News & Events

March 27, 2024

From the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: By Anthony Balas March 26, 2024 The University of California, Berkeley, is making a hopeful case for African American studies amid attacks on academic freedom.  Critical as they are to a healthy democracy, open conversations at public universities on race, history, and freedom are increasingly threatened by an array of attacks—from cuts to funding for humanities departments to legislation that restricts higher education institutions from incorporating topics like racial injustice into curricula.  To Nikki Jones, who is a professor and chair of the Department of African American Studies at UC Berkeley, these attacks can be understood,…

March 27, 2024

UC Berkeley’s African American Studies (AAS) Department launched a groundbreaking project this week with a $100,000 Affirming Multivocal Humanities grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Banned Scholars Project is a direct response to increasing restrictions on academic freedom, particularly in the fields of critical race theory, DEI and gender studies. It was spearheaded by AAS professors Michael M. Cohen, Tianna S. Paschel and Ula Taylor; department chair Nikki Jones; and managed by staffer Barbara Montano.

November 3, 2023

Black Graduation 2024 May 17, 2024 9:00 am  Zellerbach Auditorium  Berkeley, CA Registration TBA

October 16, 2023

Black Lives at Cal  Self-Guided Black History Tour of UC Berkeley Daniella Lake & Gia White

September 5, 2023

Assistant Professor-Afterlives of Slavery–African American Studies–University of California, Berkeley The African American Studies Department at UC Berkeley seeks a tenure-track Assistant Professor whose work demonstrates prior or potential contributions to the study of the Afterlives of Slavery. Expected start date: 07/01/2024. To apply visit https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF03886. This recruitment closes at 11:59 pm (PT) on 9/28/2023. For questions, contact lanihunt@berkeley.edu. UC Berkeley is an AA/EEO employer. UC Berkeley is an AA/EEO employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status.

August 17, 2023

Victoria Netanus Grubbs, a former postdoctoral fellow at the Black Studies Collaboratory and lecturer in African American Studies, recently appeared on the Matrix podcast to discuss her research on Rwandan popular music. Featuring clips from musical artists across the country, Grubbs discusses the project of diasporic music, national identity, and resistance to state projects.    Check out the interview here: https://matrix.berkeley.edu/research-article/listening-to-rwandan-popular-music-with-victoria-netanus-grubbs/

January 13, 2022

Save the date! This year Black Grad will be held on Sunday, May 22nd at 2:00pm. More details to follow. 

October 18, 2021

Download PDF here   THE BLACK FILM AMBASSADOR: THE ECSTATIC WORLD OF ALBERT JOHNSON    Josslyn Luckett    In 1958,  when Ernest Callenbach was seeking “co-conspirators” to create a “serious American film magazine,” Pauline Kael directed him to Albert Johnson. Together, the two of them and Colin Young, then a UCLA professor, dreamed up and brought into being the journal before you now.1 Knowing that a Black film critic and professor, Pacific Film Archive (PFA) collaborator, and long-time San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) programmer was part of this journal’s origin story is enough to make me—a recently arrived Black…

October 6, 2021

Small Grants Program – Spring 2022 Due: October 29th, 2021 The Black Studies Collaboratory in the Department of African American Studies at UC Berkeley is currently accepting applications from undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty and staff for financial support for research up to $5,000. We will provide small grants for research, teaching, curriculum development, and related projects to faculty, undergraduates students, graduate students, and staff, either as individuals, teams, or as representatives of a UC Berkeley program, department, or unit. We welcome proposals from across campus that center blackness, especially teaching and research endeavors that are collaborative,…

September 30, 2021

Job #JPF03100 African Am Studies / College of Letters & Science - Social Sciences / UC Berkeley POSITION OVERVIEW Position title: Non-Senate Lecturer Salary range: Salary is dependent upon qualifications and years of college-level teaching experience. Starting minimum full-time equivalent annual academic salary is $56,945. Percent time: Positions may range from 33% to 67% time (one to two courses). Anticipated start: Applications are typically reviewed for summer session course needs in April, fall course needs in May, and in November for spring course needs. Position duration: Positions typically start at the beginning of the semester (mid-August for Fall Semester; mid-January for Spring Semester), and appointments…