Farah Jasmine Griffin Leads the New African American and African Diaspora Studies Department

This past winter, Columbia University’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to create the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department.

Farrah J. Griffin, co-director of CSSD working group Toward an Intellectual History of Black Women and director of CSSD affiliate Institute for Research in African-American Studies, will lead the department as its first chair.  

The development of the new department is the latest growth spurt in a scholarly interpretation of the black experience that began at Columbia in the early 20th century. According to Griffin, “the study of black life, in the western hemisphere in particular, is something that Columbia has been engaging in, and has been at the forefront of, since Zora Neale Hurston began her work here.” Griffin believes the new department will bring a fresh approach to the discipline at a crucial moment for race relations and black identity in our society.

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Click here to learn more about the newly created African American and African Diaspora Studies Department.