History and Influences
Dr. Robinson has been interested in conducting this research for over 20 years. Two major initiatives influenced her thinking:
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The African Diaspora Research Project (ADRP) was conducted at Michigan State University from 1986-1993. Directed by Dr. Ruth Simms Hamilton, they believed that research on communities of African descent contributed to a broader understanding of “peopleness,” intergroup relations, and social change. The goals of ADRP was fourfold; to contribute to scholarship via articles, journals, working papers, and presentations at conferences, to train scholars in the social sciences in the field of African Diaspora Studies, to reach out to the broader Michigan community and share findings, and to serve the wider world. ADRP left of legacy of numerous articles and presentations, as well as a network of scholars in 52 countries.
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The Program for Research on Black Americans (PRBA) was established in 1976 at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research by an interdisciplinary team of social scientists and students, under the leadership of Dr. James S. Jackson. They were convinced that high-quality national data on African Americans was critical for advancing academic scholarship and developing effective public policy. The PRBA has among its primary objectives the collection, analysis, and interpretation of empirical data, and the dissemination of findings based upon national and international studies of peoples of African American and African descent. Prior to its founding, high quality, national social science data with a social-cultural focus sensitive to Black life did not exist. The PRBA has conducted over 22 national and regional studies, which has resulted in numerous books, over 400 scholarly papers, and a network of over 100 scholars who were trained by PRBA.
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WeGlobal: The African American Research and Education Program was influenced by these two initiatives. Dr. Robinson completed her doctoral work at the University of Michigan. While there, she was trained in survey research via PRBA and worked on the National Survey of Black Americans, the National Three Generational Family Study, and the National Black Election Study. She also was also very familiar with ADRP, and presented at one of their Symposium Series in the Fall of 1992. Taking these two initiatives together, Dr. Robinson wondered about the “African American Diaspora”; African Americans who have left the United States and live abroad. She began working on this idea in 1997 and off an on till 2016. At that time, she was the Academic Director for The School for International Training’s (SIT) Graduate Institute, DC Center. With the support of Dean Kenneth Williams and President Sophia Howlett, WeGlobal: The African American Research and Education Program was born. In 2017, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded World Learning (the parent organization of SIT) a grant to complete initial work on the project and hold a Planning Meeting of the Advisory Committee. Dr. Robinson is Principal Investigator of WeGlobal and Director of the African Americans Living Abroad Research and Education Program.
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