Welcome to the Department of Afro-American
Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is dedicated to carrying on the vision of the elders and ancestors who devoted themselves to the highest standards of intellectual rigor and to the realization of a vision of true equality and opportunity. Like W.E.B. Du Bois, Anna Julia Cooper, John Hope Franklin, Zora Neale Hurston, the Department is committed to bringing the fruits of academic research to the broadest possible audience, within and beyond the walls of the University. We believe that the deepest understanding of the complex reality of race in America requires a truly interdisciplinary approach, one that draws on history and literature, the social sciences and the arts. We offer undergraduate majors in five areas: literature and culture; theater, music and the visual arts; history; Black Women's Studies; and inter-group relations. Our M.A. program is based on personalized programs of study shaped to meet the needs of individual students, many of whom participate in the "Bridge" programs which enable them to move directly into Ph.D. programs in English and History. Faculty members and students are active in a broad range of activities, including hip-hop programs for at-risk youth, community theater, college classes for low-income adults, and various support activities for the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, Alabama. We pride ourselves on positive working relationships with our colleagues in traditional disciplines as well as the Women’s Studies Program and the Department of African Literature & Languages. A vibrant community of scholars and students who believe in the ideal of unity without uniformity, we welcome all those committed to the deeper understanding of race in America and the world.
 

African American History Position

The Afro-American Studies Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison invites applications for a tenure track Assistant Professor appointment in African-American history, subfield open. This appointment will begin August 24, 2009. Candidates must have the Ph.D. in hand by date of hire. Research and teaching interests may include, but are not limited to, diaspora history, gender and women’s history, popular culture, slavery, and black political and social movements. The successful candidate is expected to teach the survey course in African American history, contribute to both the graduate and undergraduate programs in the department, produce scholarship commensurate with the expectations of a research university, and perform University service as appropriate. Send a cover letter describing research, teaching experience and teaching philosophy, curriculum vitae, official graduate transcript, three letters of recommendation, and a writing sample to Professor Craig Werner, Department of Afro-American Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 4141 Helen C. White Hall, 600 N. Park St. Madison, WI, 53706. The deadline for completed applications is November 28, 2008. UW-Madison is an EOE. We promote excellence through diversity and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. Unless confidentiality is requested in writing, information regarding the names of applicants must be released upon request. Finalists cannot be guaranteed confidentiality. Employment may require a criminal background check.

Announcements

Former Afro-American Studies teaching assistant William Sturkey has been awarded the Glover Moore Prize by the Mississippi Historical Society. His major UW-Madison research project, "Houses of Liberty: The Impact of Freedom Schools During SNCC's 1964 Freedom Summer," was judged the finest M.A.thesis on Mississippi history or biography completed during the academic year 2006-2007. Currently, William is a doctoral student in History at The Ohio State University.
The Afro-American Studies Department will be one of the sponsors of a series of lectures and cultural events over the course of the fall semester, entitled "Afro-Cuba at the Crossroads: Arts, Culture, History." Click here to download a full schedule of events. The series will be exploring the art, music, dance, film, and other cultural traditions of Afro-Cuban life. The program has been organized by Afro-American Studies faculty member Prof. Henry J. Drewal. These exciting events will be hosted throughout September, October, and November.
Two former Afro-American Studies students, Andrew Witt (B.A. 1996) and Simon Wendt (M.A. 2000), have published their first academic books. Dr. Witt, currently on the faculty of Edgewood College, is the author of The Black Panthers in the Midwest (Routledge, 2007). Professor Wendt, who teaches American History at the University of Heidelberg is the author of The Spirit and the Shotgun: Armed Resistance and the Struggle for Civil Rights. (University Press of Florida, 2007). Congratulations!
The Afro-American Studies Department would like to extend its warmest congratulations to Professor Franklin D. Wilson, who this May was granted emeritus status in recognition for his contributions to the university. Prof. Wilson is now the William H. Sewell-Bascom Professor of Sociology.
On Monday, May 7, the department hosted a lecture entitled "Breaking Traditions and Taboos in African American Woman's Biography" by Tracy Curtis at 4:30 in the SLIS Common Room. Curtis (Ph.D. from UCLA) has written on the relationships between sexuality, power and voice in contemporary African American women's writing. She has published research on Paul Beatty's The White Boy Shuffle and issues regarding black women's encounters with illness and the health care system.
The department is proud to congratulate international studies and political science major Jeffrey Wright, a rising senior at UW. He is a recipient of the 2006-2007 University Book Store Academic Excellence Award for the completion of an outstanding independent research study. Titled "Black Art in the Twenty-First Century: Hip-Hop and the Quest for a Black Aesthetic," his research project focuses on today's hip-hop generation and hip-hop music in particular as an expressive medium through which practitioners dictate a new black consciousness. The project originated in Prof. Sandra Adell's 603 course on the Harlem Renaissance, and Prof. Adell served as the project advisor.
The department co-sponsored a talk by cultural critic T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, author of Pimps Up, Hos Down -- Hip Hop's Hold on Young Black Women on Friday, April 27 at 3:00 in 1195 Grainger Hall. Her talk was titled "Pimps Up, Hos Down & Imus Out" and offered a perspective on the racist and sexist comments made by radio host Don Imus and their complex cultural contexts of race, gender, and corporate media appropriation. The talk was co-sponsored by Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative.
 
On Saturday, April 28, the department co-sponsored a symposium entitled "Sankofa: Hip Hop, Gender, and Youth Empowerment" from 12:00 - 3:30 in 6191 Helen C. White Hall. The keynote speaker was Gwendolyn Pough, associate professor of Women's Studies and Writing at Syracuse University, who spoke on women, rap, and hip hop feminism. The symposium was co-sponsored by the Center for the Humanities.
 
We wish to congratulate recent program graduate Charles Hughes, who was featured in April 22's online Seattle Times article, "Diary of the EMP pop conference."
 
Artist and scholar Emeritus Professor David Driskell gave a public lecture on Thursday, April 26. His lecture, "Picturing Transcultural Vision," was delivered at the Chazen Museum, and was preceded by a graduate student workshop in Helen C. White Hall.