middle East, 10.3 percent focus on Europe and 34.5% focus on Western cultures.

 According to Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Herman  Berliner, the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has put together a task-force to look into revitalization of the program  “We are looking at what we can do to strengthen the program, strengthen the offerings, and make what we are offering better known to all of our students,” he said when the question was posed at the annual town hall Dec. 4th. He added that it is difficult for the university to hire new faculty due to low turnover, but university makes an effort whenever possible to hire a diverse staff and advertises positions widely.

While Berliner referred status of the program as “not defunct,”  and the university lists 30 African Studies courses on its bulletin, they only offer one African Studies Course per semester.

Sources:

Jonathan.Lightfoot@hofstra.edu

Herman.A.Berliner@hofstra.edu

Cornell Craig- through Collin Sullivan 

Colin.P.Sullivan@hofstra.edu