African American Studies

University of California, Berkeley

Overview

The Department of African American Studies is an intellectual community committed to producing, refining and advancing knowledge of Black people in the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, and Africa. A key component of our mission is to interrogate the meanings and dimensions of slavery and colonialism, and their continuing political, social and cultural implications.

Our faculty is drawn from disciplines as diverse as anthropology, cultural studies, linguistics, literature, history, sociology, performance, and creative writing. We are united by a relentless commitment to pushing the boundaries of knowledge through excellence in scholarship and pedagogy that are at once interdisciplinary and innovative.

We fully embrace the notion that a public institution can lead in shaping and defining disciplines, not just teaching them. We contribute to this mission by investing in a strong faculty and talented and ambitious graduate students from a variety of backgrounds. Our faculty is drawn from disciplines as diverse as anthropology, cultural studies, linguistics, literature, history, sociology, performance, and education. But we are not simply a collection of experts from traditional disciplines; we are united by a relentless commitment to pushing the boundaries of knowledge through excellence in scholarship and pedagogy that are at once interdisciplinary and innovative.

Undergraduate Programs

African American Studies: BA, Minor

Graduate Program

African American Studies: PhD

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Courses

African American Studies

Contact Information

Department of African American Studies

660 Social Sciences Building

Phone: 510-642-7084

Fax: 510-642-0318

africam@berkeley.edu

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Department Chair

Nikki Jones

660 Social Science Building

Phone: 510-642-7084

njones@berkeley.edu

Eric Cheatham

608C Social Sciences Building

Phone: 510-642-8513

eric_cheatham@berkeley.edu

Graduate Adviser

Lindsey Villarreal

662 Social Sciences Building

Phone: 510-642-3419

lherbert@berkeley.edu

Department Manager

Sandra Richmond

660 Social Science Building

Phone: 510-642-7084

sandyjbr@berkeley.edu

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