ETSU’s College of Arts and Sciences will be hosting its second “Dessert with the Experts” event on Sept. 8 — “The Importance of Africana Studies in a Rapidly Changing World” with Daryl Carter.
Carter is a political and African American historian. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s degree in history from ETSU and a doctoral degree in history from the University of Memphis.
Carter became the interim director of Africana studies on Aug. 1, and he has made it a priority to highlight Africana studies across campus.
His dessert with the experts lecture will focus on showcasing the program and engaging new and future participants.
“I’m hoping that it will, number one, attract students to take classes in the program, and two, to minor in Africana Studies,” said Carter. “And I’m hoping that it will illuminate the importance of diversity and equity and inclusion and quality in the 21st century and help to underscore, as well, problems that come about from lack of understanding of American history and the role of race.”
It will also bring awareness of the need for students to gain background knowledge on issues surrounding race and ethnicity in this rapidly changing environment.
The program itself combines many disciplines to illustrate the many facets of African American and American history.
“If you look at our advisory board, which I built, you can see we have people from around arts and sciences, people from the language resource center, for women’s studies, the department of history and other areas on the campus itself,” said Carter. “It’s designed to highlight not just African American history, but key aspects of American history as a whole.”
For more information, contact Denise Asbury at 423-439-5676 or asbury@etsu.edu.
