News and Events
Stay informed about ARC research, public programs, student opportunities, community partnerships, conferences, publications, and upcoming events.
October 2026
Ask a Researcher: Taharka Adé
Associate professor of Africana Studies and founding director of SDSU’s new Africana Research & Cultural Renaissance Center.
TAHARKA ADÉ’S RESEARCH HAS LONG EXPLORED HOW AFRICAN CULTURAL knowledge moves, endures and takes new forms across the African diaspora—the global community of people descended from Africa.
Through his scholarly work on W. E. B. Du Bois’ conception of the African World, Afrocentricity and the development of his own African World Antecedent Methodology—a framework tool that brings together the African cultural-historical matrix—Adé came to recognize that this body of work needed more than a series of individual, though interconnected, projects. It needed a permanent institutional home where research could lead to restoration, public engagement and cultural justice.
The Africana Research & Cultural Renaissance Center, which opened on Sept. 28 in the College of Arts and Letters, grew from that conviction.
Read the full article on the SDSU Magazine site.September 2026
New center at SDSU to shape the future of research across the African diaspora
The Africana Research & Cultural Renaissance Center creates a home for research, cultural restoration and community partnership.
For many years, Taharka Adé, associate professor of Africana studies at San Diego State University, has studied various approaches to African history and culture, including Afrocentricity and W.E.B. Du Bois’s early 20th century exploration of the African World.
Ade’s own more recent African World Antecedent Methodology examines the historical and cultural foundations connecting African peoples and their experiences.
That research led to the founding of the new Africana Research & Cultural Renaissance Center, housed on the third floor of the College of Arts and Letters building. The opening of the new hub for recovering African histories, tracing cultural continuities across the diaspora, and bringing Africana research into public life, was celebrated in a reception yesterday.
Read more about grand opening on the SDSU News site.
Africana Research & Cultural Renaissance Center Opening Ceremony
September 28, 2026 | 4:00–6:00 PM
The Africana Research & Cultural Renaissance Center will celebrate its official opening on Monday, September 28, at the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center’s Allan Bailey Library. The evening will bring together university leaders, faculty, students, community partners, and supporters to formally inaugurate the Center and introduce its mission and developing work.
The program will include remarks from SDSU President Adela de la Torre, College of Arts and Letters Dean Todd Butler, Africana Studies Chair Sureshi Jayawardene, and ARC founding Director Taharka Adé, along with live music by Senegalese kora musician Amadou Fall, and food from Louisiana Purchase.
August 2026
ARC Expands its Network of Strategic Partnerships
As of August 2026, the Africana Research & Cultural Renaissance Center has established collaborations with Brilliance Exposed, IKG Cultural Resources, Klaman & Co., the Molefi Kete Asante Institute, the African Heritage Studies Association, and African Ancestry. Together, these relationships will connect SDSU students and scholars with opportunities in Afrocentric research mentorship, cultural restoration, field experiences, public programming, community engagement, and scholar-activist networks. Students will also gain experience in genetic ancestry research, cultural competency, scientific ethics, responsible data practices, and the research and documentation of African cultural histories. African Ancestry will further collaborate with ARC on its emerging work related to California Senate Bill 437 and reparations, including the ethical incorporation and stewardship of genetic data.
July 2026
ARC to Lead Statewide Reparations Research Initiative
In July 2026, San Diego State University was selected as the lead and coordinating campus for the California State University’s $6 million Descendancy Research and Verification Program authorized under Senate Bill 437. The multi-campus initiative brings together SDSU, CSU Long Beach, and Sacramento State. Each participating campus has designated two principal investigators to guide the work.
At SDSU, Taharka Ade, Director of the Africana Research & Cultural Renaissance Center, serves as Principal Investigator, and Arun Sethuraman, Chair of Biology, serves as Co-Principal Investigator. The Africana Research & Cultural Renaissance Center will lead the project’s Africana Studies, genealogy, cultural-history, community-engagement, and cultural-pattern dimensions, while the Sethuraman Lab will direct its scientific and genetic research.
Beginning in September 2026, the partners will develop a preponderance-of-the-evidence methodology for conducting and verifying genealogical research related to reparations eligibility, as well as a public-facing ArcGIS Cultural Patterns platform documenting African and African diasporic histories, migrations, and cultural continuities. The project will integrate genealogical, historical, cultural, community, and scientific evidence, establish ethical standards for the use of genetic data, and provide research and training opportunities for students through the 2029–30 academic year.
March 2026
Black Leadership Alliance Coalition Awards $1,000 Grant to Support ARC
The Africana Research & Cultural Renaissance Center (ARC) is honored to announce a $1,000 grant from the Black Leadership Alliance Coalition (BLAC) in support of the Center's mission to advance Africana-centered research, cultural restoration, and community engagement.
ARC extends its sincere appreciation to the BLAC and its Chief Executive Officer, T.J. Harris, for their partnership and belief in the transformative power of Africana-centered scholarship. This contribution marks the beginning of what both organizations hope will be a lasting collaboration dedicated to advancing cultural excellence and community impact.
ARC Formally Approved as an SDSU-Designated Center
San Diego State University formally approved the Africana Research & Cultural Renaissance Center as an SDSU-Designated Center on March 4, 2026, following the recommendation of the College of Arts and Letters and review by the Deans Research Council. In granting final approval, Vice President for Research and Innovation Hala Madanat cited ARC’s compelling mission, strong advisory leadership, thoughtful governance, sustainable funding strategy, and meaningful partnerships, describing the Center as representing “an important contribution to SDSU’s research enterprise and to our broader mission as a public research university.”
Stay Connected
Africana Research & Cultural Renaissance Center
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-6032
619-594-3888
Location: Arts and Letters (AL) 378
Email: [email protected]