Prairie View A&M University will soon have an African-American Studies Initiative. Thanks to $500,000 donation from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and another $250,000 from an anonymous donor, which is eligible for a $250,000 university match.
The initiative, which has so far received the total of $1 million for its establishment, will be housed in Marvin D. and June Samuel Brailsford College of Arts and Sciences. African-American Studies content will be infused through the university’s liberal arts offerings.
“By strategically embedding African-American theme-based courses within the core curriculum, all students will have an opportunity to select courses that expand their academic interests while enhancing their engagement in the humanities,” James Palmer, interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said.
Under the initiative, the experiences of people of African descent in America and abroad will be studied in an interdisciplinary way, providing students and faculty with a clear understanding of the social, cultural, economic and historical issues which frame the contribution of Afro-American communities in the country.
The generous funding of $1 million will further ensure the expansion of existing courses in the PVAMU Core Curriculum to form and propose an African-American Studies Program.