Welcome

Welcome to Black Studies at Yale. The Black Studies Department examines, from numerous disciplinary perspectives, the experiences of people of African descent in Black Atlantic societies, including the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

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From the Collection

  • The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., shown here with former Yale trustee the Rev. Gardiner M. Day, received an honorary LL.D degree at Yale’s 263rd commencement in 1964.

  • Ella Fitzgerald in 1940, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, who documented much of the Harlem Renaissance.Credit...Carl Van Vechten © Van Vechten Trust

  • Walter Evans Collection of Frederick Douglass and Douglass Family Papers

  • Half length group portrait, family group of six; father, mother, four children

News

October 30, 2025
The American Society of Criminology recognizes Yale sociologist Elijah Anderson for his pioneering ethnographic research on urban crime. Yale sociologist Elijah Anderson has...
October 13, 2025
Matthew Frye Jacobson, who has been awarded the 2025 Bode-Pearson Prize from the American Studies Association. The most prestigious prize awarded by the American Studies...
October 2, 2025
African American Studies Department renamed to Black Studies Professors told the News that change was made to reflect a growing interest in the study of Black people in...