Becky Marcinko
To celebrate Black History Month this February, organizations across campus will host various events, lectures and special month-long features at Penn State.
Here are some of the events that will occur throughout the month:
Ongoing throughout February: The College of Arts and Architecture will feature work from both historic and modern black architects on the Stuckeman Family Building’s lobby monitor.
Ongoing beginning Feb. 8: The Palmer Museum of Art will present the new exhibit “African Brilliance: A Diplomat’s Sixty Years of Collecting,” featuring various works from East, Central and West Africa gathered by retired U.S. Ambassador Allen C. Davis
Feb. 3: The Public Relations Student Society of America at Penn State will bring Brandi Boatner to speak at 6 p.m. in 121 Sparks. The lecture is open to all students and faculty.
Feb. 5: The African Studies Program Spring 2020 Seminar Series will feature New York University professor Yanni Kostonis’ lecture, titled “Black, Greek, and Imperial: The Encounter of Race, Empire, and Nation in the Revolutionary Age, 1790s–1815.” The event is free and will be at 12:30 p.m. in 319 Walker.
Feb. 6: Marcia Chatelain of Georgetown University will present “Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America.” Chatelain will also do a book signing. The lecture and signing will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in Foster Auditorium in the Paterno Library. Admission is free.
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Feb. 14: Black feminist leader and educator Anna Julia Cooper will lead a “transcribe-a-thon” for Douglass Day 2020. The event is sponsored by Penn State University Libraries, the Department of English, the Department of African American Studies and the Center for Humanities and Information at 3 p.m. in the Mann Assembly Room of Paterno Library.
William Dewey will also present the lecture “African Brilliance: A Diplomat’s Sixty Years of Collecting” as part of the Palmer Museum’s “African Brilliance” exhibit at 12:10 p.m. on Feb. 14 at the Palmer Museum.
Feb. 19: Professor Bolaji Campbell will analyze African diaspora artists in “Yoruba Masking at the Diasporic Crossroad” at 5:30 p.m. at the Palmer Museum.
Feb. 22: The Palmer Museum will host an interactive study of the textiles during “Textiles and African Brilliance,” in which attendees can create their own raffia weaving. A performance by Roots of Life will begin the family-friendly event at 12 p.m.
Feb. 26: The African Studies Program Spring 2020 Seminar Series will continue with Mark Moritz’s “Insecurity and its Impacts on Pastoral Systems in the Chad Basin,” with free admission at 12:30 p.m. in 319 Walker.
Feb. 27: The Africana Research Center is sponsoring Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s discussion of her book, “Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership,” for free at 6 p.m. in Foster Auditorium.
