In addition to celebrating those graduating from DAAS programs, the department’s graduation ceremony served as an opportunity to recognize the winners of three awards, each designed to recognize outstanding student involvement in Afroamerican and African Studies.
The Wangari Maathai Essay Competition, named in honor of the Kenyan scholar and activist who became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, honored Isabelle Thyfault (first place), Sydney Foster (second place), and Joseph Fisher (honorable mention). The annual competition encourages scholarship at both the undergraduate and graduate levels that explores the experience of Africa and the African diaspora. Thyfault’s paper gave an overview of ivory in Tanzania and covered the historical influence of ivory, the evolving existence of trade, and the legacies of colonialism in trade and conservation.
“I originally wrote this paper for Professor Brian Klein's Environmental Governance and African Development final paper,” Thyfault said. “This class ... covered a broad range of topics across Africa that I had never seen before, and [it] exposed me to new thinkers from across continents. In particular, Professor Klein taught us about Walter Rodney's concept of African underdevelopment, which resonated with me and inspired both this essay and my continued studies.”
Thyfault said her interest in political ecology expanded after taking Klein’s class. As an international studies and environment double major, she intends to pursue a career in environmental justice after graduating.
“Growing up, my exposure to the field of African studies was pretty limited. Most of my education focused on how Africa related to the U.S. and other Western powers, not the nuance or complexity of an entire continent and its societies,” Thyfault said. “Learning about a range of different philosophies, histories, politics, and cultures in my DAAS class helped inform my education as an international studies and environment double major, as well as my critical understanding of race, culture, and world systems.”
The inaugural Dr. Jonathan I. Kidd Senior Prize, which honors Kidd’s pedagogical foundations as a U-M DAAS and English major before his successful career as a television writer and producer, was awarded to Jackson Kanawha Perry. The award was given to a student who demonstrated a significant senior project, curiosity, academic excellence, and a commitment to giving back to the African diaspora. In the application, the project specifically asked applicants to show engaged modes of learning, in which they “exercised their own agency to solve problems, enhanced civic assets, or otherwise catalyzed meaningful change within a community.” Perry’s award-winning submission was an original piano composition titled “Crossing: A Contemporary Piano Interpretation of Negro Spirituals.”
“The project was born out of Professor Scott Ellsworth’s senior seminar on Zora Neale Hurston,” Perry said. “Much of [Hurston’s] work involved amplifying folk traditions and the real stories of African American people through research. Our final project for the class was to create a significant project on a topic of our choice in honor of Zora.”
Aware of the foundation these spirituals provided to American music, Perry said he wanted to explore them in more depth, including the details of their melodies and their history. He credits DAAS as a space that allowed him to learn about specific aspects of Black culture that influenced these spirituals, in addition to the very tenets of his major.
“My journey in musical theatre has given me a deep appreciation for storytelling,” Perry said. “Studying musical theatre taught me that art can have infinite interpretations. With that in mind, I wanted to honor the melodies of the spirituals and then creatively interpret the harmonics, using jazz, blues, and classical musicalization.”
DAAS, Perry said, has “always been a safe haven,” reminding him of the importance of honoring those who came before him.
“[The department] has always been a safe haven for me,” Perry said. “I was always able to find groundedness in the study of my people and their incredible contributions to the world. DAAS reinforced the significance of activism and inspired empathy in me.”
DAAS also honored Jahsiah Matthews, Nashya Bryanna Dorns, and Jacob Sendra with the Josievet Moss Award for first-years and seniors.
Watch/listen to Jackson Kanawha Perry’s original piano composition here.
