The DC Semester Program for Democracy, Culture, and the Arts (DCSP) is now accepting applications for the Fall 2022 semester! This study away program, which is run by the College of Charleston, provides students who are interested in arts and culture with an opportunity to synthesize their coursework with professional experience at Washington DC-area arts organizations. The program combines a full-time (and often paid) internship in DC (DCSP 395; 6 credits) with a seminar on democracy, culture, and the arts (DCSP 350; 3 credits). Students also take either a 3-credit independent study or a 3-credit online course at the College of Charleston. Combining an internship with coursework has the benefit of helping students build professional contacts and skills while still in school and connecting their academic interests to their professional goals after graduation. For AAST students, the opportunities for arts and culture internships in DC are bountiful—there are dozens of museums, foundations, non-profits, media companies, and government agencies with relevant internships. Also, the African American Studies Program is in the process of allowing DCSP 395 and DCSP 350 to count toward the major and minor in AAST.
Students are responsible for securing an internship in DC, but the DCSP director, Professor Neufeld, and the DCSP associate director, Professor Crabtree, will assist students in identifying internships. Tuition and housing costs are billed like any other tuition and housing costs at CofC, and financial aid still applies. However, there is a program fee of around $800.
If DCSP is of interest to you, please read through the DCSP Info Sheet, which includes an application checklist and application form. If you are interested in DCSP, schedule a meeting with Professor Neufeld (neufeldja@cofc.edu) by mid-February to make sure the program is a good fit for you.
Application Deadline: March 7, 2022
Requirements: Junior or senior status at the time of the program (Fall 2022)
Don’t miss out on these events this semester! This year’s theme of Decolonizing the Curriculum: Teaching Race Across the Disciplines kicks off with Dr. Lailani Sabzalian (Oregon University) on September 23rd, soon followed by Dr. Jameliah Shorter-Bourhanou (Holy Cross College) on September 30th. Dr. Sabzalian will discuss race, indigenous populations, and educational pedagogy while Dr. Shorter-Bourhanou will discuss how to incorporate race content in philosophy. In October, we will host Dr. Sofiya Noble (UCLA) whose talk will feature her award-winning book Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. While Dr. Noble is housed in African American Studies/Women and Gender Studies, this phenomenal work intersects with STEM fields such as computer science and software engineering (one of CofC newest forthcoming majors). Her talk is scheduled for Oct. 27th. Each of these events will be held virtually.
The African American Studies Program would like to congradulate and share with you the 2020-2021 recipient of the Bernard E. Powers Writing Award in African American Studies as well as the African American Studies Rising Scholar Award.
The African American Studies Program would like to congradulate and share with you this year’s recipient of the Afrcian American Studies Rising Scholar Award Janae Dorsey.
