CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The UNC African, African American and Diaspora Studies (AAAD) department is developing a new graduate program.
The department had their Africana Studies program approved November 2021. The department is now working on hiring faculty and building a curriculum for their first cohort in fall 2025.
Admitted students will get to decide between three geographical focuses including African America, Africa, or African Diaspora. They will also have to declare two thematic concentrations including History, Feminism/Gender, Policy and Development, and Cultural Production.
AAAD Department Chair Claude Clegg says this will be the first program in the Southeast to cover the Africa, North America, and the large diaspora.
“There’s more interest in learning about this history,” Clegg says. “Whether it’s in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement or just what’s going on in the world now…I think it’s very important in terms of countering all of the misinformation about African American studies, about Black history.”
With the recent bans on critical race theory shifting from K-12 to higher education, programs like these have become increasingly important.
“I think it’s a kind of skill set that never gets old, and especially in our current social and political climate. It is especially required,” Clegg says.