Africana Studies

Charles F. Peterson (Assoc. Prof. | Dir. - Lemle Center), chair

Yveline Alexis (Assoc. Prof.)
Pamela E. Brooks (Assoc. Prof.)
Talise A. Campbell (Vstg. Asst. Prof. - joint appt. with Dance)
Preston D. Crowder (Vstg. Asst. Prof. - joint appt. with Theater)
Samantha Davis (Vstg. Asst. Prof., Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow - joint appt. with Politics)
Justin L. Emeka (Assoc. Prof. - joint appt. with Theater)
Meredith M. Gadsby (Assoc. Prof.)
Caroline B. Jackson Smith (Prof. - joint appt. with Theater)
Darko K. Opoku (Assoc. Prof.)
Candice Raynor (Lect. | Dir., Fac.-in-Res. - Afrikan Heritage House)
Michael B. Roman (Asst. Prof. - joint appt. with Studio Art)

Visit the department web page for up-to-date information on department faculty, visiting lecturers, and special events.

The Department of Africana Studies at Oberlin College is a multidisciplinary program of study that seeks, through the humanities and social sciences, to explore key aspects of the Black experience in a systematic and structurally integrated fashion. Its broad educational purposes are to engender among all students an intellectual appreciation of life, culture, and history in Africa, the Americas, and the diaspora; to enrich the Oberlin College curriculum; and to increase the relevance of an Oberlin education to a culturally diverse world. Thus, the department strives to provide the general student body with substantive knowledge of the Africana experience and to provide majors with a range of critical, intellectual, artistic, and evaluative skills useful in any of their future pursuits. The department is aided in its efforts by the Afrikan Heritage House, which serves as the college’s African diasporan communal and cultural center.

Learn more about identity-based program housing supported by the department.

See information about Research, Internships, Study Away, and Experiential Learning (RISE).

Explore Winter Term projects and opportunities.

Majors and Minors

Curriculum

The Africana studies department curriculum offers extensive study of the Black experience in a diasporic setting, including but not limited to, Africa, North America, and the Caribbean. These offerings are arranged in three categories: introductory, intermediate, and advanced. All introductory courses are open without prerequisite, except as indicated in the course description. AAST 101 and other beginning courses may serve as prerequisites to all intermediate and advanced courses.

Private Reading Courses in the Department

Students may schedule an Africana studies private reading course during their junior or senior years.
No more than one Africana studies private reading course may be taken in any one semester.
No more than two Africana studies private reading courses may be taken during a student’s undergraduate program.