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"We are embarking on an agenda to highlight and sustain the centrality of the arts in African American and African Diaspora Studies and its broader intellectual community. Look for programs with the Artist-in-Residence and our Black Arts Dialogues, and courses with our International Scholar-In-Residence and Postdoctoral Fellow emphasizing music, creative writing and visual arts. This is an exciting time of growth and opportunity for our department."

−Kellie Jones, Chair-African American & African Diaspora Studies

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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

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
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
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
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