February commemorates Black History Month, but that rich heritage is something the UB African American studies department celebrates every day.
African American studies sprung out of the civil rights movement in universities across the United States. The program at UB, now in its 34th year, aims to create a culture where students can examine the socio-cultural, political and historical experiences of African-Americans.
"They fell through the cracks," said Linda Williams, the department's chair. "African-Americans' (histories) tended not to be taught, and if they were, it was taught in a course that focused on colonialism. So, we didn't learn about the history and culture, and stereotypes developed."
There are currently 28 undergraduate students majoring in the program and 25 students pursuing an African American studies minor, with many more students taking courses that are cross-listed in other departments.
"One thing that does distinguish African-American studies is that it's an interdisciplinary field," said African-American studies professor Keith Griffler.
Department officials say this multidisciplinary approach offers a better education.
"Multidisciplinary people are much more better equipped, with a more diverse, in-depth type of education," said Jessie Carter, the African-American studies director of undergraduate study.
"It's a different point of view than you usually learn in high school or grade school," said Larissa East, senior sociology major who is minoring in African-American studies.
The department is currently arranging an oral history project, which will conduct interviews with people involved in the civil rights movement to preserve their testimonials. The project is in the planning phase with no precise details yet available, according to Williams.
Along with the oral history project, the department is collaborating with scholars in Africa to create a distance learning program.
"We're interested in forging ties with other scholars across the world," Williams said.
A small faculty and tight budget has made special projects, like the oral history and the distance learning initiative, a challenge.
"There's no money," Carter said. "When you're fighting against disciplines that are entrenched, they have power."
This tight budget has also created a problematic paradox for attracting faculty to the program.
"Faculty is hard to get on this campus," Carter said. "If you're not doing anything productive, you can't have the faculty. Yet, how do you do anything productive, if you don't have faculty?"
"We are in a constant battle to survive. We've had administrators who have tried to help us, and others who didn't. We're not the only department going through this," Carter said.
But a small department is also part of what makes African American studies unique because it allows an opportunity for students to dialogue with faculty, according to Williams.
"The budget has not changed significantly over the past decade, but we do have resources. There's ways to get funding. We are trying to get more faculty," Williams said, pointing to a new hire the department made just this year.
Despite faculty and budget constraints, Carter said the program has made great strides since its inception. Carter, who has lived and worked in Buffalo all her life, said she remembers a time when racial prejudice was much more apparent.
"(Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.) was from the south. We knew him, but I never thought of him as being our leader," she said. "We come out of a time where, I think, we all suffered prejudice. But I don't think it was as bad here as in the south. We went wherever we wanted to go."
Carter grew up in Buffalo and said that unlike other areas in the United States where civil rights were a prominent issue, she lived in a multiracial neighborhood where everyone helped everyone.
"There wasn't a sense of race, there was a sense of neighborhood," she said, exactly the type of community the African American studies department hopes to create.
