PhD in Afro-American Studies

The Afro-American studies doctoral program addresses the demand for professionally trained scholars and educators able to teach in the field of African American and Africana studies at all levels, and we have a nearly 100 percent record of placing our graduates in faculty positions at colleges and universities. By taking an integrative approach to the study of history, politics, economics, and culture, you’ll develop the intellectual and scholarly capacity to undertake an African American critique of American life, history, and society, as well as to make ongoing contributions to scholarship regarding race and race relations, as well as Africa and its Diaspora. 

Doctoral students begin their education with Major Works in Afro-American Studies, a year-long, team-taught seminar. Over the course of the first three years, you’ll also take courses in Black politics, literary theory, critical race theory, history, arts, culture, and historiographical methods, depending on your academic interests. All students take the comprehensive exam at the start of the second year, and the qualifying exam at the end of the third year, before embarking on dissertation research and writing.