African American Studies Department

Students explore yesterday, today and tomorrow—the foundation to understanding the world, how it functions, their responsibilities and opportunities in the world, and how to have an impact on the world, globally and locally.

Dig into the past—it informs your future

When you make your trek to Southeastern Ohio, you’ll be walking in hallowed footsteps, including those of Martin Luther King Jr., who came to Athens in 1960 for an international church collegiate youth conference.

About Those Footsteps...

Be a Change Maker... with a Degree in African American Studies

Become an entrepreneur, empower young women

Lekeisha Grant '07 started her first business Ambition Magazine, in 2012. Transformers Fitness and Ambitious and Annoyed would follow.
Speak out about incarceration, public policy

Olayemi Olurin '15 is a public defender at the Legal Aid Society, a lawyer in New York City, and an outspoken political commentator.
Discover a passion for civil rights legislation

Diamond Brooks '22 grew up watching political commentators and spent four years immersed in her favorite topic before heading to New York's most influential social justice law firm.

Preserving the history of the African American Studies Department

See the new African American Studies Department’s collection, which documents the history of that department from 1969 through the present in the Ohio University Libraries Archives and Special Collection.

Read Margaret Spetz's blog about her Spring 2023 semester working on the collection.

Illustration in an early Afro American Studies brochure

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