Objectives & Outcomes

Upon completion of the African American Studies (AAS) Ph.D. Program, graduates will be able to:

• demonstrate broad knowledge of the cultures, histories, and politics of peoples of African descent in the Western Hemisphere—with a specific focus on African Americans in the United States
• assess and evaluate scholarly work
• formulate and pose a significant research question and frame it as a publishable scholarly research project
• conduct independent research for an original scholarly project
• communicate orally and in writing the significance of research findings, results, or new interpretive interventions to both scholarly audiences and the general public
• deploy research to further advance public policy and social justice initiatives central to African American communities
• prepare and submit effective grant and fellowship applications
• design and teach undergraduate courses in African American Studies and write an effective statement of pedagogical philosophy

The expected outcome for every AAS Ph.D. student is a successful job placement. Graduate students earning the AAS Ph.D. will be highly coveted for tenure-track positions at research universities, liberal arts colleges, and comprehensive state universities in addition to positions beyond the academy in nonprofits, foundations, business, government, public policy, community development, museums, libraries, and other public humanities venues.

Academic and nonacademic career pathways are embedded within the mission of the Department of African American Studies, the mission statement of the AAS Ph.D. program, and the training of its Ph.D. students through a commitment to community engagement and active programmatic connections to the Laney Graduate School Mellon Humanities Ph.D. Interventions Project, as well as those outside of Emory such as the Mellon Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship in History Education at the Museum of the City of New York, Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows Competition for Recent PhDs, Cornell’s Data Incubator Fellowship for data science training, and other opportunities. A broad range of externships, internships, and career planning and pathways practicum courses and workshops offered within the department and through Laney will further augment the training of AAS Ph.D. students and will help facilitate successful placements for those seeking positions beyond academe.