Center Talk: 2014 Summer Humanities Institute Kicks Off in June

May 20, 2014 – In June, the UCLA Bunche Center for African American Studies will host its fourteenth and final Summer Humanities Institute (SHI) from Sunday, June 22 to Saturday, August 16, 2014.  The program is funded through generous grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and University of California, Office of the President. SHI caters to high-achieving students from historically under-represented groups in their junior and senior year, planning to pursue a doctoral degree in the humanities and social sciences, with a focus on the African American experience.  The 2014 cohort hails from eight different schools, primarily historically black colleges and universities.  They include: Spelman College; Lincoln University of Pennsylvania; Fort Valley State University; Norfolk State University; Morehouse College; and Savannah State University.

This summer, the successful SHI program will end after fourteen years as one of the first and best summer pipeline programs for underrepresented students in the Humanities.

“Throughout its history, the program has served the students well by preparing them for grad school and broadening their understanding of African American Studies,” commented Dr. Ana-Christina Ramon, Bunche Center Assistant Director and program coordinator. “The majority of SHI alumni have attended grad school and pursued academic careers,” she noted.

Students from previous cohorts continue to make excellent progress in graduate programs at Yale, Brown, Cornell, Auburn, Harvard, Penn State, Duke, and UCLA, as well as being the recipient of a prestigious Fulbright Fellowship.  They have also gone on to pursue careers in academia and in other professional, service and research fields.

“I would say that we’re proud of our program’s success,” explained Ramon. “It has been an honor to work with such extraordinary students, to see their growth throughout the summer, and then later to hear about their accomplishments after they leave SHI.”