Dear Colleagues, Griot Family and Friends,
We hope you all are surviving the colder days and darkness of earlier evenings. Fall has been busy at The Griot Institute. We had a screening on October 29th of Coogler’s Sinners accompanied by a discussion of themes in the film co-led by Drs. Aisha Cort and Cymone Fourshey. Students were eager to analyze the meanings of freedom, particularly for Black people in the United States as reflected in the film and life. The conversation focused on how freedom is diminished by various factors in people’s lives. Gathering together to discuss what Coogler aimed to achieve, where he succeeded, and where he fell short (if at all) was an excellent way to usher in a weekend of Halloween, Day of the Dead, and the end of daylight savings time (AKA the start of standard time). Please see intern blogs on these events for more details.
Conversations about freedom seekers and the use of Black lives and cultures as collateral for land investment and otherwise continued into the first week of November with a book group lunch focused on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Combee, by Historian Edda Fields-Black. The hour-long conversation was hardly enough time to cover all of the themes and 749 pages of book content. It was an opportunity to begin the conversation and to inspire additional Combee book groups. Dr. Fields-Black will be the first speaker in the Griot Spring Series Youth from Africa and the Diasporas: Knowers, Innovators, Visionaries, and Everyday People. The February 4 lecture will take place in the Hildreth-Mirza Great Room at 4:30 pm. Most Wednesdays in February and March, there will be Spring Series conversations with guest speakers and a student and alumni panel on Youth from Africa and the Diasporas: Knowers, Innovators, Visionaries, and Everyday People.
This semester our remaining engagements include Monday drumming lessons and the opportunity to hear from eight Griot interns about their research, at the CSSR poster session on Thursday, December 4 from 11:30-1:00 in Academic West.
November 12 and 13 (today and tomorrow) are Bucknell Gives. Please consider a contribution to benefit The Griot Institute’s programming for students, staff, faculty, and community. Use the link http://givebucknell.edu/BGGriot if you are inclined to give to Bucknell’s rich education inside and outside the classroom.
Cymone Fourshey, Professor of History and International Relations and Director of The Griot Institute
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:
“Sinners” Film Group
“Combee” Book Group
The Power of Creativity and Community: Mama C in Conversation with Griot Institute Interns
Griot intern contributors: Jeremiah Charles ’27, Debra Gonkpah ’26, Lily Hebda ’27 (graduate student and editor), Grace Ifiegbu ’26, Holiness Kerandi ’26, Jesse Leon ’28, Da’Mirah Vinson ’26 and Barbara Wankollie ’25.
Upcoming Events
Bucknell Gives
November 12 and 13, 2026
Bucknell in the Caribbean 2026
Applications are due on December 1!
In the course, Catastrophes in Paradise: Histories, Languages and Environments, co-taught by Professors Cymone Fourshey and Hiram Smith, students earn course credit learning from and with community members in Puerto Rico and Antigua during summer of 202. This 3-week course will be held May 18 – June 9, 2026 (dates are tentative).
Bucknell in the Caribbean is deeply experiential. Students will encounter historical and contemporary knowledge and immerse themselves in the rich cultures of the Caribbean. The program includes group trips to various cultural and/or historical locales in Puerto Rico and Antigua. Integrated into the course are readings and assignments which delve into the historical, cultural, linguistic and environmental conditions of the Caribbean.
This course fulfills CCC requirements for Integrated Perspectives, Global Connections, Environmental Connections, Arts and Humanities Learning Goals, Arts and Humanities, and Nature, People and Justice. Through readings, lectures, field trips, cultural performances, and interviews, Bucknell in the Caribbean provides first-hand information about the histories, languages, and cultures of the Caribbean. The islands of Puerto Rico and Antigua will serve as our classroom.
Link to apply
Please direct questions to griot@bucknell.edu, Cymone Fourshey (ccf014) or Hiram Smith (hls019).
Griot Intern Project Presentations
Thursday, December 4
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Academic West
The Griot Institute Interns will participate in this year’s Center for Social Science Research PosterPlus Symposium. Stop by to learn more about the research they have been doing!
West African Drumming Lessons
Mondays, 4:30 – 5:30
Hildreth-Mirza Great Room
West African drumming lessons continue, and it is not too late to join! 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.
Cosponsored Events
Gospel Music at Bucknell
November 15 – 16, 2025
Rooke Chapel
The 2025-26 Rooke Chapel Gospel Music Fellowship offers current master’s or doctoral students (and recent graduates) the opportunity to cultivate the Gospel music tradition within a vibrant, multicultural University worship setting. The fellow leads, in collaboration with the Protestant chaplain and director of music, weekend residencies open to students, staff, faculty and the local community through the course of the academic year, which are designed to teach, explore and celebrate Gospel music. Rooke Chapel is pleased to welcome back Rev. Angela Jones as our 2025-2026 Gospel Music Fellow! The Rev. Angela Jones is a Howard University School of Divinity graduate and gospel recording artist who has performed with genre Billboard-charting artists such as Richard Smallwood, Yolanda Adams, Bebe Winans, Marvin Sapp, Brandon Camphor & One Way, to name a few. Her singing group, Brandon Camphor & One Way, has been nominated for Stellar Awards, has been included on Billboard’s top-30 chart four times, and has received three Wammie Awards. Jones currently serves as minister of worship arts at Word For Life Church Ministries in Maryland. In 2024-25 Rev. Jones served as the Rooke Chapel Gospel Music Fellow and we look forward to welcoming her back to Bucknell. Join us on the dates above for Saturday rehearsals and Sunday worship services!
Learn more about Rev. Angela here! Contact chapel@bucknell.edu with any questions.
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 | Programs Manager: Michelle Lauver
