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Clement A. Price Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience
Clement A. Price Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience
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Campus-based, community-oriented center for the public arts and humanities committed to critical thin Teachers As Scholars. History Saturday Academy.
The Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience is celebrating its second decade as an interdisciplinary academic program at Rutgers-Newark that serves the greater Newark metropolitan region by reaching into the community at large with lectures, symposia, film, performances, exhibitions, and other programs that enhance public understanding of urban life, the social construction of d
ifference, race relations, local history, urban youth culture, and education. Through its numerous programmatic partnerships, the Institute provides essential context for the good work of public institutions, among them the Newark Public Schools, The Newark Public Library, The Newark Museum, The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Boys and Girls Club of Newark, WBGO, Public Radio in Newark, New Jersey Network, the New Jersey Historical Society, the American Jewish Committee, the National Park Service, and the New Jersey State Police. Such partnerships bridge the collegiate/community divide, fostering mutual learning and productive public service. The Institute is a co-sponsor, with the New Jersey Historical Commission, of the annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series. The conference has drawn thousands of citizens to Rutgers-Newark in observance of Black History Month in New Jersey since 1981, when it was co-founded by Institute director, Dr. Clement Price and Giles R. Wright, the inaugural director of the Afro-American History Program at the New Jersey Historical Commission. This free lecture series is a community based ritual in public scholarship that brings to the university some of the nation's foremost scholars and humanists conversant with African-American and African history and culture. It has become one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious events of its kind. Other Institute program highlights include:
Memory and Newark, July 1967. On November 9, 1997, the Institute mounted its first major public program, "Memory and Newark, July 1967," an experimental half-day program that reexamined the 1967 riots in Newark through the prisms of individual and ethnic community memory and history. The Gustav Heningburg Civic Fellows Program The Institute created the Heningburg Civic Fellows program as an ongoing vital partnership of locally and nationally known scholars collaborating with greater Newark's civic leaders. In a series of colloquia, the Heninburg Fellows explore new ways to address an array of challenges and opportunities in the region, and to expand dramatically public involvement in greater Newark's renewal. The Civic Fellows program, which has received funding support from the Independence Community Foundation, the Victoria Foundation, and the Fund for New Jersey, honors Gustav Heningburg, one of the most influential and inspiring civic leaders in Newark. Since 2004, the Institute has mounted several sessions of Teachers as Scholars, a collaboration between the Institute and the Newark Public Schools, with funding support from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. TAS brings Newark K-12 teachers to the Newark campus for a series of two-day seminars in the humanities, social sciences and the arts. Rutgers-Newark is the first Rutgers campus, and only the second university in New Jersey -- along with Princeton -- participating in the national Teachers as Scholars program
U.S. Begun in the fall of 2006, The Saturday Academy is a tuition-free six-week session for Newark-area high school students offered in the Fall and Spring, funded by, and in partnership with, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Students can take one or two of five different classes offered. Each class introduces participants to primary sources, historical analysis, group discussion format, and other important topics in the study of history. Interested students can participate in the program free of charge. The program has been successfully implemented in many other schools across the country. Teachers As Historians. As a partner in the U.S. Department of Education's "Teaching American History" grant awarded to the Newark Public School District, the Institute is providing a professional development program for Newark public school teachers beginning in the fall of 2008. "Teachers As Historians" offers classes to 75 teachers in the fall and spring semesters on the Rutgers-Newark campus over the next 3 years taught by Rutgers faculty members. The program also brings a visiting Rutgers historian to the New Jersey Historical Society's Summer Institute for 3 days each year, to focus on the skills of conducting historical research with a Newark emphasis. The Geraldine R. Dodge Post-Doctoral Fellowship (weblink) The Institute has administered this Fellowship program, supported by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, since 1997. Each Dodge Fellow is a recently minted Ph.D. in the humanities or social sciences. Over the two-year span, the Fellow creates a project that embellishes civic culture for the citizens of Newark, enabling him/her to become more conversant with new knowledge. Reflections on the Summer of 1967: The 40th Anniversary of the Newark Riots (weblink) Beginning in April 2007 through November 2007, and with funding support from the Prudential Foundation, PSE&G and the Verizon Foundation, the Institute presented a series of public programs commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Newark riots. The World Dance Symposium Since 2005, the Institute has mounted a successful annual performance series at Bradley Hall Theater - the only regular dance program on the Rutgers-Newark Campus - featuring ethnic dance forms from many different cultures. Concerts have explored Middle Eastern Dance, Asian Indian Dance, Dances from Africa and the African Diaspora, Afro-Brazilian Dance, to standing-room only audiences at the theater. In 2009, the Institute presented its inaugural expanded 2-day dance Symposium, exploring North African dance and culture. The 2010 Symposium featured Flamenco dance and culture. City Children and Their Cultures City Children is a community-based lecture and symposia series that explore the influence of post-industrial urban life on children. Under its rubric, the Institute has brought some the nation’s foremost scholars on children to Newark, including Beverly Hall, Daphne Muse, Elijah Anderson, Christian Warren and Carl Nightingale, among others, to discuss in a public setting a wide range of child centered topics with parents, teachers, social workers, health care providers and children. A more recent initiative in April, 2005, Watching Carefully, aimed to increase media literacy among young people, with a series of programs focused on television and its role as a marketer and definer of cultural norms, for children at the Newark Boys and Girls Club. NJ State Police: Diversity Training In 2004, at the behest of the New Jersey State Attorney General, the Institute mounted several cultural awareness sessions for all 2,700 members of the New Jersey State Police.
03/25/2026
As we transition into this new cycle, we gather to honor this moment through a collective ritual of art and memory. We look forward to sharing this space of reciprocity and creativity with you all.
When: Tomorrow, Thursday March, 26, 2026
We will be there at 10 am. The ritual activation will begin promptly at noon
Where: Norman Samuels Plaza, directly in front of the Dana Library
Rain Location: Warren Hall, 502C
What to expect: We will be engaging in a collective drawing and ritual activation. Please feel free to bring your energy and an open heart as we reimagine our connection to history and our shared future.
03/10/2026
Join us for our Artist and Curator talk:Consumed featuring artist Cynthia Reynolds and curator Kevin Lynos at the Newark Public Library this Thursday March 12th from 6:30-8pm. We’ll be looking at the cycle of consumption and our lives, past, present, and future through the works of fifteen different artists.
02/20/2026
Registration closes soon!
If you’ve been meaning to attend the 46th Annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series, this is your last chance to register.
Join us for a day dedicated to expanding historical understanding and imagining beyond familiar narratives.
Register now.
🔗 Scan the QR Code & Link in bio
🎟 Free & open to the public
02/19/2026
At MTW 46, artist Amina Masum honors the legacy of Marion Thompson Wright and Clement A. Price, alongside powerful representations of African women whose presence and influence transcend time.
Through portraiture and visual storytelling, Masum brings together figures who shaped intellectual and cultural life with women whose histories continue to resonate across generations.
Each piece invites us to reflect on continuity, leadership, resilience, and the enduring power of memory.
These works do more than commemorate — they connect past and present, reminding us that history is alive in the images we preserve and the stories we choose to uplift.
Experience the exhibition in person at the 46th Annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series this Saturday!
02/18/2026
What does ancient Africa have to do with the future?
Everything.
We are honored to welcome Nnedi Okorafor to the 46th Annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series — a global leader of Africanfuturism, New York Times bestselling author, and international literary force.
Writing speculative fiction for adults, young adults, and children, Nnedi draws deeply from African cultures, mythologies, and histories to create captivating worlds, unforgettable characters, and stories that challenge how we imagine the past — and the future.
Join us as she explores how ancient African knowledge systems shape contemporary imagination.
02/17/2026
History didn’t start with slavery — and it doesn’t end there either.
The 46th Annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series invites you into a deeper, more expansive understanding of ancient Africa and its global influence.
Together, we’ll examine:
• Africa as the beginning of human history
• Pre-colonial knowledge systems and innovation
• How historical narratives shape modern imagination
• What we’ve misunderstood — and what we’ve yet to learn
This is an opportunity to engage with leading scholars, expand your historical literacy, and fill the knowledge gaps often left out of traditional education.
📍 Paul Robeson Campus Center, Newark
🗓 Saturday, February 21
🎟 Free & open to the public
Come ready to learn. Come ready to rethink what you know.
02/16/2026
Can’t join us in person? Join us virtually.
Hear from Dr. Esailama G. Artry-Diouf, Nnedi Okorafor, and Dr. Nwando Achebe as they explore history, narrative, and the enduring impact of African and African diasporic voices.
Be part of the conversation — wherever you are.
Register for virtual access today.
🔗 Link in bio or scan QR code
02/13/2026
What if our understanding of early societies is incomplete?
In this featured segment, Author Dr. Nwando Achebe highlights the central roles women played in early African communities — as leaders, decision-makers, knowledge keepers, and architects of social order.
Re-centering women in historical narratives reshapes how we understand power, governance, and legacy.
Experience her full lecture at the 46th Annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series at Rutgers University–Newark on February 21st, 2026
Join us in-person or via Zoom, Register Today!
02/12/2026
How is history preserved when it is not written?
In this powerful reflection, Dr. Esailama G. Artry-Diouf explores how dance functions as historical record — carrying memory, lineage, resistance, and cultural knowledge across generations.
Movement becomes archive. The body becomes text.
Experience her full lecture at the 46th Annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series at Rutgers University–Newark on February 21st, 2026
Join us in-person or via Zoom, Register Today!
02/11/2026
The 46th Annual Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series returns with a powerful exploration of Africa’s deep histories and their connection to Black immigration and global identity.
Hosted by the Clement A. Price Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience at Rutgers University–Newark. (Paul Robenson Campus Center)
Join us for a transformative public conversation rooted in truth and knowledge
Comment “ MTW” to register or scan the QR code.
See you there!
01/29/2026
Join us for a powerful evening honoring Charles M. Payne and the enduring legacy of I’ve Got the Light of Freedom—a foundational text on grassroots organizing and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle.
In conversation with Melissa L. Cooper, this event reflects on the book’s impact across three decades and why its lessons on collective action remain urgently relevant today.
📅 February 10, 2026 🕕 6:00–8:00 PM 📍 Express Newark Lecture Hall
🎟️ Free and open to the public 📚 Books available for purchase | Reception to follow
11/04/2025
Join is for Born a Sufferah, Dancehall is often framed by its hyper masculine lyrics. Focus on its lyrical content
distorts the genres engagement with the politics of Reggae music and the Rastafari critique of the West as a Biblical Babylon. In the global 1990s, however, Reggae and
Dancehall sounds forged sites of Black cultural resistance worldwide.
Join us November 13th 2025 at 6pm EST via ZOOM, Link in Bio!
Join us for a conversation with Dr. Quito Swan on Black cultural resistance framed through the
soundscapes of Dancehall and Reggae music.
