New Initiatives

A Year of New Initiatives

Anti-Black Racism Initiative (ABRI)

In response to the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and other African Americans by law enforcement, as well as the racially motivated murder of Lieutenant Collins at UMD, ABRI was created to support systemic change in racial equity within and beyond college campuses. Grounded in the behavioral and social sciences, the ABRI mission seeks to elevate the status and experience of African Americans. The initiative will engage in supporting scholarship, teaching, dialogues of all types and at all levels in order to fight anti-Black racism in our society.

New Major Opens Up: Social Data Science

Through a collaboration between the College of Information Studies and the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences, students will now be able to hone their interests in Big Data, social science and research, and the Black Community by majoring in Social Data Science with a track in African American Studies. The major will combine core requirements of Data Science with key courses from AFAM.