Mission Statement

The Department of Pan-African Studies (DPAS), including its units, the Center of Pan-African Culture (CPAC), the African Community Theatre, the Communications Skills and Arts Division and the Institute of African American Affairs, is dedicated to the study and teaching of global Africa, which comprises the African continent and its Diaspora throughout the world—the Caribbean, the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific.  The unifying purpose and theoretical approach of Pan-African Studies is an examination of Africa and her people from an African-centered viewpoint.  This theoretical perspective presupposes an intrinsic value in knowing African epistemologies and world views as well as the interrelationship between academic inquiry and the creative arts.