Jonathan Jasper Wright Institute for the Study of Southern African American History, Culture and Policy

Goals:

• Grant Writing/External Funding Search: The Institute will apply for external grants to fund research and projects and to provide resources to support these endeavors.

• Think Tank Activities: The director and current Faculty Fellows will meet weekly to discuss southern African American policy issues that the Institute might address in local, regional and national print media to increase public exposure for both the Institute and Claflin University. The think tank sessions will periodically discuss grant searches/grant writing, developing research projects, individual research and on-going Faculty Fellow recruiting.

• Faculty Fellow Recruitment: The institute will identify potential junior scholars in various fields whose work reflects the institute’s aims with the objective of offering invitations to become faculty fellows

• Symposium/Conference: These scholastic gatherings will give opportunity to invited scholars to present their work as it relates to the institute’s core aims. The symposium or conference will also be designed to increase the institute’s visibility throughout academe and to attract strong and reputable scholars to the institute’s work. Fellows will also offer a lecture each semester pertaining to their research.

• Institutional Collaboration/Affiliations: The institute will consider opportunities to collaborate with and become affiliates with academic institutions, research institutes and community-based organizations to increase its exposure and develop meaningful relationships that will enhance the institute’s ability to access wider resources for its work.