University of Texas African and African Diaspora Studies Department

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University of Texas African and African Diaspora Studies Department

We are committed to interdisciplinary scholarship and creative production that explores questions of

The Black Studies Twitter Page is now available here: https://twitter.com/BlackStudiesUT

04/13/2026

Our AADS graduate students presented their latest research across a wide range of Black Studies topics in a stellar symposium last week. Congratulations, all!!

03/16/2026

Please join the African and African Diaspora Studies department for an evening with Dr. LaCharles Ward, the Supervisory Museum Curator of Photography and Film and Director of the Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Dr. Ward will discuss his academic and career trajectory to the curatorial field, his research in photography, and his work in digitizing the Johnson Publishing Company Archive. Students and the public will learn more about career opportunities in the museum field by hearing directly from this esteemed professional.

Free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

This event is co-sponsored by the Humanities Institute with support provided by the Sterling Clark Holloway Centennial Lectureship in Liberal Arts.

03/12/2026

We are proud to join the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies in welcoming award-winning author Marlon James to Austin for the 2026 Eric Williams Memorial Lecture!

🗓️ April 2nd | 6:15–7:45 PM (US Central Time)
The in-person event is preceded by a public reception at 5:15 p.m. CT.
📍 Boyd Vance Theatre at the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center (1165 Angelina Street, Austin TX 78702)
🎥 A livestream of the event begins at 6:15 p.m.
🎟️ This event is FREE and open to the public.
🔗 RSVP & Learn more here: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/caaas/events/eric-williams-memorial-lecture-marlon-james-2

“Marlon James is a writer of exceptional talent and range,” says Warfield Center Director and literary scholar Dr. Jennifer Wilks. “As Eric Williams was a scholar whose deep knowledge of history informed his vision for an independent Trinidad and Tobago, so James is an artist who deftly moves between immersive historical fiction and captivating epic fantasy, delving into the nuances of the past to imagine the possibilities of the future.”

Founded in 1999, the Eric Williams Memorial Lecture series honors the late Dr. Eric Williams (1911-1981), scholar, statesman, and Head of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago from 1956 until his death in 1981.

The 2026 EWML is sponsored by the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, The Eric Williams Memorial Collection Research Library, Archives & Museum at The University of the West Indies; the City of Austin, UT’s Michener Center for Writers, UT’s New Writers Project, The Caribbean Studies Initiative of The Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS), and the Texas Book Festival.

02/27/2026

R.O.O.T.S. is the annual student art show presented by the AADS Student Coordinating Team. Come out to meet student artists from across campus, take tours of the latest AGBS exhibition and collection installed throughout GWB, and grab a bite from Three Chicks Soul Food.

Thurs. March 5th | 5 – 9 pm
GWB 2.206 (Multi-Purpose Room)
After-hours entrance is on Whitis Ave.

Stop in and stay awhile! Student-led tours start at 5, 6, 7, and 8pm.

01/27/2026

Guest Lecture | Pauliceia 2.0: An Open-Source and Collaborative Historical Mapping Project

Date: Wednesday January 28, 2026
Time: 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Location: Gordon-White Building (GWB) Multipurpose Room, 2.206

Join us for a guest lecture by Dr. Luis Ferla (Professor at the Federal University of São Paulo) and Luanna Mendes do Nascimento (graduate student at the Federal University of São Paulo) on Pauliceia 2.0: An Open-Source and Collaborative Historical Mapping Project.

Pauliceia 2.0 is an open source and collaborative historical mapping platform developed through a partnership between the Federal University of São Paulo, the National Institute for Space Research, the Public Archives of São Paulo, and Emory University.

The Pauliceia 2.0 platform (currently in beta release) provides access to a wealth of information about the spatial history of São Paulo, especially between 1870-1940. Professors, students, and community members have utilized Pauliceia 2.0 to conduct historical research, create new map layers with novel datasets, and generate maps. Multiple groups, for instance, have used the platform to remap long-buried spaces significant to African descendants in the city of São Paulo. In addition to its historiographic contributions, the project has also produced technical innovations, such as a geolocation tool that facilitates the more accurate location of historical street addresses. Aligned with the principles of Open Science, the technology and methodology behind Pauliceia 2.0 will be made widely and freely available to other researchers, who can deploy it in other urban contexts. Most recently, the Pauliceia 2.0 team has begun to deepen its community engagement through participatory mapping. The team sent representatives to the NEH Community Deep Mapping Institute in the summer of 2025 (one of only two groups from outside of the US and the only from South America).

In the public talk, Ferla and Mendes will introduce the platform, highlighting its functionality and use-cases as well as the computational infrastructure that supports it.

01/19/2026

Did you know? The journey to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on UT's campus was more than a decade in the making. In 1987, students founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Sculpture Foundation, driven by the goal to create a lasting tribute to Dr. King's legacy right here on the Forty Acres. After years of advocacy, fundraising, and community organizing, that vision became reality when the MLK Statue was unveiled on the East Mall in 1999.

The statue serves as a powerful reminder of Dr. King's message of justice and equality, and of the students who believed our campus should embody those values.

As we celebrate MLK Day, we invite you to visit the statue and reflect on what Dr. King's legacy means to you and to our university community.

12/02/2025

On this Giving Tuesday, hear from our students how an AADS-led study away experience expands their skills and worldview!

Support our students with a donation here: https://give.utexas.edu/campaigns/59328/donations/new?designation_id=OGPLABL&utm_campaign=B1S

12/02/2025

Giving Tuesday is here! Today, we invite you to join us in supporting experiential learning in African & African Diaspora Studies.

We are excited about one such opportunity in Spring 2026: a transformative new course called Black Curatorial Thought, created and taught by Dr. Rikki Byrd. The course prepares students to become future leaders in the curatorial field by engaging them in:

🎨 Curatorial proposals and exhibition case studies

📚 Critical writing and exhibition reviews

🌍 On-the-ground learning that connects theory to real-world practice

A highlight of the course is its experiential learning component: a student trip to the 61st annual Venice Biennale—a landmark exhibition curated this cycle by the late Koyo Kouoh, the first African woman to lead this internationally renowned event.

By giving today, you help ensure that our students can participate fully in this rare and invaluable opportunity. Together, we can cultivate the next generation of curators, scholars, and cultural leaders.

Add a comment to your gift form with the phrase "experiential learning" to direct your funds towards the goal of bringing this course and others like it to life for AADS students!

Give today: https://give.utexas.edu/campaigns/59328/donations/new?designation_id=OGPLABL&utm_campaign=B1S

11/20/2025

Giving Tuesday is almost here! On 𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮, we will launch our Giving Tuesday campaign to raise funds for a new graduate-level course debuting in Spring 2026:

𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁
Created and taught by Dr. Rikki Byrd

This course will empower students to think critically about where exhibitions take place, who make them, and develop creative approaches to analyzing exhibitions and developing their own.

Students will engage in:

Curatorial proposals and exhibition case studies

Critical writing and exhibition reviews

Discussions that connect theory to real-world practice

Your Giving Tuesday support will directly fund student travel and experiential learning opportunity to attend this year’s Biennale in Venice, Italy.

We hope you’ll join us in bringing this visionary course to life!

Feel free to give year-round by visiting our Alumni & Giving page: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/aads/alumni-giving/!

11/17/2025

GWB, or the Gordon-White Building, is the official home to African & African Diaspora Studies, AGBS, the Warfield Center, the AADS Institute for Research & Policy, Latino Studies, and more!! Visit us for classes, study spaces, art displays, advising services, and community.

10/28/2025

We're proud to support AADS faculty member Dr. Ashley Farmer as she launches her newest book next week! Farmer’s 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳: 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘦 (Pantheon; ISBN 978-0593701546) is the first major biography of one of the most influential yet understudied activists and thinkers of the 20th century and shows how Moore fundamentally changed the scope and shape of Black struggle today.

What people are saying:

“Queen Mother is a monumental achievement. The meticulousness of Ashley Farmer's research is matched only by the grace of her prose. The result is a lucid, fascinating biography—a rendering worthy of the great Audley Moore herself.” —Jelani Cobb, Dean of the Columbia School of Journalism

★ “Magisterial . . . .Queen Mother reminds readers that the value of the struggle is not in achieving landmark victories, but in continuing to move doggedly forward in the face of all adversity.” —Booklist (starred)

The book tour kicks off on Monday, Nov. 3, in Austin at Book People. Pre-order 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳: 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘦 and learn more about the book tour at ashleydfarmer.com.

Congrats, Dr. Farmer!!

Address

University Of Texas Gordon-White Building/24th And Whitis
Austin, TX
78705

Website

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/aads/

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