“INTERSECTIONS OF AFRICAN DIASPORA KNOWLEDGE COMMUNITIES:

THE SOUTH FLORIDA MODEL”

“Intersections of African Diaspora Knowledge Communities: The South Florida Model” has already met the bulk of its benchmark requirements as identified in the proposal identified above, funded by the Ford Foundation and in its dissemination schedule. For the execution of the grant at the university level, Florida International University has developed two administrative components following the two major strands of the proposal.

These are (1) a summer graduate course which is organized by Dr. Jean Rahier, (Assoc. Professor, ANWS and Sociology/Anthropology) titled International Graduate Summer Seminar: Interrogating the African Diaspora; and (2) the programmatic African Diaspora activities which includes consortium building and faculty and community development, coordinated by Dr. Carole Boyce Davies, the Director of African-New World Studies.

Our project in general has begun to fulfill its intent to make South Florida an important site for African Diaspora knowledge. The graduate component has made the summer at Biscayne Bay Campus a time of rich intellectual activity filled with the best graduate students in the field, complemented by wonderful professional scholars in residence during the weeks of the program. Their lectures have added another important element to our Program's offerings.

A third related, though not lesser element, is a community articulation which the Ford foundation grant suggested as an important component in our realization of this project. “Intersections of African Diaspora Knowledge Communities: The South Florida Model,” has assisted African-New World Studies in providing leadership in the field of African Diaspora Studies both in the local South Florida area, as was proposed. Nationally and internationally, it has allowed us to further articulate African Diaspora Studies, as a significant area of knowledge production as was intended by this grant. For clarity, our report will detail its major streams of activities.