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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.

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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.

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
Text on a multicolored background: Forging Diaspora: Afro-Cubans and African Americans in a World of Empire and Jim Crow

Forging Diaspora: Afro-Cubans and African Americans in a World of Empire and Jim Crow

Frank Guridy
Book jacket features a painting of a woman mopping a floor

Who Set You Flowin’: The African American Migration Narrative

Farah Jasmine Griffin
Book jacket featuring a white background with the words "South of Pico" in gold lettering

South of Pico: African American Artists in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s

Kellie Jones
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