WashU Black Studies Undergraduate Research Fellowship

WashU Black Studies Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Black studies was born out of the participation of students, faculty, staff and local communities in movements across the country in the 1960s. Like other Black studies units around the country, WashU’s Department of African and African American Studies was the result of a broad-based, student-led movement in the 1960s. As outlined in the student-authored Black Manifesto, a multiracial coalition of WashU students demanded that the university develop a curriculum rooted in social justice and racial equity, hire more faculty from underrepresented groups, address the needs of the surrounding St. Louis community, and start a Black studies program. This fellowship program offers students the opportunity to more closely explore this history and its impacts in our region and beyond.

Students are expected to produce original research pertaining to the history of Black studies at WashU, affiliated student groups and organizations, community partnerships and local impact, and notable scholarly, professional and creative outcomes from AFAS' storied faculty and alumni ranks. Students will present their work at a session in the early spring term.