The Department of African American Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison offers students an opportunity to study those aspects of black history, culture, and society in ideal interdisciplinary models that reconstruct African American life. It challenges students to critically examine facts and issues that are historically and contemporaneously relevant to the African American experience. The department offers an undergraduate major and certificate.
The Department of African American Studies formed in 1970 out of student concern for relevance in higher education that was so dramatically evidenced on many college campuses in the 1960s. Committed to bringing academic research to the broadest possible audience, the Department of African American Studies at UW–Madison believes the deepest understanding of the complex reality of race in America requires a truly interdisciplinary approach. Within and beyond the walls of the university, our studies draw on history, literature, the social sciences, and the arts. Faculty members and students are active in a broad range of activities, including hip-hop programs for at-risk youth, college classes for low-income adults, and the Public History Project. The department prides itself on positive working relationships with our colleagues in other disciplines, including the other ethnic studies programs, the departments of Gender and Women’s Studies, African Cultural Studies, English, History, and the School of Education.
A vibrant community of scholars and students who believe in the ideal of unity without uniformity, we welcome all those committed to a deeper understanding of race and ethnicity in America and the world.