History

The African American Studies Program dates back to the late 1960s when the Civil Rights Movement across the nation and the Southern New Jersey region led to the establishment of the King Scholar Program (The Educational Opportunity Fund or EOF Program) in the Fall of 1968. Following the offering of the first Black History course by the History Department in 1969 in response to Black student demands, a slow but steady growth in African American and African curricular offerings over the course of the next two decades culminated in the formal establishment of the African American Studies concentration in 1989.

Since its inception, the concentration and related co-curricular program has been maintained through support from several sources inclucing the following:

• The cooperation of academic departments in proposing and scheduling core and related courses.

• Leadership by Black and other faculty and staff in educating about cultural diversity and intercultural relations and in advocating for equitable and inclusive institutional practices.

• The development and active functioning of African American student organizations.

• Increasing recognition of the importance of multicultural and global understanding in planning for the institution as a whole.

Mission

Rowan University's African American Studies Program is a significant component of the institution's commitment to multidisciplinary education and the inclusion of the study of the experiences of diverse peoples within its academic programs and services. The program consists of curricular and co-curricular offerings that engage students, faculty, staff, and members of external communities in critical analysis, reflection and transformational thinking about African Americans within the framework of the multicultural diversity and global connectedness of American democracy. Through cooperative arrangements with various administrative units of the University, the program promotes intellectual integrity, social responsibility, and excellence in:

• curriculum development, critical thinking, and learning
• scholarship and creative achievements
• leadership and service
  

The program contributes to the broad societal mission of the University and also serves as the major intellectual resource and service center for African American institutions and communities in the region.