College of Letters & Science
by Heaven Williams An interview with Jnae Thompson Jnae Thompson is an organizer and grant writer at Freedom Inc., a Black and Southeast Asian, queer, abolitionist, feminist organization based in Madison that provides radical direct services and movement-building support for survivors of gender-based violence. This spring, she stepped back onto the UW–Madison stage as Ainee …
A recap of the 2026 End of Year Celebration On May 7, 2026, we held our annual End of Year Celebration, bringing together graduating students, their families, faculty, and staff for an afternoon of recognition. Department chair Dr. Christy Clark-Pujara opened the event with remarks before guests shared lunch and conversation. The gathering closed with a …
Dr. Tom Wing Shick (1947-1987) received his M.A. (1970) and Ph.D. (1976) from the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He joined the Department of African American Studies in 1977. Dr. Shick was an academic consultant for the U.S. Department of State, Carnegie Corporation (Kinte Library Project), The Institute of the Black World, …
Undergraduate Micah Sagers has been awarded the Wisconsin Idea Undergraduate Fellowship for her project, “Freedom is Wellness: Health in A Freedom School Model”. Sagers, a Biology major, is pursuing a certificate in African American Studies and is a current research fellow in The SoulFolk Collective. Wisconsin Idea Fellowships are awarded annually to undergraduate student projects working towards addressing …
Dr. Jessica Lee Stovall has published “Worlding Black freedom: unsettling the predicament of domination through fugitive and abolitionist pedagogies” in the Race Ethnicity and Education (Volume 29, Issue 2 (2026)) journal. Co-authored by Dr. Stovall, Darion A. Wallace, and Kia Turner, the piece asserts the utility of fugitivity and abolition practices. Abstract: The rise in …
The journal MELUS, Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, has awarded Dr. Brittney Edmonds the 2026 Katharine Newman Best Essay Award for her article, “Sutton Griggs’s Speculative Pedagogy”. The selection committee shared that in a “highly competitive field composed of dozens of quality essays published across the year’s four issues”, Dr. Edmond’s essay represents “the most …
A warm and well deserved congratulations to Dr. Jessica Lee Stovall, who has been selected by the Office of the Provost as an Exceptional Service Support Program award recipient for the 2026-2027 academic year. The selection committee recognized that Dr. Stovall’s “impressive commitment to service”, in addition to maintaining a high level of research and …
The creation of the United States in 1776 was based at least partially upon the values enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, that all people are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, freedom and independence had tremendously varied meanings at this time, and for many …
The AHSA is pleased to announce two winners of the 2024-2025 Jack Rosenbalm Prize for American Humor. This prize is awarded biennially to honor the best article on American humor by a pre-tenure scholar, graduate student, adjunct professor, or independent scholar published in a peer-reviewed academic journal or book. This year’s judges were Grace Heneks, …
Texas Tech University holds the largest Vietnam War Archive. This includes a highly trafficked digital archive of records. The university has named their archival collection after historian and professor of African American studies, Dr. Sabrina Thomas. The collection will hold all of Dr. Thomas’ research papers, her notes, records of Amerasians from Vietnam, and records …