Greetings from the Director
Welcome to the African American Studies Program at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). On behalf of our faculty, students and staff, we are honored by your interest and desire to find out more about our program and the resources we offer. It is my distinct honor to serve as Director and to work every day alongside committed faculty, students and staff here at UTEP to expand our academic, social and communal reach across this campus and the El Paso communities we serve. African American Studies is committed to academic excellence and equipping our students with the necessary tools to succeed in whatever endeavors they pursue pre- and post-graduation. More importantly, we are dedicated to ensuring that our students understand their responsibilities to the larger social community and the importance of engaged activist-based servant leaderships.
For the past twenty years the African American Studies Program has remained true to its vision of exploring and understanding old and new scholarship, curriculum transformation, maintaining a distinct and collaborative presence in the community, involvement in public policy debate, critical race and gender theory, and training special research attention upon questions and issues arising and radiating first and fore most from the southwestern African American experience. In the spirit of W.E.B. DuBois, John Henrik Clarke, Medgar Evers, Arturo “Arthur” Schomburg, Fannie LouHamer, Ella Baker and other noted academic and community leaders, we continue to push the envelope of knowledge with the expressed purpose of training up the next generation of servant leaders to address problems plaguing the community, the state, the nation and the global society. We fully believe in the value and power of an interdisciplinary education and offer a variety of courses, programs and events designed to cultivate student development, expression and academic and civic engagement.
Through its diverse faculty and curriculum, our program exemplifies multidisciplinary approaches to teaching, scholarship and instruction. Faculty who teach courses in African American Studies span the social sciences and humanities. Our courses pull from the wells of History, Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, Chicano Studies and Women’s & Gender Studies to Music, Communication, Languages and Linguistics and Philosophy. Our core courses are designed to teach students critical thinking, research methodologies, effective writing and speaking and how to craft and defend arguments and ideas. Our classes are stimulating, challenging and provide opportunities for students to explore past and current sociopolitical issues. Thus, I am excited to be a part of the mission of the African American Studies Program and look forward to opportunities to extend its contributions to UTEP and the larger communities we serve.
I maintain an open door policy and will gladly speak to faculty, colleagues, staff and students who wish to stop by my office. I am located in the Liberal Arts Building room 401 and always look forward to speaking with you. We sincerely hope that you visit UTEP in the near future and that you view our site often for continual updates and scheduled events. Welcome again to the African American Studies Program.
