Black Arts, Design & Global Engagement
Mobilizing Black Artistry Across the African Diaspora
Housed at the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University, the Black Arts, Design & Global Engagement (BADGE) initiative advances interdisciplinary research, creative practice, and engagement across the African Diaspora.
Grounded in the understanding that the arts are the heartbeat of Black society, the initiative mobilizes the transformative power of arts and design to illuminate, confront, and reimagine the socio-political issues shaping Black communities globally. Through research, artistic production, public programming, and diasporic exchange, the initiative strengthens networks of creativity and positions Black arts and design as essential drivers of more just and imaginative futures.
Raquel Monroe, Ph.D.
Dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts.
Founded in 2026 by Dean Raquel Monroe, the BADGE initiative is a new interdisciplinary research and resource hub dedicated to advancing creative practice, scholarship, and engagement across the African Diaspora.
The Black Arts, Design & Global Engagement initiative affirms what Black communities across the diaspora have always known: that creativity is not supplemental to our survival and progress, it is central to it. At this moment in history, the arts are uniquely positioned to help us imagine, research, and build more just futures. This initiative allows us to lead with our curriculum, our research-active faculty, and our artists whose work shines light, restores dignity, and connects communities across borders.
Howard University has long served as a historic hub for Black creative and intellectual excellence in the United States. Its global reputation, research leadership, and enduring contributions to the arts, humanities, and social transformation make it the ideal home for an initiative committed to diasporic collaboration and global engagement.
While housed at Howard, the initiative is intentionally designed to ensure that creative leadership and knowledge production move across the diaspora rather than remaining concentrated in a single geography. The initiative supports gatherings, collaborations, and partnerships throughout the African Diaspora, affirming that Black excellence is dispersed, interconnected, and mutually sustaining.
The initiative convenes and supports artists, designers, scholars, and cultural workers whose work engages urgent social, political, and environmental issues affecting Black communities, including environmental justice, reproductive justice, food insecurity, economic inequality, and systemic harm.
Through fellowships, collaborative research, public programs, and global exchange, the initiative builds infrastructure for connection, dialogue, and shared inquiry. Ethical approaches to technology further ensure that distance does not limit access, collaboration, or collective impact.
Fellowships
BADGE hosts annual fellows who work alongside Howard University faculty, students, and community partners. Fellows help shape thematic priorities, advance research and creative practice, and contribute to public programming that extends across local and global contexts.
Affiliate Faculty
Affiliate Faculty include Howard University scholars whose work engages the arts and design as tools for social inquiry and transformation. Affiliates collaborate on workshops, public programs, courses, research initiatives, exhibitions, performances, and interdisciplinary projects.
Workshops and Public Programs
Workshops and programs engage students, faculty, staff, and community members through both in-person and virtual offerings, ensuring accessibility across geographic and diasporic boundaries.
Speaker Series
BADGE hosts leaders in arts, design, scholarship, and cultural work who share research and perspectives through lectures, performances, and conversations, fostering dialogue across disciplines and regions.
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