African and African American Studies

The Program in African and African American Studies (AAAS), established in 1969, was the first ethnic studies program developed at Stanford University and the first African and African American Studies program at a private institution in the U.S. The AAAS program provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the study of peoples of African descent as a central component of American culture, offering a course of study that promotes research across disciplinary and departmental boundaries as well as providing research training and community service learning opportunities for undergraduates. It has developed an extensive network of Stanford scholars who work in race studies specific to AAAS and in concert with the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity.