UNCA to Host Multimedia Gullah Program

Althea Sumpter

UNC Asheville’s Africana Studies Program will host a talk and multimedia presentation on "Images and Stories: Coming of Age in the Gullah Coast" at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, in UNCA’s Owen Conference Center. Speaker Althea Sumpter is a member of the St. Helena Island, S.C. Gullah community and a professor at Georgia Tech’s Literature, Communication and Culture program. The event is free and open to the public.

Originating primarily from Sierra Leone, the Gullah people are considered the most culturally intact West African ethnic community in the United States. Descendants of former slaves, the Gullah people live on the sea islands and adjacent coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia. Gullahs speak a distinct English Creole language, which contains vocabulary and grammatical features from various West African languages. The program will explore this unique culture through digital video, still photography and audio documentation.

For more than 20 years, Sumpter has conducted ongoing research on the Gullah culture. She is an Emmy-nominated producer and has taught communications and mass media at Georgia State University, Clark Atlanta University and the American InterContinential University. Sumpter holds a doctorate in multimedia technology and African American studies from Clark Atlanta University.

For more information about the event, call UNCA’s Africana Studies Program at 828/251-6977.

Media Contacts:

• Dr. John Wood, UNCA Africana Studies Program Interim Director, 828/251-6977
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526