Department of Africana Studies

Africana Studies at Brown

Located in the historic Churchill House on the campus of Brown University, the Department of Africana Studies is the intellectual center for faculty and students interested in the artistic, historical, literary, and theoretical expressions of the various cultures of Africa and the African Diaspora. Since 1968, the Department has been a rich site for analysis, artistic production, and community building.

Located in Churchill House on the campus of Brown University, the Department of Africana Studies/Rites and Reason Theatre together comprise the intellectual center for faculty and students interested in the artistic, historical, political, literary, performative and theoretical expressions of the various cultures of Africa and the African Diaspora. The building was built for, and used by the Rhode Island Women’s Club before Brown acquired it in 1972. At that time, the Afro-American Society, the Afro-American Studies Program, and the Graduate Minority Association moved into the building. Later that year, the Third World Center (renamed in 2014 to the Brown Center for Students of Color) opened in the basement of Churchill House before relocating to Partridge Hall in 1986. Currently, Churchill House, gut renovated and expanded in 2023, remains the home to the Department of Africana Studies/Rites and Reason Theatre.

The faculty in the department are at the forefront in advancing the discipline by researching and teaching new and innovative knowledge produced by the critical study of the intersections of class, gender, nation, race, and sexuality informed by multiple theoretical and methodological perspectives. We offer a rigorous undergraduate program and graduate program leading to the Ph.D. in Africana Studies, and are among the top departments in the United States. Members of the faculty have received top honors and awards for their innovative scholarship and contributions to the academy and public life, including the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Gish Award, the Guggenheim Fellowship, the MacArthur Fellowship, and the Man Booker International Prize.

Learn About Our Programs

Africana Studies presents a broad range of courses that engage with the histories, ideas, social and political life of Africa and the African Diaspora, including literature, the arts, cultural studies, history, politics, philosophy, feminism, and the legacy of scientific racism.
The graduate program trains students to become skilled and informed scholars poised to make significant contributions to academic and nonacademic communities.
Rites and Reason Theatre is a research and development theatre producing new creative works that analyze and articulate the experiences and expressions of the African Diaspora.

The Latest from Africana

View All Updates from Africana
News from Africana Studies

Prof. Matt Guterl is awarded '23-'24 Brown University Book Award

The Brown University Book Award is presented to an outstanding junior, at annual school book award presentations across the country. This year the Brown University Book Award will be Skinfolk by Matthew Pratt Guterl, L. Herbert Ballou University Professor of Africana Studies and American Studies at Brown University.
The Miami Museum of Contemporary Art of the African Diaspora (Miami MoCAAD) is set to revolutionize the Soul Basel and Miami Art Week with its groundbreaking documentary and digital exhibition, “This Life: Black Life in the Time of Now.” Spearheading this venture is the distinguished Jamaican scholar and curator, Prof. Tony Bogues.