Discover African American Studies
Professor Bobby Smith named as a Helen Corley Petit scholar
The College of LAS has honored 15 professors with named scholar and professorship positions in recognition of their contributions to research and education at the University of Illinois.
Professor Irvin Hunt named as a Conrad Humanities scholar
Six professors from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences have been named Conrad Humanities Scholars and Clayton and Thelma Kirkpatrick Professors.
The University News Bureau recognizes Professor John Meyers for his new book "Same Old Song: The Enduring Past in Popular Music"
In his new book, “Same Old Song: The Enduring Past in Popular Music,” John Paul Meyers, an ethnomusicologist and a professor of African American studies, looks at what he calls “historical consciousness in popular music” — a sense in popular music culture that the past is worth remembering, celebrating and replaying.
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AFRO Spring '24 Awards Ceremony
Last spring, the department of African American Studies hosted its annual awards celebration. The department honored its graduating majors and minors; awarded the Diane Pinderhughes Graduate Research Travel prize; and recognized faculty excellence in research, teaching, and engagement.
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Fall '24 Open House
The department of African American Studies hosted it's annual fall Open House where we welcomed AFRO's major and minor students to the new academic year, as well as engaged in good food and conversation.
Thank you to all that came out!
AFRO 101: Black America, 1619-Present
Sociohistorical survey of African American experiences from the West African background to North America, from the 17th century to the present.
AFRO 132: African American Music
Survey of African American music, from its origins to the present with a focus on understanding details of musical performance and the ways in which music interacts with its social and political context. Examines genres such as spirituals, the blues, jazz, R&B, soul, and hip-hop.
AFRO 228: Hip Hop Music: History and Culture
A study of hip-hop from its beginnings in the post-industrial South Bronx of the 1970s to the global present. By focusing on the work of specific artists and movements, we will compare and contrast the production and consumption of hip-hop with other forms of popular music (including jazz, rock, disco, and pop).
AFRO 276: African American History Since 1877
This course surveys the African American sociohistorical experience from 1877 to the present. This course examines the interaction between African American's community-building efforts and post-slavery systems of anti-black racial oppression.
AFRO 415: Africana Feminisms
Explores readings and research from the perspective of feminists throughout the African diaspora, with a focus on Black feminist thought emanating from the United States.
AFRO 495: Spec Topics African American Studies
Food, Clothing, and Buildings: Everyday Religion in the United States This course examines religion as a lived experience beyond places of worship. Turning our attention to material and sensory culture, this course takes up “lived religion” as a theoretical approach toward interpreting religious worlds.
AFRO 597: Problems in African-American Studies
This course examines the multiple streams, sites, and positionalities of contestation, rethinking, and renewed knowledge production that have contributed to the theory, methodology, praxis, politics, and poetics associated with the “decolonizing generations.”
AFRO 495: Senior Thesis Seminar
This course is designed for senior-level African American Studies Majors and Minors who have completed the required prerequisites. The course provides an opportunity for students to integrate substantive knowledge, theoretical perspectives, and research approaches learned in the various courses. During the semester, students will complete a final thesis project that thoroughly examines a significant topic in the study of African Americans.
Alumni Spotlight: Sindra Gerdes, Class of 2024
Why African American Studies (AFRO)? I chose AFRO because I grew up in a small sundown town just a short drive from the University Campus where my identity was called into question more times than a child should ever have to. My unique experiences as a biracial young woman in a small community that was rooted in bigotry and prejudice inspired me to further educate myself not only of the impact of African American history in the Americas but the broader impacts across the African Diaspora. AFRO Studies’ unique and vast discipline afforded me the ability to build an...