Program in African-American Studies

Director

Valerie A. Smith

Associate Director

Noliwe M. Rooks

Executive Committee

Kwame Anthony Appiah, Philosophy

Daphne A. Brooks, English

Anne A. Cheng, English

Paul J. DiMaggio, Sociology

Mitchell Duneier, Sociology

Simon Gikandi, English

Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Religion

William A. Gleason, English

Jennifer R. Greeson, English

Sarah-Jane Mathieu, History

Colin A. Palmer, History

Albert J. Raboteau, Religion

Noliwe M. Rooks, African-American Studies

Carolyn Rouse, Anthropology

Cecilia E. Rouse, Economics

Valerie A. Smith, English

Howard F. Taylor, Sociology

Cornel R. West, Religion

Professor

Anne A. Cheng, English

Colin A. Palmer, History

Valerie A. Smith, English

Howard F. Taylor, Sociology

Associate Professor

Daphne A. Brooks, English

Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Religion

Carolyn Rouse, Anthropology

Assistant Professor

Sarah-Jane Mathieu, History

 

The Program in African-American Studies encourages doctoral candidates in cooperating departments to pursue a coordinated, interdisciplinary plan of study of African-descended people in the United States. The program’s focus includes not only the experiences of black people in the United States, but also the relation of those experiences to African-descended people in other parts of the world. It does not offer a graduate degree or certificate in the field.

The program is governed by an interdepartmental committee and administered by the program director. It seeks to encourage those who want to become scholars in the field or who hope to enter careers requiring the scholarly study of African-American culture and life in combination with an established discipline.

Students interested in the field should also examine the course offerings in the cooperating departments of anthropology, art and archaeology, economics, English, history, politics, psychology, religion, and sociology, and the School of Architecture and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Interdepartmental programs on Africa, Latin America, and the Near East offer further opportunity to study the relationship between the institutions of African Americans and those of black peoples in these regions. Students are also urged to avail themselves of the facilities offered by several of the University’s special research centers, especially the Office of Population Research, the Research Program in Development Studies, and the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies.

Colloquium Series

The program sponsors a colloquium series that brings outstanding scholars to Princeton to discuss their current projects. Students are encouraged to participate in this important part of the program’s offerings. Dates and more information on the lectures are available at the program office as well as on the program Web site.

Courses

AAS 500 Introduction to the African-American Intellectual Tradition

Staff

This interdisciplinary seminar introduces graduate students from many departments to the African-American intellectual tradition. The perspective concentrates on African America and the African Diaspora, with attention to issues of class and gender as well as race. A broad set of topics, including race, racism, religion, and slavery are discussed. The course presupposes a familiarity with issues in African-American studies.

AAS 501 Special Topics in African-American Studies

Staff

This course focuses on particular areas that pertain to the experience of African-Americans, such as racism, black family structure, black cognitive development, and socioeconomic mobility, concentrating on one or more areas each term. The course combines theory and scholarly method with a study of the works of black and other scholars.

Pertinent Courses in Allied Departments

Architecture

525 Mapping the City

570 The Sociology of Contemporary Design

Economics

531, 532 Labor Economics I, II

English

554 Race and American Literature

555 American Literary Traditions

556 African-American Literature

History

581 Topics in the History of the American South

584 Race and Politics in the United States, 1820–1900

Politics

547 Urban Political Analysis

Religion

505 Studies in Religions of the Americas

Sociology

510 Selected Topics in Social Structure (half-term courses)

Small Groups	Sociology of Gender
Social Stratification	Theories of Community
Race and Ethnicity	Political Sociology of Advanced Societies
Sex and Gender	Political Sociology of Transition
Demography and Social Structure	Elites and Upper Classes
Theory on Black Americans	Sociology of Development
Class, Status, and Power	Social Stratification and Inequality
The Structure of Society

Woodrow Wilson School

538 Politics and Policymaking in Metropolitan Areas