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James Smethurst
Acting Chair (2026-27), W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies
Graduate Program Director, W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies
Professor, W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies
Graduate Program Director, W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies
Professor, W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies
African American literature, culture, and intellectual history from the late 19th to the late 20th centuries; particular emphasis on black cultural and political radicalism.
Contact details
Contact
Email:
jsmethur [at] umass [dot] edu
Location
New Africa House
180 Infirmary Way
Amherst, MA 01003-9289
United States
Room 310
About
Dr. James Smethurst is a Professor and Graduate Program Director in the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies. Prior to coming to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he taught at the University of North Florida.
His primary research areas are African American literature, culture, and intellectual history from the late 19th to the late 20th centuries, with a particular emphasis on black cultural and political radicalism. He is currently working on a history of the Black Arts Movement in the southern United States.