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"As a vibrant intellectual enterprise, African American and African Diaspora Studies has transformed the way we think about Africa, the Americas, and the world. The breadth of philosophical frameworks that shape the field range from Pan Africanism, Négritude, Black Internationalism, Civil Rights, Black Feminism, to Critical Race Theory. By engaging critical histories of its diasporic geographies, the field provides insights on modernity’s formation and futures. In establishing the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies in 2019, Columbia University strengthens its leadership in the field."

−Mabel O. Wilson, Chair-African American & African Diaspora Studies

Read the Letter from the Chair

Our Programs

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Undergraduate Concentration
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BA in African American Studies
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MA in African American Studies

Upcoming Events

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VIDEOS

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Mabel Wilson on Architecture and Race

Professor Wilson speaks about how she views architecture through the prism of race and race relations in the United States.

Text saying African American & African Diaspora Studies Department
African American and African Diaspora Studies Department

This video explores the history of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia and the significance of becoming a department.

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Frank Guridy on New York City and Black Culture

Professor Frank Guridy explains the significance of Columbia being on the border of Harlem and the location's influence on his work on black history.

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Past Events

Discussion of Darnell L. Moore's New Book "No Ashes in the Fire"
Discussion of Darnell L. Moore's New Book "No Ashes in the Fire"
"Mountains That Take Wing" Documentary Screening Talk Back w/ Dr. Angela Y. Davis
"Mountains That Take Wing" Documentary Screening Talk Back w/ Dr. Angela Y. Davis
"Vexy Thing: Gender and Liberation" Book Panel Discussion
"Vexy Thing: Gender and Liberation" Book Panel Discussion
The Norton Anthology Of African American Literature: Twenty Years Later
The Norton Anthology Of African American Literature: Twenty Years Later
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Selected Publications

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Begin with the Past: Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Mabel Wilson
A series of old, corbeled archways rendered in one-point perspective, with the words "Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route"

Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route

Saidiya V. Hartman
Book cover for Natasha Lightfoot's book titled Troubling Freedom

Troubling Freedom: Antigua and the Aftermath of British Emancipation

Natasha Lightfoot
Book cover for Josef Sorett's book Black is a Church

Black is a Church: Christianity and the Contours of African American Life

Josef Sorett
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