UMBC Humanities Forum and Social Sciences Forum — W. E. B. Du Bois Lecture

"The Contemporary African Immigrant Communities in the U.S."
Toyin Falola, Professor of History, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, and University Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Texas, Austin

Wednesday, November 8, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
University Center Ballroom

Many citizens of continental Africa now live in the United States. In this talk, celebrated scholar Toyin Falola will discuss how African immigrants create a new, contemporary form of citizenship that links the United States and Africa and is different from the old diaspora model. The talk will draw on quantitative methods, census data by the Federal Government, sample data collected from specific places and locations, field research, and snowball samplings to highlight contemporary transnational engagements between the United States and Africa. The lecture will highlight differences in trends, particularly between migration of enforced slavery and voluntary migration. It will point to patterns of cultural transformations that are emerging and the ambiguous future of transnational engagements between the United States and Africa.

Dr. Toyin Falola is the author of 23 books including The Humanities in Africa: Knowledge Production, Universities, and the Transformation of Society (2016); The African Diaspora: Slavery, Modernity, and Globalization (2013); and Colonialism and Violence in Nigeria (2009). He has co-authored 25 books including Women’s Roles in Sub-Saharan Africa (2012), and has edited 24 books and co-edited 88 books. Professor Falola has authored or co-authored numerous journal articles, book chapters, and newspaper and magazine articles, and been the subject of several radio and television interviews. He is the recipient of seven honorary degrees, several dozens of lifetime awards, and many honors, fellowships, teaching, and book awards.

Sponsored by UMBC's Department of Africana Studies, the Dresher Center for the Humanities, and the Social Sciences Forum.