Encouraged to Excel

Become part of an energetic group of scholars who seek to continue what began more than 40 years ago.

African American Studies at Temple

The Department of Africology and African American Studies attracts and produces world-class scholars in our discipline, and we have more African American students than any other university in the Northeast. We constantly seek to expand links with the local, national and international African community; our focus is transgenerational, transcontinental and interdisciplinary. Our faculty edits the Journal of Black Studies, the top peer-reviewed publication in our academic discipline. We always encourage our students to take advantage of opportunities to engage in service learning, internships and study abroad. Our courses and programs are Afrocentric, meaning that we explore academic topics from the standpoint of African agency.

First in Our Field

Become part of an energetic group of scholars who seek to continue what began more than 40 years ago. Our Africology and African American Studies Department is one of the oldest of similar programs in the nation, and we were the first to offer a doctoral program in our field. It emerged during the Black Power movement, when Black students demanded a Black studies department to combat racism, discrimination and oppression. As a result, the Afro-Asian Institute was created in 1971, and the Pan-African Studies Department was established the following year. Study in Afrocentric programs with a transcontinental community, and take advantage of unique opportunities, like a summer study abroad program in Ghana through Africology and American Studies at Temple University’s College of Liberal Arts.