Welcome Message from Dr. Joseph Jewell, Department Head

Black Studies is essential training for living and working in the 21st Century. The Department of Black Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago is at the cutting edge of research and teaching about today’s most pressing issues:

  • global protests to save Black lives
  • mass incarceration
  • health disparities in the age of COVID-19
  • school-to-prison pipeline
  • slavery and reparations
  • Black arts and performance
  • queer Black life
  • immigrants and refugees
  • Blackness in the media
  • teaching Black history
  • Black communities and politics
  • feminist leadership and legacies

We focus on the history, culture and politics of African-descended people in the Americas and around the globe in the quest for a more just and equitable world. Join Us!

News

black woman in yellow collared shirt with hands pressed on window
Professor Barbara Ransby publishes a column in The Guardian reflecting on the impact and legacy in Black feminist thought
Thursday, December 23, 2021
In a column published by The Guardian, Barbara Ransby, UIC professor of Black studies, gender and women’s studies, and history; LAS distinguished professor; director of the Social Justice Initiative; and MacArthur Endowed Chair at…
black woman with black glasses wearing orange top with printed scarf speaking into a microphone
Prof. Barbara Ransby discussed the life and legacy of bell hooks on WBEZ's Reset
Thursday, December 23, 2021
Barbara Ransby, UIC professor of Black studies, gender and women’s studies, and history; LAS distinguished professor; director of the Social Justice Initiative; and MacArthur Endowed Chair at UIC; joined WBEZ’s “Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons” for…
data visualization chart tracking the percentage of lower income students receiving fewer As and Bs in CPS.
Prof. Stovall comments on the impact of grading inequality on CPS students
Thursday, December 23, 2021
David Stovall, UIC professor or Black studies and criminology, law and justice, discusses how grades impact children in a WBEZ story detailing its analysis that shows lower income students in Chicago Public Schools’ elementary…