2018-2019

April 16, 2019

Learn about the full story of the misunderstood and misrepresented chapter in American history from the PBS special "Reconstruction: America After the Civil War" featuring Professor Chad Williams.

Participants in Ford Hall 1969 protests before panel discussion.

February 11, 2019

The weekend featured Angela Davis '65, Julieanna Richardson '76, H'16, Hortense Spillers, PhD'74 and more.

AAAS Commemoration fist graphic

February 11, 2019

Take a trip through the history of the African and African American Studies Department at Brandeis, which marked its 50-year anniversary milestone with a two-day academic symposium.

Ford Hall 1969 panel

February 11, 2019

Relive some of the best moments from the African and African American Studies Department's 50th-anniversary commemoration in this slideshow.

Hortense Spillers smiling

Photo Credit: Ashley McCabe

February 11, 2019

Hortense J. Spillers, PhD’74, an American literary critic, Black feminist scholar and the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University, has been honored with the Brandeis University Alumni Achievement Award. Provost Lisa Lynch presented the award at the conclusion of the African and African American Studies Department's 50th anniversary commemoration Feb. 8-9 on campus.

Ford Hall panel on stage

Photo Credit: Andrew Baxter, The Justice

February 12, 2019

(The Justice) Fifty years after the Ford Hall occupation in 1969, the Brandeis community gathered to commemorate the 50th anniversary of one of the demands those students made: an African and Afro-American studies department — now called the African and African American Studies (AAAS) department.

Alumni Legacies panel

Photo Credit: Andrew Baxter, The Justice

February 12, 2019

(The Justice) Hundreds of Brandeis students, faculty and alumni convened Feb. 9 in Levin Ballroom for the AAAS and Alumni Legacies Panel as part of the 50th-anniversary commemoration of the Department of African and African American Studies.

Julieanna Richardson and Angela Davis

Photo Credit: Andrew Baxter, The Justice

February 12, 2019

(The Justice) Angela Davis, ’65, spoke about her experiences as an activist and Brandeis student as the keynote speaker for an event series commemorating the African and African American Studies Department's 50th anniversary.

Students gathered outside of Ford Hall

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections Department

February 5, 2019

(The Justice) The Department of African and African American Studies (AAAS), established April 24, 1969, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week, but the history of Black students and their influence at Brandeis existed long before then.

Kewsi Jones

February 1, 2019

Sophomore Kwesi Jones is an artist in every sense of the word. His latest work showcases the history of Black studies at Brandeis through film.

Hortense Spillers

Photo Credit: “Lou Outlaw” aka Lucius T. Outlaw (Jr.)

February 1, 2019

Hortense J. Spillers, PhD'74, is an American literary critic, Black feminist scholar and the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University, and will receive Brandeis' Alumni Achievement Award on Feb. 9 during the African and African American Studies (AAAS) 50th-anniversary commemoration.

But before she began accumulating awards as a leader in her field, she was a newly minted PhD candidate driving a Buick Skylark from Memphis to Brandeis in the tumultuous summer of 1968. In answer to questions posed by Faith Lois Smith, associate professor of African and African American Studies and English, Spillers discussed her evolution as a scholar and what Black feminist theory can teach us in the present moment.

Illustration of fist comprising words related to African and African American studies, including feminism, divestment, Ford Hall, 1969. Text reads AAAS 50th Commemoration Brandeis University

January 31, 2019

The 50th anniversary commemoration of African and African American Studies features a two-day academic and cultural symposium on Feb. 8-9.

Fall 2018

Congratulations to AAAS affiliate faculty member Janet McIntosh whose book, "Unsettled: Denial and Belonging Among White Kenyans," received an Honorable Mention for the American Ethnological Society's Senior Book Prize.