Studying African Diaspora Studies at Kenyon
Students concentrating in African diaspora studies explore the variety of cultural types in the African diaspora as well as the connections between African studies and African American studies. Intensive, discussion-based seminars led by faculty from multiple disciplines promote an intellectual give-and-take, exploring a range of topics, from ethnomedicine to the history of the civil rights era to the literature of Richard Wright and Toni Morrison.
The Allen B. Ballard Prize
The Allen B. Ballard Prize is awarded to a Kenyon student in recognition of an outstanding scholarly project that promotes understanding of the history, cultures and peoples of the African diaspora by focusing on issues pertaining to social justice. The prize honors Allen Ballard '52 H'04, a scholar of Africana studies and one of the first two students to integrate Kenyon in 1948.
Featured Courses
The Crossroads Seminar
Taught by an interdisciplinary group of faculty from across the College’s five divisions, this seminar—designed specifically for first-year students—explores the diverse social, political, cultural, and economic experiences of the peoples of the African Diaspora and their impact on our world from ancient times to the present.
Toni Morrison
“Pleasurable” doesn’t seem like a word that would apply to the harrowing story of a mother who kills her child rather than allow her to be enslaved. Yet Morrison writes prose so beautiful one could describe reading such a story as, in some sense, pleasurable, even as this beauty deepens the power and pain of her words.
Exploring the African Diaspora
This course serves as an introduction to the most important approaches to the study of African diaspora experiences. Students will apply methods drawn from a wide variety of disciplines—anthropology, history, literary study, psychology, sociology, visual and performing arts—to undertake a preliminary investigation into the connections between Africa and other parts of the world.
African American Film
African Americans have been contributing since the beginning of film history to the imaging or re-imaging of the culture and its people. This course considers films directed by African American people and their contributions to the creation of African American representations over time.
Kenyon College
Gambier, Ohio 43022