The Center: Overview

Launched in the fall of 2006, the Center for African American Studies (CAAS) expands upon the initiatives begun by the Program in African American Studies at Princeton University. Since its founding in 1969, the program has offered an interdisciplinary certificate that has allowed students to draw on the insights and techniques of various disciplines in an effort to understand the experiences, history and culture of African-descended people. The new center will build upon that earlier vision and extend its reach broadly across the campus and throughout the curriculum.

Understanding that African American studies is interdisciplinary and multifaceted, and that questions and concerns about race are at the center of a liberal arts education, the center offers a variety of courses, lectures and research opportunities to more fully enrich the intellectual lives of students, faculty and members of the larger community. The center also offers doctoral students from across the University opportunities to work with faculty in African American studies.

Noliwe Rooks

Princeton has offered an interdisciplinary certificate in African American studies for undergraduates for 37 years. Above, students explore African American popular culture in current and historical media images in a course offered by the center.