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Professor of Africana Studies Heather Merrill's Africa in Diaspora class along with other Africana studies concentrators and students traveled to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 11.

Professor of Africana Studies and Classics Shelley Haley was recently presented with an ovatio for her service to the Classical Association of the Atlantic States (CAAS) and the classics profession in general.

Associate Professor of Africana Studies Nigel Westmaas presented a paper on the topic “The Historical and Contemporary Contours of Guyanese Philosophy” in Georgetown, Guyana, on May 23.

Associate Professor of Africana Studies Nigel Westmaas has published eight mini biographies of prominent historical and contemporary Guyanese figures in the newly released Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography (DCALAB).

Lecturer in Africana Studies Lissette Acosta Corniel recently received a Fulbright award to conduct research on the first free and enslaved black Africans in the Americas. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, functioned as the initial main port of what later became known as transatlantic slave trade.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Africana Studies Reynaldo Ortiz-Minaya recently presented a lecture titled “Plantation Economies and Penal Landscapes in 19th Century Cuba and Louisiana, 1803-1886” at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. His discussion focused on the relationship between the rise of global capital and slave labor in the 19th century and the modern penal system.

Professor of Africana Studies Heather Merrill served as a discussant for a session and also co-organized and co-chaired a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) held March 28-April 1 in San Francisco.

In recognition of her professional achievements and philanthropy, Scholar-in-Residence and Lecturer in Africana Studies Lissette Acosta Corniel was recently honored with the New Jersey Thomas H. Kean Outstanding Equal Opportunity Fund (EOF) Alumni Award for 2016.

Professor of Africana Studies and Classics Shelley Haley presented an invited lecture titled “Translation, Authorial Intent and Racism” on March 24 at SUNY Oneonta. The lecture was part of her larger research project examining racist receptions of ancient authors.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Africana Studies Reynaldo Ortiz-Minaya gave the opening remarks at the Third Biennial Undergraduate Student Research Conference held at the State University of New York at Binghamton on March 12. He then traveled to Cuba where he made two presentations and conducted research.