Black Studies Center

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  Mission

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  The Black Studies Center spotlights the truth that advancing the precise histories of black people contribute to the University of Wyoming's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. 

  The University of Wyoming’s Black Studies Center (UWBSC) uses culturally responsive teaching, rural community-focused engagement, and evidence-based research to attract high-quality students to the University of Wyoming, who will actively contribute to the development of Black Studies. By engendering a more robust understanding of Black Studies, the UWBSC seeks to enhance the visibility and relevance of Black Studies and its capacity to directly impact contemporary social issues that plague America and the greater global community.

  The UWBSC employs multidisciplinary approaches to facilitate increased student collaboration with administrators, faculty, and staff in order to support research and related learning opportunities dedicated to creating innovative scholarship, pedagogy, service, and outreach opportunities that widen and challenge the mainstream historical narrative and provide the opportunity for students to not only learn but actively participate in ongoing social justice discourse. Importantly, the UW Black Studies Center strives to become a model that places Black Studies in rural areas at the forefront of the conceptualizations of race.  

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  Goals

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  The goals of the University of Wyoming Black Studies Center include, but are not limited to:

  • Create an institutional platform that will dedicate efforts and resources to support culturally responsive teaching, rural community-focused engagement, and evidence-based research as it relates to Black Studies.
  • Inspire and provide opportunities for students to understand and appreciate the importance and interrelations of the complex concepts and theories that constitute Black Studies.
  • Assist students in securing the necessary skills to think critically about, convey, and articulate the conditions of the black experience by developing a sense of cultural insight to identify and understand patterns of historical development.
  • Introduce students to the fundamental rigors of graduate research to comprehend the importance of theoretical underpinnings of historical interpretations.
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  Initiatives

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  On October 13, 2020, the University of Wyoming’s Black Studies Center (UWBSC) will host a live virtual welcome and webinar event that will introduce UWBSC's mission statement, goals, and Utility of the Black Studies Center to the University of Wyoming and the greater global community. Members of the UWBSC's advisory board, faculty council, and external steering committee will provide thoughts on the opening of the UWBSC.

  Our Initiatives:

  • Community of Scholars Initiative 
  • Dr. Nathan Hare Leadership Institute
  • Silas Purnell Black Studies Recruitment Initiative 
  • Dr. Carter G. Woodson Graduate Bridge Program  
  • Ida B. Wells Annual Capstone Essay Research Contest 
  • Community Engagement Outreach Program
  • Community Engagement Project
  • Liz Byrd Speaker Series
  • Black Studies Center Workshops
  • Black History Month Celebration 

  Please see our Black Studies Center Initiatives for more details!