Why Black Studies? Heading link
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!
Watch the LAS Distinguished Professor Lecture by Dr. Beth E. Richie Heading link
Beth E. Richie is an LAS Distinguished Professor of Criminology, Law and Justice, Black Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a 2022 Marguerite Casey Foundation Freedom Scholar. Dr. Richie currently serves as Head of the Department of Criminology, Law and Justice. Prior to this appointment, she was the Director of the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy and recognized by both the UIC University Scholar Award and the Woman of the Year Award.
