AADS Media

The Department of African and African Diaspora Studies (AADS) is proud of the scholarship and activism in which our students and faculty engage. Leaders in their respective fields passionate about enhancing the lives of black people around the world, our faculty and students make it a point to take their knowledge and advocacy out of the classroom and apply it to real-world experiences and events. The videos below highlight the department's students, faculty, and accomplishments.

AADS Student Voices

In this episode, second year Acting Major Miles Agee describes being a person of color in Hollywood.

In this episode second, year AADS Major Octavian Moten talks about his focus on Community Programs, Public Policy and the School to Prison Pipeline.

In this episode AADS Ph.D. student Traci-Ann Wint-Hayles describes her research on how the Rastafarian aesthetic and Kingston culture and tourism work to form a Jamaican identity.

In this episode History Ph.D. student and AADS Doctoral Portfolio candidate Maria Hammack describes her research into the "hidden histories" of enslaved Africans who escaped bondage in the U.S. and reached Mexican territory in the 19th Century.

This episode features Joshua Ellis,a sophomore who takes his AFR/GOV education out of the classroom and into the streets—literally. Watch to learn more.

In this episode, we focus our lens on La'Kayla Williams, Ph.D. student in AADS, whose work focuses on black women in hip-hop and the U.S. South. Watch to check out her take on race in the media industry—Beyoncé, Solange, Rihanna, oh my! 

Meet Pablo, a doctoral candidate in AADS whose research focuses on Garifuna, a Central American ethnic group born from a shipwreck during the transatlantic slave trade.

Meet Harmony, an AADS major with an interest in black women and mental health, as well as self-care. Learn more about Harmony's plans to encourage universal well-being!

AADS grad student La'Kayla Williams gives her take on where black authors, performers, and producers fit in in a predominantly white media industry.

The Malcolm X lounge at UT-Austin first opened in 1995 on the ground floor of the Jester Center when black students advocated for the creation an area for their community on campus, following the closing of their unofficial campus meeting space. Black students petitioned former UT President Robert Berdahl for a new area where they could gather and were approved for the space. Today, the X Lounge is run entirely by students and provides a space for organizations to hold meetings and events and for students to hold study sessions. All UT-Austin students can reserve this space.

AADS Office Hours

Dr. Edmund Tayloe Gordon is the Chair of the African and African Diaspora Studies Department at UT Austin. Aside from teaching sociology and anthropology, Dr. Gordon likes to fish and puts on an incredible UT Racial Geography UT tour! 'Step' on into Dr. Gordon's Office Hours, no appointment necessary!

Dr. Chéry is an Assistant Professor in AADS who focuses on faith and freedom in historical context. To learn more about Dr. Chéry's inspiring past (and get some great advice), 'step' into Dr. Chéry's Office Hours... no appointment necessary!

For the latest installment of Office Hours, meet Dr. Eddie Chambers. With an extensive background in Black Diaspora Art in the US and UK, Dr. Chambers brings a world of experience to our campus!