This initiative from the Center for Africana Studies and Culture (CASC) in the IU School of Liberal Arts in Indianapolis seeks to catalyze Africana Studies faculty academic research and instructional design capabilities to support communities in Black-centered with a relationship to the land, and bases inquiry around the root causes of displacement and dismemberment from traditions that sustained and guide Black people. Current projects include curriculum development around Black cultural ways of knowing and practicing with sustainability, which places the initiative in line with the Africana Studies discipline’s secondary empowerment mission.
The CASC partners with Legacy Taste of the Garden Farm and the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Indiana to host the Indiana Black Loam Conference. The conference provides critical outreach and technical assistance to Black farmers and producers throughout the State of Indiana. CASC researchers are also engaging with local Black farms who need help organizing reports and oral histories surrounding their work. From urban gardeners to commercial growers, the convention will have something for all levels of farmers, CASC facilitates breakouts and keynote speakers that explore Black farming in Africa and the context of socioecological justice.
CASC Food Security Partnerships include:
CASC is working with SIPP to deeply explore the concept of Cultural Production and will work with them to develop their curriculum and cultivate the center as a site of learning for Africana Studies students at IU Indianapolis as the program further conceptualizes a domestic study away program.
CASC co-sponsors the Indiana Black Loam Workshops.
