Griot Projects

  • Post Racial Conference


    The Griot Institute for Africana Studies invites scholars and artists to a mini-conference entitled Post-Racial America?: An Interdisciplinary Conversation, to be held November 9th and 10th, 2012 at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA.

    Held in the direct wake of the upcoming 2012 election, we hope for a generative, intimate conversation and welcome traditional scholarly papers, as well as creative and performative responses to the topic.

  • Griot Project Book Series


    The publications of the Griot Project Series consist of scholarly monographs and creative works devoted to the interdisciplinary exploration of the aesthetic, artistic and cultural products and intellectual currents of historical and contemporary African America and of the African diaspora using narrative as a thematic and theoretical framework for the selection and execution of its projects.

    The series is edited by the Director of the Bucknell University Griot Insitute, Carmen Gillespie, and considers potential publications in Africana studies from a wide range of disciplines.

  • Griot-Stadler Prize for Poetry


    The Griot-Stadler Prize for Poetry is awarded for an unpublished poetry manuscript by a black US poet who has previously published at least one book of poetry. The prize is a joint project of the Griot Institute for Africana Studies, the Stadler Center for Poetry, and the Bucknell University Press.

    2011-2012 Winner:

    Myronn Hardy, Catastrophic Bliss

  • The Dancing Mind Challenge

    On November 19, 2011, The Griot Institute for Africana Studies, along with its partners, the English Department, the English Club, Library and Instructional Technology, the Stadler Center for Poetry, and Multicultural Student Services sponsored the Dancing Mind Challenge.

    This event, based on Toni Morrison's reflections in her essay "The Dancing Mind"was an opportunity for Bucknell students, faculty and staff and community members to "unplug" for six consecutive hours and commit this time to reading. In this age of Google, cell phones and Facebook, we have become addicted to instant gratification and are at risk for losing the ability to concentrate deeply for any serious length of time.