Programming & Events
See what’s happening with the African American Studies Program.
The African American Studies program hosts a variety of events throughout the year. We also co-sponsor events with other programs on campus regularly. Most programming and events are open to the community.
Where Black Studies Happens? From Freedom Schools to Higher Education
Upcoming Events
Fall 2025
Conseula Francis Emerging Scholar Lecture
Matriculated Memories: A Freedom School Blueprint for Educational Memory-keeping with LeAnna T. Luney, Ph.D.
FREE and open to the public
In an era of regressive educational policy and practice, the call for innovative education models remains integral to Black lives. Freedom schools answer this call, furthering implications on grassroots learning pathways and Black rural educational empowerment in the South. Throughout this lecture, LeAnna T. Luney, PhD demonstrates how the FREE Zion Project offers a research-informed, pedagogical blueprint for re-envisioning the educational lives of Black Kentuckian learners and stakeholders. The FREE Zion Project research team has analyzed data demonstrating that Black rural Kentuckians connect their own schooling experiences to teaching and learning during Jim Crow, and youths’ school experiences in the present day. As revealed by The FREE Zion Project’s ongoing research activities, community members reiterate that the significance of learning their local, education-centered, Black history positively influence techniques for surviving anti-Black schooling systems. In response, The FREE Zion Project has collected and analyzed over 58 school-related artifacts for digital preservation of the community’s educational history to teach as course content at the Zion Freedom School.
Lecture attendees will leave inspired to question their own school systems, recognizing how Black rural communities in the South re-member educational pasts, survive anti-Blackness in schools, and dream up grassroots learning pathways.
African American Studies Faculty Sabbatical Talk
Kameelah L. Martin, Ph.D.
FREE and open to the public
Spring 2026
The Black Summit
Black History Month
African American Studies New Faculty Talk: Ashley Denis, Ph.D.
Regular Event Programming
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Conseula Francis Emerging Scholar Lecture Series
Every school year, the African American Studies program invites a young scholar to present their fresh and fascinating research to the campus community. The series was created by Professor Conseula Francis (1973-2016), the first African American Studies program director. She wanted to encourage and assist new scholars in the field of African American Studies. Professor Francis was not only a champion for her students, but she also dedicated herself to mentoring and supporting young faculty members. In honor of her unwavering dedication to our program and the work of junior scholars, we have named this lecture series after her. -
African American Artist Lecture Series
The Artist Lecture Series is a special event that honors the importance of artistic expression. We invite artists from various backgrounds to showcase their art and provide us with valuable insights into how art can be a way of communicating about society. The lectures in this series are inspired by the words of writer Ralph Ellison about music, “it gives significance to all those indefinable aspects of experience which nevertheless help to make us what we are…reminding us of what we were and of that toward which we aspire.”
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African American Studies Film Series
The African American Studies program organizes a film series each February. The film series focuses on specific themes associated with the program’s annual theme. It is a great opportunity for the public to explore and learn more about these important topics. This event is free and open to the public.
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African American Book Discussion Series
The African American Studies Book Discussion Series brings together ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø faculty, staff, and students to have informal discussions about significant texts in the field of African American Studies. We select one book to discuss each semester and provide a limited number of copies of books to participants.