African American Studies

The Frederick Douglass Institute for African & African-American Studies (FDI) is an interdisciplinary program that focuses on the histories and cultures of people of African descent in Africa, America, and throughout the world. Interdisciplinary is a core principle of the Institute's general philosophy and curriculum. We offer an undergraduate major, minor, and clusters (in both Social Science & Humanities as of Fall 08) as well as a graduate certificate in African & African-American Studies (ASS). ASS courses are cross-listed with departments in every curricular division of the College of Arts, Science, and Engineering (Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences & Engineering). Moreover, FDI's core teaching faculty represent a diverse disciplinary array (REL, MUR, ANT, CHE, HIS, ECO, ENG, MLC, PSC, AH).

FDI is the principle source for both interdisciplinary and multicultural academic events programming in the College; the Institute's investment in interdisciplinary research guides its sponsorship and co-sponsorship of a wide variety of events and its collaborations with other academic units.

The AAS UCIS cluster supports the organization of two specific events focusing on undergraduate students: The Fall Welcome Reception is instrumental in introducing first-year students to FDI and the AAS major. And at the annual Spring Undergraduate Conference, Senior AAS majors present their research to faculty, staff, graduate, and undergraduate students. Past Conference presentations addressed topics as varied as democracy in Kenya, media representations of the Black Panther Party, and female genital mutilation in Africa. Last Spring's presentations were uniformly exceptional in the quality of their research. The Conference also included a presentation by David Liebers entitled "Unassuming Heroism: Richard Allen's Theology, Writing, & Leadership during Philadelphia's Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793," which was based on the paper that was selected for FDI's 2008 Undergraduate Research Prize. More emphasis and publicity of these events is currently planned for April 2009, particularly as a vehicle to promote AAS amongst undergraduates.

During the Spring 2009 Semester, the University of Rochester will inaugurate an annual "Two Icons Lecture", jointly sponsored by the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies and the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women's Studies. The lecture is intended to highlight scholarship addressing the intersections of race and gender, to raise the local and national profiles of UR's signature interdisciplinary programs, and to honor two icons with close connections to Rochester: abolitionist, orator, and man-of-letters Frederick Douglass, and suffragist and women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony. The inaugural "Two Icons Lecture" will be on February 26 and will feature Professor Khalilah Brown-Dean (Political Science, Yale University); it is co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science and the Center for the Study of African-American Politics.

For more information visit the AAS website.