At a Glance
The Department of African American and African Studies (AAS), while relatively young, is making an impact on UVA Grounds with its award-winning faculty and diverse student body. In the years ahead the AAS Department will be recognized on its own terms as one of the leading Black Studies departments in the United States. With a growing faculty, an undergraduate major that more UVA students choose, we are poised to make an impact on the field, and on undergraduate education in Africana Studies. The AAS Department stands poised to expand the influence and impact of its mission of undergraduate education, producing innovative research, and public outreach on Grounds and beyond.
Our History
The Department developed alongside the Carter G. Woodson Institute, advancing the field of Black Studies and supporting undergraduate students at UVA as a program in African American and African Studies. In 2017 AAS became a full-fledged academic department, one committed to training the next generation of thinkers as well as the general public about issues of race, social justice, and inequality. At the heart of the department’s mission is the spirit of Carter G. Woodson’s achievements. It strives to create infrastructure for the research, teaching, and dissemination of African and African American history, and to engage with communities and individuals outside the university through public outreach. The department has taken Woodson’s vision further to engage with the history and study of a larger Black world, and stood true to the vision of its founder Professor Armstead Robinson who sought to make UVA a center of research on “the origins, experiences, and present conditions of Africans and Peoples of African descent through the world.”
The core of this work is the African American and African Studies major and minor, which exposes students to critical inquiry and discussion about the lives and experiences of people in Africa and the African diaspora. Global in context, rigorous in content, the department's teaching emphasizes intellectual intersections, cross-cultural connections, and real-world applications. In the years since we became a department we have cultivated a vibrant community. A growing faculty with expertise in African American, African and Caribbean Studies, doing groundbreaking and innovative research is attracting students from across Grounds to our major and minor.
Our majors in African American and African Studies have taken their education to pursue a wide range of careers in law, K-12 education and higher education, medicine, non-profit sectors, business and consulting. As you plan your academic and professional career, review the programs and opportunities offered by the department.
Major in African American and African Studies
Visit our undergraduate program page for more information about the department, its teaching vision, and how to major/minor in African American and African Studies.
Distinguished Majors Program
Advanced students in AAS may wish to apply for the Distinguished Majors Program (DMP) which culminates in a thesis project supervised by an academic advisor.
Study Abroad
The department’s study abroad program is led by Anne Rotich and facilitated by the Education Abroad office. UVA in Kenya: Swahili Cultures Then and Now is a J-term course aims to provide students with an immersive, interactive, and intellectually enriching experience of the Swahili coast. Some of the main themes covered include language, cultures, and practices, and a critical understanding of the experience of race and racism, slavery and enslavement in the Swahili coast, and the historical cultural context of the region.
Swahili
In addition to the African Studies minor, established in 2007, the Department provides Swahili language instruction-Beginner Swahili (SWAH 1010/1020) and Intermediate Swahili (SWAH 2010/2020, with SWAH 1020 as a prerequisite).
The Swahili program continuously engages in outreach activities through events such as Africa Day with local schools and Swahili community volunteer events.