Black Studies Collaboratory

The Department of African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley is excited to announce that we have been selected as one of sixteen recipients of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Just Futures grant. This grant is a collaborative effort to address racial inequality through new humanities-based research & solutions. The $2.87 million—the largest award UC Berkeley has ever received from the Mellon Foundation—will fund “The Black Studies Collaboratory,” a three year project aimed towards amplifying the interdisciplinary, political and world-building work of Black Studies. The Black Studies Collaboratory will consist of academic-year think tanks, summer labs for graduate students, research grants for faculty and students, and a university course open to the public. The Black Futures Retreat organized in collaboration with a host of community partners will be the culmination of the initiative.  With the Mellon Foundation Just Futures grant, the Department of African American Studies at UCB is poised to greatly expand the scope and impact of its scholarship.  

Email: Blackstudiescollab@berkeley.edu

Leigh Raiford, Inaugural Director and Co-PI

Tianna Paschel, Co-PI

Berkeley African American Studies awarded $2.8 million grant to expand community impact

Website launch coming soon!

Spring 2021 Critical Conversations Series

Critical Conversations Spring 2021 series is organized around two themes:  celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Barbara T. Christian, an architect of Black feminist criticism, a founding member of our Department and a gifted writer and teacher; and exploring the concept of “abolition democracy,” thinking creatively and collaboratively about the practice of abolition as necessary to building life-affirming institutions and robust democratic structures. Through both themes, we ask: what are the lessons of the Black Feminist, Black Radical, and Black intellectual traditions for our moment and what is the role of Black Studies in building more just futures?