GREETINGS FROM THE DIRECTOR
February 28, 2025
Dear Griot Friends and Family,
In our efforts at The Griot Institute to develop cross campus programming collaborations around our theme Decolonial Education and Liberatory Learning, we had the opportunity to co-host Dr. Monica Cox – Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Engineering Education at The Ohio State University – with Bucknell’s College of Engineering for their E-week.
Faculty, staff, and students came to hear Dr. Cox’s personal and professional story. Audience members had many questions for Dr. Cox. As a result, the conversation was deeply impactful. Many were thinking about how to engage in building decolonial educational (and professional) spaces that bring liberation. We discussed the challenges in identifying then rooting out oppressive colonial practices. The conversation delved into building the kinds of liberatory learning we want to experience even as this is difficult and ongoing work.
There are several formal opportunities remaining this semester to gather and discuss these questions on decoloniality in education and learning.
We invite you to come out and join us next week for Multimedia Artist and Filmmaker Ephraim Asili’s lecture Transgressive Transcendence on March 5 at 4:30 pm in the Hildreth-Mirza Great Room. Following Spring Break, social critic and artist Coco Fusco will give a lecture Illicit Incursion in the Cuban Public Sphere at 4:30 pm in the Gallery Theater (3rd Floor of the ELC), followed by a reception hosted by the Samek Art Gallery from 6-7pm. Following the March talks, The Griot Institute is hosting a conference. There will be scholarly and artist panels, a poetry book launch for Black California Gold, and several keynote speaker events on Friday March 28 and Saturday March 29.
The CFP for the conference can be found on the conference website. When conference presenters have shared their papers, they will be posted on the website in mid-March. While the deadline for abstracts passed on February 15, there is still space for those who want to register and participate as a conference attendee. We hope that some of you newsletter readers will participate in the conference as audience members. Please register here. Please reach out to griot@bucknell.edu if you have questions about the conference. Please find relevant readings on decolonial theory and questions in this folder.
In the meantime, please enjoy reading the intern blogs and hearing their fresh and unique analyses of the many lectures and events they participated in or listened to during the first six weeks of classes. Have a gentle final week of work before Spring Break.
Warm Regards,
Cymone Fourshey
Professor of History and International Relations Director of The Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives and Cultures
The Griot Intern Blog
For insights, reactions and detailed information on past Griot Institute events, please read our intern-authored blogs throughout the academic year. The blogs also include many updates and reports on what is happening around campus in connection to Black lives and cultures.
Newest Blog Posts:
- 60-minutes with Dr. Stephanie P. Jones by Athaliah Elvis ’26
- 1619 to 2025, All Aboard History! with Captain Nikkole Hannah-Jones by Athaliah Elvis ’26
Griot intern contributors: Jeremiah Charles ’27, Athaliah Elvis ’26, Mercy Ifiegbu ’26, Holiness Kerandi ’26, Jesse Leon ’28, Ryleigh Roberts ’25 (graduate student and editor), Da’Mirah Vinson ’26 and Barbara Wankollie ’25.
Upcoming Events
The 2025 Griot Institute Spring Series continues on March 5
with Ephraim Asili!
Ephraim Asili, Artist and Filmmaker, Associate Professor of Film and Electronic Arts at Bard College
Wednesday, March 5 at 4:30 – 6:00 pm
Hildreth-Mirza Great Room
Talk Title: Transgressive Transcendence
Lunch Chat with Ephraim Asili
Wednesday, March 5 at 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Hildreth-Mirza Great Room
RSVP Link
Coco Fusco, Interdisciplinary Artist and Writer, Professor at the Cooper Union School of Art
Wednesday, March 19 at 4:30 – 6:00 pm
Gallery Theatre, Elaine Langone Center (top floor)
Talk Title: Illicit Incursions in the Cuban Public Sphere
Lunch Chat with Coco Fusco
Thursday, March 20 at 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Traditional Reading Room, Bertrand Library
RSVP Link
The Griot Institute Spring 2025 Conference:
Decolonial Education and Liberatory Learning
March 28 – 30, 2025
Find details and register now to attend on the Conference Website.
West African Drumming Lessons
Mondays, 4:30 – 5:30
Hildreth-Mirza Great Room
West African drumming lessons will continue in Spring 2025! This opportunity is free of charge and is open to the Bucknell community, as well as the public! No experience is necessary and instruments are provided.
Because we have a limited number of instruments, please register by emailing griot@bucknell.edu.
About the instructor: Urie Kline is a versatile percussionist active across Central Pennsylvania. He first began studying West African drumming — specifically the Jembe and Dunan tradition of the Mande — in 2015. His educational experiences include masterclasses under both Dr. Djo Bi (Ivory Coast) and M’bemba Bangoura (Guinea). He has taught Mande drumming during his World Drumming course at Lycoming College since 2018 and started instructing at The Griot Institute in 2022.
About the Griot
To check event dates, subscribe to the Griot Institute Public Event Calendar
Email: griot@bucknell.edu
Phone: 570-577-2123
Location: Hildreth-Mirza, 2nd Floor
Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00am – 3:00pm or by appointment
Director: C. Cymone Fourshey | Program Manager: Michelle Lauver
