Ph.D. Program

The AADS Ph.D. program is the first Black studies program to grant Ph.D. degrees in the southern United States. Dedicated to recruiting and admitting exceptional Ph.D. students who are committed to the study of Black life, our students will learn the skills and perspectives necessary to engage in an interdisciplinary scholarly approach to examining the lives of people of African descent throughout Africa and the African Diaspora. The curriculum offered is methodologically pluralistic, with a thematic and comparative approach that allows for a multi-layered understanding of Black experiences.

Students will publish scholarly work, and engage in public and scholarly discourse on race and issues pertinent to the African Diaspora, by exploring the political, cultural, social, economic, artistic, and intellectual processes of people of African descent, and the personal and public forces that impinge on their experiences.

Our graduates go on to pursue academic careers, conduct and publish scholarly research in this area or related fields outside of the academy, or gain employment in higher education administration and other related professional careers.