Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives & Cultures
Griot: A central figure in many West African cultures. Historically, the griot held many functions, including community historian, cultural critic, indigenous artist and collective spokesperson.
The Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives and Cultures provides faculty and student intellectual and creative engagement with the interdisciplinary investigation of the cultures, histories, narratives, peoples, geographies and arts of Africa and the African diaspora.
Our mission statement at the Bucknell Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives and Cultures is a collaborative enterprise devoted primarily to the interdisciplinary exploration of the aesthetic, artistic, and scholarly cultural products and intellectual currents of historical and contemporary Africana communities. The Griot Institute embraces narrative as a thematic and theoretical framework for its projects and programming.
Explore the Griot Institute further in the Griot Booklet linked below.
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 is happening May 14 – June 5, 2024. The application deadline is Dec. 1. Please send questions to griot@bucknell.edu.
Contact Details
Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives & Cultures
Location
Hildreth-Mirza Hall, Second Floor