Events

 

 

 

 

 

Fall 2021 Events

Marlanda Dekine: Poetry & Ancestry Workshop

Wednesday, October 6, 5:30 p.m. | Edwards Recital Hall
133 Chanticleer Drive W, Room 154

Marlanda Dekine (she/they), the winner of the 2021 New Southern Voices Book Prize, will read poems from their first collection, i am from a punch & a kiss, and their forthcoming collection, Thresh & Hold (Hub City Press, 2022). They will conduct an open interactive workshop, inviting you to experience Plantersville, South Carolina, through their Gullah Geechee experience. Their work will encourage you to journey into your own memory and personal ancestry. Questions, silliness, frustration, randomness, and the mundane are all allowed. No experience with laughter, speaking, or writing is required. All are welcome. Reception to follow.

Free and Open to the Public. Masks Required.

Pre-register for a chance to win Marlanda's first book, i am from a punch & a kiss.

 

 

Gullah Roots Screening and Community Discussion

Saturday, October 23, 1 p.m.
Lib Jackson Student Union Theatre
100 Spadoni Park Circle

Part of SCETV’s Carolina Stories series, Gullah Roots dives deep into South Carolina’s ties with West Africa, educating viewers about Gullah heritage, including spiritual, musical and artistic traditions. Victoria Smalls, Amadu Massally, Deon Turner, Patricia Mallet, and Veronica Gerald, will discuss their impressions with SCETV producer and fellow traveller, Betsy Newman, and will invite guests to reflect on Gullah contributions to the coastal economy.

Following Coastal Carolina's Covid safety protocols, all attendees must wear masks while inside the building. Light refreshments will be served outside following the screening. Space is limited so advanced registration in recommended.

Register Here for this free event.

 

Spring 2021

"Teaching Gullah Geechee Language" 
  Friday, February 5, 2021 @ 6:30pm

Harvard instructor Sunn m'Cheaux discusses his groundbreaking teaching of Gullah Geechee language and challenges facing students whose first language is Gullah. Sunn m'Cheaux is a Charleston, South Carolina native. 

 

 

"Gullah Geechee Food Traditions Part I"
  Friday, February 12, 2021 @ 6:30pm

Local cook Laura Herriott prepares her popular Gullah Geechee dishes from scenic Sandy Island in Georgetown County, South Carolina. Herriott owns and operates Wilma's Cottage.

 

 

 
"Gullah Geechee Food Traditions Part II"
  Thursday, February 18, 2021 @ 6:30pm

Chef Benjamin Dennis will cook staple Gullah Geechee dishes and offer insights into their West African roots. Dennis is a personal chef and caterer, born and raised in Charleston.

 

 

"Gullah Geechee-Sierra Leone Connection"
  Thursday, February 25, 2021 @ 6:30pm

Sierra Leonean Amadu Massally presents Gullah Roots, a documentary tracing the cultural ties between the Sea Islands and West Africa. Massally is founder of Fambul Tik, a tourism organization focused on descendants of Sierra Leone. 

 

 

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 Past Events

International Gullah Geechee and African Diaspora Conference | 2020

The Charles Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies at Coastal Carolina University hosted the second International Gullah Geechee and African Diaspora Conference (IGGAD) in March 2020. This year's inaugural theme is "Reimagining the African Diaspora: Archives, Politics, and Communities." Read more > 

Inagural International Gullah Geechee and African Diaspora Conference | 2019

The Charles Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies at Coastal Carolina University hosted the first annual International Gullah Geechee and African Diaspora Conference (IGGAD) in March 2019. This year's inaugural theme is "Tracing the African Diaspora: Places of Suffering, Resilience, and Reinvention." Read more > 

 

Dr. Francis Morean, Visiting Scholar

Wednesday, April 19, 2019

4:00 PM | Brittan Hall, Room 240

A graduate of the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine,  he is an ethno-botanist,  traditional healer and pioneer in studies pertaining to the use of local plants as sources of folk medicines,  handicraft material, dyes, horticulture and landscaping,  insecticides, edible oils and sources of other foods, indigenous housing techniques, honey production and for other purposes. He has a special interest in environmental conservation, environmental education and the sustainable utilization of natural resources in tropical countries.

During his visit to CCU, he will be talking about the survival and persistence of Hill Rice and other aspects of African food plants and African foodways in Trinidad and Tobago.  Hill Rice, known as bearded upland rice in the United States, was one of the West African rice varieties planted in the late 18th and 19th centuries.  He is in our region because of the close connection between his culture in Trinidad and the Gullah Geechee people, both outgrowths of the African Diaspora.

Presented by: The Charles Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies and the Departments of History and Anthropology and Geography.  

 

 

This fundraiser celebrates the life, career and scholarship of Charles “Chaz” Joyner (1935-2016), who served as Burroughs Distinguished Professor of Southern History and Culture at CCU during his tenure of more than three decades. The program features live selections of Joyner’s favorite music, including songs and spirituals performed by CCU alumnus Shirra Ward and folk and jazz arrangements performed by the CCU Jazz Combo. The program also traces highlights of Joyner’s career at CCU and his contribution to Southern studies. Proceeds will benefit scholarships and programming for the Charles Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies.

 

 

 

 

‌Portia Maultsby, Ph.D.
Author and Co-editor of African American Music: An Introduction
Discussion on “Black Gospel Music in the Netherlands”

Thursday, November 3, 2018

5 p.m. | Edwards Building, Room 251

Portia K. Maultsby is the Laura Boulton Professor Emerita of Ethnomusicology in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology of founding director of the Archives of African American Music and Culture at Indiana University. She is also the founding director of the Indiana University Soul Revue, an ensemble specializing in black popular music. Professor Maultsby is a specialist in African American music with a focus on religious and popular traditions, and the music industry. Dr. Maultsby received the M.M. in Musicology and Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of Wisconsin.

Dr. Maultsby will discuss the ways that Black Gospel in the Netherlands serves multiple functions, and give rise to localized meanings and performance expectations. She will present a case study of Edith Casteleyn, a Dutch director of five choirs in the Netherlands, who performs what she describes as “authentic” Black American gospel music.

- See more at: http://www.coastal.edu/joynerinstitute/#sthash.bi2ovgk9.dpuf

 

 

Nancy Smith Distinguished Visiting Lecturer

Cornel West, Ph.D.

Friday, September 16, 2018

7 p.m. | Wheelwright Auditorium

Cornel West, professor of philosophy and Christian practice at Union Theological Seminary and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University, presents the keynote address at the inauguration of the Charles Joyner Institute of Gullah and African Diaspora Studies. West has written more than 20 books, most notably Race Matters and Democracy Matters. The Charles Joyner Institute was established in Spring 2016 at CCU to foster interdisciplinary examinations of Gullah culture and to explore local and global effects of the African Diaspora as they relate to contemporary issues. The work of the institute centers upon the interactions and interconnections among various local, national and global actors, peoples and their societies, and will provide students with experiential learning opportunities, locally and abroad.

Presented by: Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts

See other cultural arts events at coastal.edu/culturalarts