Learn about the exhibition "20 and Odd: The 400-Year Anniversary of 1619"

"Columbia University's African American and African Diaspora Studies Department is uniquely positioned to pursue a research program on the cutting edge of scholarly and policy debates."

−Farah Jasmine Griffin, Chair, African American and African Diaspora Studies Department 

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Read the Letter from the Chair

Our Programs

Student speaking to a group of others
Undergraduate Concentration
Three students smiling at the camera
BA in African American Studies
Graduate receiving a plaque
MA in African American Studies

VIDEOS

Woman sitting at her desk on her computer with shelves of books behind her
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 Studies 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
More Past Events

Selected Publications

this book jacket features a bright yellow and pink background with the words "Birds of Fire: Jazz, Rock, Funk, and the Creation of Fusion" written in a white band

Birds of Fire: Jazz, Rock, Funk, and the Creation of Fusion

Kevin Fellezs
Two women, smiling, stand with three children holding balloons in a park

Invisible Families: Gay Identities, Relationships, and Motherhood Among Black Women

Mignon R. Moore
W.E.B.Dubois, wearing a suit, sits in a darkened room; the image is further darkened to convey foreshadowing

In the Shadow of DuBois: Afro-Modern Political Thought in America

Robert Gooding-Williams
An image of black mena dn women waiting in line to be evaluated by a physician is ghosted over an X-ray of a pair of lungs; the words "infectious fear" appear at the top

Infectious Fear: politics, Disease, and the Health Effects of Segregation

Samuel K. Roberts
More Publications