African and African Diaspora Studies
welcome to the program
African and African Diaspora Studies Dissertation Fellowship
Boston College’s African and African Diaspora Studies Program (AADS) invites scholars working in any discipline in the Social Sciences or Humanities, with projects focusing on any topic within African and/or African Diaspora Studies, to apply for our dissertation fellowship. DEADLINE: 3 February 2012. Find more information about the African and African Diaspora Studies Dissertation Fellowship here.
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Resources and Opportunities
The Amanda V. Houston Traveling Fellowship provides up to $3,000 toward domestic or international travel, including transportation, lodging, meals, and research-related expenses. The award must be used between 1 June and 20 January of the fellowship year to facilitate a research project of between 15 and 20 double-spaced pages. This project can be the result of either an independent study under the supervision of a faculty member or a research project conducted while participating in a BC sponsored or recognized study abroad program. If applicant will be studying abroad, then the paper can be the result of approved course work as long as the research as described in the project proposal is completed by the end of the fellowship year. Find out more about the history of the award and about other funding opportunities.
Deadline Extended: February 24, 2012. Click here to view sample proposal.
Recent AVH recipient Adizah Eghan traveled to India in 2011, volunteering at a local NGO, focusing on the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other STIs in the MSM community. Click here to read more.
Spring 2012 Course Descriptions:
Interested in taking African and African Diaspora Studies courses? Click here to find out more information about courses offered this upcoming semester.
Upcoming Events:
Monday, 23 April 2012
“'No Abiding City': Theorizing Deportation in Caribbean Migrant Fiction"
Prof. Kezia Page
Devlin Hall Rm 101 @ 4:30pm
This presentation uses the legal act of deportation as a socio-political tool to question the resist loose definitions of the Caribbean. Professor Page uses fiction, music, and legal cases to support this critical approach. To view flyer, click here.
Free and Open to the Public
Interested in attending an AADS event this semester? We will be hosting exciting events this Spring! Click here to check out upcoming Works in Progress Lecture Series events. Don't forget to find out more about our New Directions events too.
Novelist and Playwright Earl Lovelace Presents at Boston College
This past March the acclaimed Trinidadian novelist Earl Lovelace read from his new novel "Is Just A Movie", a warm, gentle novel about small moments of magic in ordinary life. To view Boston College's Front Row video of Lovelace's reading, click here.
Peace Medie receives award for the African Politics Conference Group Best Graduate Student Paper 2010-2011
Peace A. Medie is a Ph.D. Candidate in Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research interests include gender and security, postconflict state-building, and civilian protection. Her dissertation addresses the variation in police officers responses to violent crimes against women in Liberia. She investigates why police officers forward most rape cases to court while allowing complainants to withdraw most cases of internal human trafficking and aggravated assault. She examines how the violence experienced during the country’s civil war as well as the efforts of international organizations and local women’s rights organizations have influenced police behavior. This project is based on field research conducted in Liberia.To read more, click here.
Professor C. Shawn McGuffey featured on Boston's Channel 5 Chronicle
Professor C. Shawn McGuffey, of the African and African Diaspora Studies Program (AADS) and Sociology Department was interviewed on Boston's Channel 5 Chronicle about the growing mixed race population in the U.S.. To view Prof. McGuffey's interview on this emerging and thought-provoking issue click here.
Professor Jean-Charles to Speak at Brown University
Professor Jean-Charles will participate in a panel discussion entitled Africana Studies and the Fate of the Humanities hosted by Brown University's Department of Africana Studies and The Cogut Center for the Humanities on December 4, 2011 at 4pm.
Boston College Theologian M. Shawn Copeland Honored with Seton Medal
Associate Professor of Systematic Theology M. Shawn Copeland has been awarded the St. Elizabeth Seton Medal, established in 1966 by the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, OH, to recognize distinguished women in theology. The medal was presented to Copeland at an Oct. 12 event at the College of Mount St. Joseph, where Copeland delivered an address titled "To Be the Body of Christ." Read full article here.
AADS Newsletter
Feel free to browse through the AADS Newsletter for the 2011-2012 school year. This newsletter features articles an introduction to AADS' new Program Specialist Richard Paul, Lil Wayne's political views, as well as other topics! Download the AADS Newsletter here.
Wanting It All: Women and the State of Feminism in America
How are American women doing today? By some measures, extremely well: women now make up the majority of the American workforce, graduate from college at higher rates than men, and are taking unprecedented leadership roles in business, media, politics and law. Yet these successes bring new tensions for women's work/life balance, even as inequalities and discrimination persist across nearly all sectors of society. To introduce fresh perspectives and foster broad conversation, the Boisi Center has asked three scholars, including Dr. Cynthia Young of AADS and the English Department, to discuss the state of women--and feminism--in the United States today. Please join the conversation on April 26th, 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m., in Devlin 101.
Professor Jean-Charles on the Callie Crosby Show
Professor Regine Michelle Jean-Charles, core faculty member of the African and African Diaspora Studies joined Callie Crosby on February 2nd to discuss Lynn Nottage's Pullitzer Prize winning play, Ruined. Prof. Jean-Charles and Crosby discuss violence within the play and how sexual violence in Ruined is portrayed on stage and interpreted by the audience.
McGlathery Honored by the Independent Reviewers of New England
Chauncey McGlathery, Voices of Imani Director and AADS Adjunct Professor, is a man of many talents, which is evident in his numerous nominations for the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE). Along with teaching courses and directing the gospel choir at Boston College, Mr. McGlathery also indulges performs theatre and music outside of Boston College. In 2010, Mr. McGlathery was involved in the plays: Annie, Spelling Bee, Buddy Holly, and Last Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. Read more about the IRNE here, and view a list of McGlathery’s honors here.
Ways of Knowing and CIT: Women Living with HIV/AIDS in the US
In the Spring of 2009 Professor Rosanna DeMarco, AADS AFfiliated Faculty, spoke about "ways of knowing" and the Catholic Intellectual Traditions as they relate to her research with women with HIV/AIDS in the United States, particularly Massachusetts. She addressed the current trends of HIV/AIDS incidence among African American women, community-based knowledge development. She'll discussed how to develop and understand meaning for these women, activism and future research. Her talk is inspired by Monika Hellwig's work on using experience and knowledge as way of becoming a better person in community and gaining a deeper understanding of human life. Listen to her audio presentation.
Faculty Responses to How Lincoln Learned to Read
Five faculty interviewed over the summer shared their insights on the book and how it related to their personal experiences as students and educators learning what they needed to know. Included amongst these faculty members are Dr. Rhonda Frederick, Director of African and African Diaspora Studies, and Carlo Rotella, Professor of English and Affiliate Faculty of African and African Diaspora Studies.
The Program in African and African Diaspora Studies
Students may study in a variety of fields with an African and African Diaspora Studies focus and qualified students may pursue a Minor or an Independent Major in African and African Diaspora Studies.
Our Illustrious Faculty
Our affiliated faculty represent a wide range of scholarship and interests. Click to see an alphabetical list of professors, or click to locate information about recent faculty publications.
History of the African and African Diaspora Studies Program
The African & African Diaspora at Boston College, originally called the Black Studies Program, began in 1969-1970. Read more about the history of the program here.