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Masters Theses

Africana Graduate Theses

The purpose of this web site is to provide a link to the abstracts of theses published by graduates of the Masters of Professional Studies Program at the Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University. Theses are undertaken as partial fulfillment of graduate degree requirements. Students have written on many different aspects of Africana studies. Currently there are over 150 theses which date back to 1973.

Copies of the theses can be found in the reference section of Africana Library. Archival copies can be found in Cornell University’s Rare and Manuscript Collections, Kroch Library.


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Nation Within a Nation: An Examination of the Liberation Theology in the Ansaaru Allah Community in Brooklyn from 1970 to 1993, and its Relationship to the Black Islamic Tradition in the United States

Author: Yusuf Abdullah Muhammad
Degree Date: May 2009
Abstract Excerpt:
In 1977, my parents converted to Islam and lived among an isolated community of Black Muslims in Brooklyn, New York. This group of Black Muslims, who called themselves the Ansaaru Allah Community, provided a scene unlike any other in the African American community from 1970 to 1993. I am writing my thesis on this understudied...
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'Of These, One was a Woman': The Lynching of African American Women, 1885-1946

Author: Marie Rose Johnson
Degree Date: August 1998
Abstract Excerpt:
As members of the community most severely targeted by lynch-law in the new South, African American women remain virtually invisible to historians examining this phenomenon. Though scholars acknowledge the lynching of Black women, their deaths appear parenthetical and therefore unworthy of historical analysis. Following in the footsteps of contemporary anti-lynching advocates who failed to view...
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'We are an African People': An Analysis of How Culture Influences the Learning Processes of African-American Children Attending Urban Public Schools

Author: Rona Monique Frederick
Degree Date: August 1996
Abstract Excerpt:
African American children living in the urban cities of America often depend on neighborhood schools for an education. However, many teachers and administrators employed by public schools fail to acknowledge the important role that culture plays in their learning process. Furthermore, much of the literature written by African American educators fails to provide instructional strategies...
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"Gettin' God?" Examining The State of Urban HIV/AIDS Ministries: Building Holistic Responses

Author: Kandree E. Hicks
Degree Date: May 2003
Abstract Excerpt:
In October 1998, President Clinton declared HIV/AIDS to be a severe and ongoing health crisis in communities of color, particularly within African-American communities. Since that time, increasing numbers of regions, especially cities, are recognizing the scourge of HIV/AIDS pandemic within their boarders, and a growing number of community stakeholders are responding to the calls to...
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"The Belgians took My Picture": The Politics of Identity in the Construction of Ethno-History (Africa's Great Lakes Region, 1862-2001)

Author: Sarah Maria Weingarten
Degree Date: August 2001
Abstract Excerpt:
Rwanda, called affectionately by its people imisozi igihmbi-"land of one thousand hills", once claimed a highly advanced social system and an expansive historical memory. Due to their remote location in the heart of Central African rain forests, Rwanda and neighboring Burundi were two of the last places to fall to European economic exploitation during the...
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"The Muses Themselves Would Bear Witness to This": Jessie Redmon Fauset; A Biographical Portrait and Literary Analysis

Author: Beth Carol Aplin-Rollins
Degree Date: May 1995
Abstract Excerpt:
As a detailed biographical sketch of Jessie Fauset's life and in an analysis of her writings that is informed by her life, this thesis both confirms and challenges previous scholarly research on Fauset's life and writing. The first chapter provides a background on the historical and literary environment faced by Fauset and other African-American writers...
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"The Sea in My Belly:" Transcendence and the Blues Poetry of Etheridge Knight

Author: Amaud Jamaul Johnson
Degree Date: August 1998
Abstract Excerpt:
This study employs and interdisciplinary approach to analyze the relationship between the poetry of Etheridge Knight and his desire for emotional and psychological change by incorporating criticism of the Blues and African American literature. This examination employs biographical material concerning Knight's childhood experiences, his incarceration, and his career as a poet. In addition, historical material...
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"The Secret African City": Ancient Egyptian's Influences on Washington, D.C.'s Planning and Architecture in the 18th and 19th Centuries

Author: Tenisha Senora Howard
Degree Date: January 2009
Abstract Excerpt:
"The Secret African City" is a project that fulfills both my academic and personal interests. Throughout American history, ancient Egyptian's art and architectural concepts have served as a blueprint for the development of state capitols, one in particular being Washington, D.C. where monumental constructions have occupied its city streets devoid of any direct recognition of...
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"To Bring Grandeur Back to Blackness": Arthur Hall's Afro-American Dance Ensemble in the Historical Continuum of African Dance Performance in the United States

Author: Ayodele T. Ngozi-Brown
Degree Date: May 1997
Abstract Excerpt:
This study examines the history of African dance performance in the United States beginning with its West African foundations and culminating with a case study of Arthur Hall's Afro-American Dance Ensemble (AHAADE), a contemporary dance company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1958 and 1988. The study discusses the precursors to self-conscious African dance performance in...
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"Too Filthy to Be Repeated": Reading Sexualized Violence Against Enslaved Males In U.S. Slave Societies

Author: Frederick Charles Staidum Jr.
Degree Date: May 2007
Abstract Excerpt:
“To Filthy to be Repeated”: Reading Sexualized Violence Against Enslaved Males in U.S. Slave Societies is an exploration in the operation of male on male sexualized violence and resistance in the Atlantic World, specifically the United States. Overall, the work is concerned with the interaction of race, class, gender, and sexuality when an enslaved Black...
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