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Communitas

In Academic Year 1999-2000, the Communitas Initiative was launched to help foster a greater sense of interconnectedness among African American faculty and staff at Notre Dame. Since that time, the Initiative has sponsored numerous annual events to bring members of the University and our neighbors in the greater Michiana area together for fellowship, sharing, and mutual support. The slate of activities held to date has included intimate gatherings at social hours, arts and cultural events held at various South Bend venues, sponsored receptions and co-sponsorship of academic conferences and research. The Department’s goal is to create an atmosphere that is affirming of Africana Diasporan life through embracing cultural traditions and practices related to African and African American heritage. Selected events, sponsored under the Communitas umbrella, include:

Conferences

1. Fire! Searching for African American Leadership—The third annual Peters Symposium (Spring 2006) (click link to view photos)
2. The Long Reach of African American Poetics: A Mini-Conference Celebrating the Influence of African American Cadences and Verse—In conjunction with The Creative Writing Program and the Department of English (Fall 2005)
3. Don’t Quit Now: American Americans in Higher Education—The second annual Peters Symposium (Spring 2004)
4. Uncommon Faithfulness: The Witness of African American Catholics—in cooperation with the Cushwa Center (Spring 2004)
5. African Americans in the Academy—The first annual Peters Symposium (Spring 2004)
6. Race in the Americas Lecture Series—in cooperation with the Institute for Latino Studies (Fall 2003 - Spring 2004)
7. A Call to Solidarity with Africa: Americans and Africans in Dialogue about Africa’s Promise, Needs, and Image—in cooperation with the Theology department and the Institute for Church Life (Fall 2003 & Spring 2004)
8. “Drumbeats and Dialogue�: Creating New Rhythms for Diversity in Higher Education (Spring 2002)
9. Conceptualizing Diversity in Higher Education (Spring 2001)
10. African-American Women’s Labor (Spring 2000)

Affiliated Groups and Organizations

Campus Groups and Organizations

South Bend Groups and Organizations