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The Stony Brook Africana Studies Department is an intrisically interdisclinary unit that foces on the history, sociology, philosophy, literature, anthropology, religions, and experiences of people of African heritage from around the world.  Grounded in the scholarly enterprise, the Africana Studies faculty encourages social commitment, promotes sensitivity to the civil rights of all people and teaches positive results through community action.

Africana Studies began as an academic unit in 1968.  Like other Black Studies programs, it was established as a result of debates and civil unrest that affected civil society in the United States throughout the 1960s.  These social upheavals that addressed issues spearheaded by people of various ethnic and racial backgrounds who came from all sectors of the US society but most especially from college campuses in the United States.  In addition to addressing other important civil rights issues, the social activists who participated in these movements pointed out glaring biases  in the ways in which the traditional disciplines were being taught on US campuses: ignoring, devaluing and misrepresenting the contributions of peoples of African heritage and ancestry thereby distorting our understanding of our nation's history