Black History Month: Study Abroad
In celebration of Black History Month, the Global Education Office is highlighting and saluting some of the prominent Black Americans who have studied abroad. We will post a new name and bio each week in February 2022. Learn more below about the power of study abroad:
- February 28: Dr. Condoleezza Rice
- February 21: Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois
- February 14: U.S. Senator Cory Booker
- February 7: Tia Mowry
Dr. Condoleezza Rice - Moscow
Condoleezza Rice, currently the Tad and Dianne Taube Director and Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution, was the second woman and first Black woman to hold the post of U.S. Secretary of State. Rice also served as National Security Advisor, the first woman to hold the position. At an early age, Rice learned to play the piano and entered college as a music major. After taking a course in international politics, she changed her career aspirations. Rice earned a degree in political science from the University of Denver. In 1979, she studied Russian at Moscow State University. Rice graduated from University of Denver with a PhD in political science in 1981. In 2010 during a lecture at Harvard entitled, "Why Democracy Matters: Education, Empowerment and the American National Myth at Home and Abroad," in response to a question about the impact of the election of Barack Obama, Rice spoke briefly about her experiences in Moscow. We have cued the tape to that excerpt. [Biographical information courtesy of National Women's History Museum]
W.E.B. Du Bois - Germany
W.E.B. Du Bois was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, writer and editor. After graduation from Harvard University, he received a Slater Fund fellowship, and from 1892 to 1894, he was enrolled at the Friedrich-Wilhelm III Universität in Berlin. Du Bois was interviewed by Moses Asch, the founder of Folkways Records, in 1961. In this excerpt, Du Bois discusses the transformative impact of his study abroad. [Graduation Photo from Harvard University Archives]
Senator Cory Booker - U.K.
Booker grew up in northern New Jersey and received his undergraduate and master’s degree from Stanford University. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and studied at the University of Oxford, where he played varsity basketball and earned an honors degree in U.S. History. Booker was interviewed via zoom for the Museum of the African Diaspora in Dec. 2020 by Sarah Ladipo Manyika, a writer who was raised in Nigeria and has lived in Kenya, France, Zimbabwe, and England. She and Booker met when they were students at Oxford. We've cued this fascinating and wide-ranging interview to the segment where they are joined by two American students as well as fellow Rhodes scholar Christopher Howard.
Tia Mowry - Italy
Video: Kids of the 1990’s will easily recognize actress Tia Mowry. Tia’s initial fame came from co-starring with her twin sister in the hit comedy Sister Sister. When the show wrapped production, Tia enrolled at Pepperdine University and earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology. She spent three months studying abroad in Florence. In this video from her cooking show Quick Fix, Mowry shares a favorite pasta recipe. We've cued it to 3:02 when she talks about her experience in Italy. Andiamo! (Source: studyabroad.com)
