Share your research, network, and celebrate Black History Month by presenting art, literature, and history projects in the Department of African American Studies’ 1st Annual Undergraduate Symposium.

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 Department Newsletter

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News

  • The Division of the Arts calls for submissions

    The Bolz Center for Arts Administration and the Division of the Arts have opened an opportunity for student entrepreneurs with an interest in the arts: Proposals are due by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, January 17, …

  • Dr. Stovall wins Paul and Kate Farmer English Journal Writing Award

    Dr. Jessica Lee Stovall has been awarded the Paul and Kate Farmer English Journal Writing Award for her article “Black Teachers’ Use of Liberatory Design to Promote Literacies of Healing” co-written with Lamar Timmons-Long, Thomas …

  • Chair’s Letter — Fall 2024

    To the African American Studies community, On behalf of our department, I welcome you to the first edition of our African American Studies newsletter, created to provide students, Alumni, and friends of the program with current …

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From left to right: Kweku Andrews, William L. Van Deburg, Freida High, Alex Haley, and Tom Shick photographed together in the mid-1970s.

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.

Approved by the Board of Regents in 1970, the Department of African American Studies (formerly Afro-American Studies) is an outgrowth of the student concern for relevance in higher education which was so dramatically evidenced on many college campuses during the late 1960s. Today, the department offers a wide variety of courses leading to both undergraduate and graduate degrees and is one of the most successful programs in the country.

Our colleague and friend, Nina Liamba, passed away unexpectedly on April 26, 2024.

 

Nina was kind, quiet, and generous. She was a devoted mother, and beloved daughter and sister. Nina had a welcoming spirit and smile. Her easygoing personality and the pictures of her children in her office invited casual conversations about our lives outside of work. As the Student Affairs Program Coordinator, Nina was often the first point of contact for our students, and she went out of her way to accommodate their needs and requests. Her patience was noted by many.

 

Nina’s abrupt passing reminds us of the importance of our relationships and the gratitude we share for one another.