Workers, Consumers, and Civil Rights

Parker examines the movement to racially integrate white-collar work and consumption in American department stores, and broadens our understanding of historical transformations in African American class and labor formation.
Fugitive Science: Empiricism and Freedom in Early African American Culture

Honorable Mention, 2019 MLA Prize for a First Book
Sole Finalist Mention for the 2018 Lora Romero First Book Prize, presented by the American Studies Association
Rusert's book exposes the influential work of a group of black artists to confront and refute scientific racism. Traversing the archives of early African American literature, performance, and visual culture, Britt Rusert uncovers the dynamic experiments of a group of black writers, artists, and performers.
Afro-American Studies at UMass

One of the largest departments of its kind, the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies serves students seeking in-depth knowledge of the history and culture of black people in the Americas and the worldwide African Diaspora.

Dr. Julia Charles Featured on MSNBC Podcast Into America

February 18, 2021

With Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, Trymaine Lee...

UMass Amherst Launches Black Presence Initiative

February 16, 2021

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst has launched a new Black Presence Initiative. The Initiative, spearheaded by the Office of Equity and Inclusion, is coordinating a series of...

Professor Parker Receives NEH Fellowship

February 16, 2021

AMHERST, Mass.—The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently announced $32.8 million in grants to support 213 humanities projects in 44 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico....

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The Major

Why Afro-American Studies?

Our department is named for the great intellectual, a native of our Western Massachusetts region, who was the first academic scholar to pioneer the systematic study of people of African descent in the U.S. and throughout world. To earn a degree in Afro-American Studies, to take courses leading to a certificate or a minor is to follow in W.E.B. Du Bois’ footsteps of academic excellence and social responsibility.

Workers, Consumers, and Civil Rights Parker examines the movement to racially integrate white-collar work and consumption in American department stores, and broadens our understanding of historical transformations in African American class and labor formation.

Afro-American Studies at UMass One of the largest departments of its kind, the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies serves students seeking in-depth knowledge of the history and culture of black people in the Americas and the worldwide African Diaspora.

Dr. Julia Charles Featured on MSNBC Podcast Into America

UMass Amherst Launches Black Presence Initiative

Professor Parker Receives NEH Fellowship

Why Afro-American Studies?

Workers, Consumers, and Civil Rights

Parker examines the movement to racially integrate white-collar work and consumption in American department stores, and broadens our understanding of historical transformations in African American class and labor formation.

Afro-American Studies at UMass

One of the largest departments of its kind, the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies serves students seeking in-depth knowledge of the history and culture of black people in the Americas and the worldwide African Diaspora.