National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center
In fall 2024, Sierra Austin-King, a visiting assistant professor of Black Studies, provided her students with two unique opportunities to expand their learning. She invited Charles Wash, executive director of the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, to campus to speak with a class. Austin-King extended her outreach into the community by partnering with the Columbus-area Mosaic Program to connect her students with area youth.
In Austin-King’s Introduction to Black Studies class, Wash discussed Black Studies curricula and the history of Black Studies programs in Ohio. He also talked about the contemporary relevance of degrees in Black Studies and topics including identity studies, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the role of museums in maintaining African Diasporic history and culture. In a separate event, Wash had an in-depth dialogue with Black Studies majors and minors.
Additionally, Austin-King and students from her Black Women’s Leadership course traveled to Columbus to engage with high school juniors and seniors. They talked about inequity, contemporary issues in women of color feminism, and social change.
Reflecting on the experience, one Denison student said, “Their engagement and insights were inspiring, and I truly enjoyed hearing their perspectives. As a freshman at Denison, one of my goals has been to deepen my understanding of diversity and inclusion. This was a really unique way of doing that.”
Another said, “It was inspiring to see younger people already having goals of understanding such complex and heavily debated topics. It made me want to continue to learn about feminism.”
NAAMCC director Charles Wash (left) with Christopher W. Wilson, director of Experience Design at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
More about Charles Wash and the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center
Wash has served as executive director of the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, located in Wilberforce, Ohio, since 2011. The museum is operated by the Ohio History Connection and is part of a larger nonprofit network of cultural centers. Opened in 1988, it is the permanent home of one of the largest collections of Afro-American materials, with over 9,000 artifacts, 350 manuscript collections, and thousands of photographs.
Mosaic program students
More about the Mosaic Program
The Mosaic Program is a one- to two-year program for junior and senior high school students in Franklin County. One of the guiding principles of the program includes the belief that “students learn best from an integrated, project-based curriculum that incorporates choice, active learning, and outside audiences.”
More about Visiting Assistant Professor Sierra Austin-King
Austin-King’s background includes work in academia and nonprofit community engagement. In addition to once serving as a director at YWCA Columbus, she currently serves as board chair of The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio.
Austin-King earned her bachelor’s degree in mass media communications from Wilberforce University and her master’s and doctorate from Ohio State University. Prior to arriving at Denison, she taught at Ohio State in both Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and African American and African Studies.
At Denison, Austin-King continues the long history of Black Studies courses on Black women’s leadership. Her focus on community leadership merges two legacies of the program which emphasizes social movement theory and race, gender, and leadership from the 19th century to the present. Students in her classes integrate critical thinking about community uplift with practice and gain valuable hands-on experience.
