Teaching And Learning

Our Reference Librarians

Celia Daniel, Head of Reference/ Africana Services

The Africana librarian supports study and teaching of Africana in three different areas of study: African Studies, African American Studies, and African Diasporic Studies. Africana encompasses the study of the African past, grounded in the philosophy of Sankofa and the present, through self-examination; where we correct and rebrand the history and culture to reflect truth. Then there is projection of how we as African people living outside of the homeland, proceed. The study, the conversation is constantly evolving as we correct over 400 years of misinformation. The Africana librarian must stay abreast of the study and support it with resources and services.

Adia Coleman, Business Librarian

In her role as the Business Librarian and Intellectual Property Specialist, Adia Coleman facilitates the research (discovery) to ensure that the inventions of independent inventors have not already been patented or the business name, logo, slogan have not already been trademarked. She also explores other intersections of intellectual property such as a copyright or trade secret for a holistic approach. As the daughter of a serial entrepreneur, Adia’s understanding of the needs, risks, and success factors for small business owners, artists, and creators is deeply rooted. Adia is also the Manager of the Patent and Trademark Resource Center at Howard University.

Kimberly Prosper, S.T.E.M. Services

The STEM Librarian provides resources and research support to students and faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Architecture. Students majoring in the field of computer science, engineering, chemistry, biology, and mathematics can receive in-depth research consultations and assistance specifically designed for their courses. The STEM librarian supports the syllabus by creating research guides, in collection development, and facilitating library and information literacy instructions.

Student Success Librarian 

The Student Success Librarian provides a foundational library experience for Freshman. They are responsible for various library services, classroom instructions, research consultations, and workshops. They work closely with faculty and serves as the primary contact for Freshman and Sophomore students. Their instructions are tailored to fit specific assignments and learning objectives.

Tommy Waters, Graduate Services

Congratulations and welcome to Howard! The Library is your main campus resource to help you throughout your graduate career, often behind the scenes in concert with your faculty. I will assist you in your research for thesis or dissertation, arrange workshops, and do everything to help you from the time you are admitted until you have earned your degree.

Howard University is starting a Graduate Student Advisory Board which will advises the library on amenities and resources of specific concern to graduate students. The board’s focus is on the following libraries:

• Founders
• School of Business Library
• School of Social Work Library
• Moorland-Spingarn Rare Book & Manuscript Library

We will meet two times a semester for 60 minutes per meeting in a Founders Library or by Teams.

[ Learning Instruction Form ]

HULS offers course-integrated instruction on the research skills students need for class assignments and projects. We have found that students are more motivated if the instruction relates to a specific assignment and if the instructor is present. To request instruction, please fill out the form above.

What is Freshman Seminar?

The College of Arts and Sciences Freshman Seminar is a one-credit course that meets weekly throughout the fall semester and is required for graduation. Freshman Seminar encourages students to become engaged participants in the intellectual and cultural life of African peoples and others throughout the Diaspora. Carefully planned lectures, forums, activities, and discussions will help students feel confident and comfortable in their new role as students at Howard University and as developing citizens of the world.

What is the Common Text?

Freshman Seminar provides an annual common text for incoming freshman students. The book is chosen based on the way it explores distinctly African ways of knowing and being; its level of multilateral engagement with Africa, its global Diaspora and the world; its immediate and aspirational readability; its complexity of thought; and its potential to inspire students, faculty, and staff to link ideas and contemporary social questions to original research. This year’s common text is W. E. B. DuBois’s The Education of Black People: Ten Critiques. It was done as the common text in 2014 and it’s being done again in 2020, mainly because DuBois’s critique on the education of Black People remains timeless. It is foundational and fundamental to the education of our people.

Each year, the Reference Department creates a guide which seeks to mirror the complexities and nuances of the Freshman Seminar’s common text. Here is a list of guides that were created over the last ten years.

1. W.E.B. DuBois’ The Education of Black People. (common text 2020)
2. Katherine Franke’s Repair: Redeeming the Promise of Abolition (common text
   2019)
3. Zora Neale Hurston’s Barracoon (common text 2018)
4. Toni Morrison’s The Origin of Others (common text 2017)
5. Daniel Black’s The Coming (common text 2016)
6. Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric (common text 2015) In
   conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me.
7. Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me (common text 2015) In
   conversation with Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric.
8. W.E.B. DuBois’ The Education of Black People: Ten Critiques (common text
   2014)
9. Wole Soyinka’s Of Africa (common text 2013)
10. Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Something Torn and New (common text 2012)