Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives & Cultures
Griot (n): In many West African cultures, the griot has historically served as community historian, cultural critic, indigenous artist, and collective spokesperson: the keeper and transmitter of collective memory.
The Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives and Cultures provides faculty, staff and students intellectual and creative engagement with the interdisciplinary investigation of the cultures, histories, narratives, peoples, geographies and arts of Africa and the African Diaspora.
Mission Statement:
Guided by West African intellectual and social traditions, the Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives and Cultures at Bucknell University is committed to documenting and illuminating the narratives of African and Diaspora communities across time. Narrative serves as the Institute's animating framework and the lens through which faculty, students and community members engage interdisciplinarily with the cultures, histories, peoples, geographies and arts of Africa and the African Diaspora. That framework shapes all The Griot Institute does, from scholarly and artistic research to the intellectual and cultural exchanges it cultivates within and across African and Diaspora communities.
Events & Series
Every year, the Griot Institute offers the Bucknell community a series that focuses on a question or issue of concern central to Black lives and cultures.
Learn more about the Spring Series
Martin Luther King Jr. Week
An annual campus community gathering to honor the life and legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. through learning, discussion, community engagement and art.
Griot Project Book Series
Consists of scholarly monographs and creative works devoted to the interdisciplinary exploration of African America.
Projects and Undergraduate Research
The Griot provides rich opportunities for students to pursue scholarship related to the institute's mission.
Bucknell in the Caribbean
Bucknell in the Caribbean provides first-hand information about the languages, literatures, histories and cultures of the Caribbean through readings, lectures, field trips, group projects, attendance and participation in cultural performances, ethnographic interviews, as well as analytic reflections. You will explore the cultural and environmental impacts of slavery, colonialism, independence and tourism. The islands of Puerto Rico and Antigua serve as our classroom. Bucknell in the Caribbean happens in May/June each year. The application deadline is Dec. 1. Please send questions to griot@bucknell.edu.