BLACK STUDIES MATTER
We cannot understand where humanity has been and where we are going without Black Studies.
This work has never been more important. Our research is illuminating the impact of Black lives on the past, present and future of humanity—a thread that ties together every industry and culture on the planet.
With five innovative research themes and dozens of areas of sub-speciality research, the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies is the epicenter of this vital scholarship, building a legacy for future generations and leading the field of Black Studies forward, locally and globally.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
We believe Black Studies is for everybody. The Institute supports the entire University community and the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and our reach is international, for the experiences of people of African descent inform the experiences of all of humanity.
We believe in community, including “glocal” communities. We use our research to develop antiracist solutions to the most urgent issues of our moment. Our scholars work with the surrounding community, addressing matters relevant to local people.
We believe knowledge production and information are powerful change agents. The research scholars hosted long- and short-term by the Institute are nationally and internationally recognized for their intellectual and creative excellence.
We believe that knowledge should be interdisciplinary. Neither the STEM fields, nor Humanities, nor Social Sciences, nor the Arts, exist alone or are sufficient alone.
We believe in the power of democracy. To study global Blackness is to study democratic institutions and the means by which full democracy has been imagined and enacted.
OUR LEADERSHIP
Anastasia C. Curwood
Dr. Curwood, Professor of History and Director of the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies, joined the UK Department of History and African American & Africana Studies in 2014. Her work has been recognized with fellowships from the Ford Foundation, The Institute for Citizens & Scholars, and the James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference at Emory University. She is the author of Stormy Weather: Middle-Class African American Marriages between the Two World Wars (2010). Her most recent book is Shirley Chisholm: Champion of Black Feminist Power Politics (2023).
Vanessa M. Holden
Dr. Vanessa M. Holden (she/her) received her Ph.D. in African American and Women's and Gender History from Rutgers University. She currently serves as the director of the African American and Africana Studies Program and the director of the Central Kentucky Slavery Initiative at the University of Kentucky. Her research focuses on African American women and slavery in the antebellum South. Her areas of interest are the history of resistance and rebellion, gender history, and the history of sex/sexuality. She offers courses in American History, African American History, and African American Studies.
Brenna E. Pye
Assistant Director for Programs and Engagement for the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies. Brenna is a Public Historian and project developer whose research interests include 20th century African American women’s history and the history of Black Lexington. As an independent scholar, Brenna has produced work for the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation and the Lexington Public Library.
