UNC Greensboro

AADS partners with Honors for Freedom Festival!

Red, Black, and Green balloons under a sunny sky for a Juneteenth celebration.

June 6, 2024 – The Freedom Festival is a celebration and an exploration of the relationship between freedom and independence. It lasts from Juneteenth (June 19, marking the end of slavery in the U.S.) through Independence Day (July 4, marking the independence of the U.S. from the British Empire).  It consists of live, virtual and hybrid events from all over the U.S. and beyond.  This year, AADS, in partnership with Lloyd International Honors College’s Let’s Learn! The World as Classroom, is contributing three online classes/conversations to the Freedom Festival. Everyone is invited to attend!


Students in Tanzania Study-Abroad Program Get Up-Close View of Life in Indian Ocean World

April 19, 2024 – This summer, six undergraduate and two graduate students will travel to Tanzania on a three-week study abroad adventure offered by the UNC Greensboro African American & African Diaspora Studies (AADS) program and the Lloyd International Honors College, in collaboration with the Ethiopian, East African & Indian Ocean Research Network.


“Dusk to Dawn: Black Labor, the Law, and the Struggle for Justice in NC” High Point Reparations Commission

August 30, 2023 – The City of High Point published the One High Point Commission on Reparations and Reconciliation report, featuring “Dusk to Dawn: Black Labor, the Law, and the Struggle for Justice in North Carolina,” authored by Dr. Omar Ali, AADS alumna Ally Beatty, and UNCG alumna Kaila Dollard. Their section of the report offers a history of African Americans in North Carolina, along with a Bibliography and Timeline of the City of High Point.


AADS short documentary film receives laurel at African Film Festival

maya darby

August 20, 2023 – AADS minor Maya Darby and fellow film-maker and UNCG alumn Duncan Lauer recently received a laurel for their documentary “Naming Space: The AADS Story” at the African Film Festival in Atlanta. They also created an AADS campaign video promoting the Black Studies program.


AADS Students and Faculty Travel to East Africa

Group of students pose around a huge tortoise with a thatched hut behind them.

July 20, 2023 – Led by AADS faculty members – the sociologist Dr. Hewan Girma and ethnomusicologist Dr. David Aarons – a group of AADS students and recent alumni explored the rich history and cultures of Zanzibar, Tanzania, and the Swahili coast.


Visiting Fellow Monica Carrillo and Afro-Latin American/Latinx Studies at AADS

Monica Carrillo Zegarra

AADS shines a light on the African Diaspora in Latin America with CACE conference programing, classes (e.g. AADS Special Topics “Afro-Latin America”), public talks (e.g. Afro-Colombian scholar Nohora Arrieta Fernandez), publications by faculty members (e.g. ReVista article “African and Afro-Indian Rebel Leaders”), including the work of Omar Ali, Nodia Mena, Nicole … Continued