Spring Break
MSU launches cultural program
African-American studies minor now option for students
Sarah-Dale Simpkins
Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: News
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Mississippi State University ushered in the African-American studies program Thursday, opening the doors for students to receive a minor that offers an in-depth understanding of the history and culture of the people it embodies.
The program will include courses in anthropology, English, history, music, political science and sociology.
The inaugural ceremony was held in the John Grisham Room at Mitchell Memorial Library, where more than 100 people showed up to take part in the program's inception.
Student supporters, including members of the basketball, football and track teams, were a part of the standing-room-only audience.
Stephen Middleton, director of the African-American studies program, MSU President Robert 'Doc' Foglesong and provost Peter Rabideau were present for the event.
Middleton said the program is a discipline that allows people to develop their skills across the university's curriculum.
It is an historical event in the larger scheme of things, he said.
"In the years to come when historians and scholars write about African-American studies and its presence in the university curriculum, they will take note of what MSU announced Thursday," Middleton said.
The program will benefit students because they will experience multi cultural societies during their college years, he said.
For example, a student that graduates with a business administration degree will have an advantage if he or she lands a job with a multi national company.
Foglesong said at the event that he is proud to see the program coming together after all the time spent planning it.
"This has been a special project that we undertook a little more than a year ago," Foglesong said.
Jacqueline Wade, the keynote speaker and black studies curriculum specialist at Middle Tennessee State University, told the audience the new program will give students a new perspective on the world.
"This program will help us to see the American world through a window rather than a mirror reflecting a dominant culture," she said. "You have not gone wrong, and you will never go wrong offering students a chance to broaden their social and economic backgrounds."
The program will include courses in anthropology, English, history, music, political science and sociology.
The inaugural ceremony was held in the John Grisham Room at Mitchell Memorial Library, where more than 100 people showed up to take part in the program's inception.
Student supporters, including members of the basketball, football and track teams, were a part of the standing-room-only audience.
Stephen Middleton, director of the African-American studies program, MSU President Robert 'Doc' Foglesong and provost Peter Rabideau were present for the event.
Middleton said the program is a discipline that allows people to develop their skills across the university's curriculum.
It is an historical event in the larger scheme of things, he said.
"In the years to come when historians and scholars write about African-American studies and its presence in the university curriculum, they will take note of what MSU announced Thursday," Middleton said.
The program will benefit students because they will experience multi cultural societies during their college years, he said.
For example, a student that graduates with a business administration degree will have an advantage if he or she lands a job with a multi national company.
Foglesong said at the event that he is proud to see the program coming together after all the time spent planning it.
"This has been a special project that we undertook a little more than a year ago," Foglesong said.
Jacqueline Wade, the keynote speaker and black studies curriculum specialist at Middle Tennessee State University, told the audience the new program will give students a new perspective on the world.
"This program will help us to see the American world through a window rather than a mirror reflecting a dominant culture," she said. "You have not gone wrong, and you will never go wrong offering students a chance to broaden their social and economic backgrounds."
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