Our mission is to create and share scholarship of the highest quality, considering the many dimensions of the African American and African diasporic experience. We promote the study and understanding of historical and contemporary connections among Africans, African Americans, and other New World Black communities.

To fulfill our mission, we introduce students to a wide range of current research and scholarly opinion on the history, culture, and social status of Black Americans and others of African heritage. We examine a breadth of topics on the African diaspora, considering the lives of Blacks who have settled in other parts of the world.

Our department assumes the ongoing responsibility of creating materials and conducting seminal research that aids in the development and shaping of African American and African diaspora studies as a discipline. We publish in the field and contribute to the collection of resources showcasing the significant contributions of Black Americans and other descendants of the African diaspora.