Department of Africana Studies

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Africana Studies at MSU Denver
We bring the African continent and the African diaspora to students of all backgrounds.
MSU Denver’s Department of Africana Studies began in 1969 with the help of Wilton Flemon, Ph.D., and celebrated Professor Rachel B. Noel. To this day, we’re the only Africana Studies department in Colorado. Our graduates leave the University with prolific intellectual and professional skills, representing us well in the public and private sectors as well as the postgraduate studies they pursue. Learn more about the Department of Africana Studies and MSU Denver, our faculty, and our advisory board.
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“It has been an eye-opening and extremely enlightening journey, which took me to new regions of the United States and Africa. The course showed me I can go anywhere and do anything. I learned so much about black culture around the world, but it also taught me so much about myself.”
Darius Carey
Scholarship Recipient
Career Prospects
Here’s where a B.A. in Africana Studies might take you:
Law, education, community work, human rights, journalism, social work and politics.

She holds a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Johns Hopkins University. She's also a ceramicist who is committed to the field of Africana Studies. Her work explores the relationship between Africana women’s literature and art as visual and textual analysis. Nationally, her work has been accepted into two peer-juried exhibitions: “Historical Antecedents” sponsored by The Myers Gallery at Muddy’s Studio in Santa Ana, Calif. and “A Show of Heads” at the Northwest Cultural Council.
Dr. Ella Maria Ray
Associate Professor
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