Africana Studies Becomes a Department More than half a century after it was established at Bowdoin, the Africana Studies Program is now becoming a fully fledged academic department. The symbolic but significant change was announced at the March 9 faculty meeting and is effective immediately. “This move signals to the College that Africana studies is a discipline with a specific set of methods and conventions that can be learned through the major we’ve crafted,” says Peter M. Small Associate Professor of Africana Studies and English Tess Chakkalakal, who is also chair of the new department. “Africana studies,” she adds, “has come a long way since its beginnings here at Bowdoin in 1969.” Many of the program’s developments and challenges were discussed and celebrated during the AFAM 50 celebration weekend in November 2019, explains Chakkalakal, and this change in status is a direct result of those conversations. “The move to department institutionalizes those developments.”