Black studies at Xavier began at least as early as 1925, when Mother Katherine Drexel, S.B.S., founded a Negro Historical Association that bought many of the rarities now in the Archives. In 1933, Xavier alumnus David J. Jackson started the Negro History Department, which included courses in literature and education as well as history. In the 1960s, such efforts were revived by English professor Dr. Oscar Bouise. In 1987, then research Archivist Sister Roberta Smith, S.B.S., Mr. Skinner, and Mr. Sullivan founded the Archives and Special Collections. The African American Studies Program began in 1993.

Source: Xavier Library News

At Xavier, African American Studies is in the forefront of educating the next generation of students in liberal education. The current concentrated area of study was inaugurated at Xavier in fall semester 1993. The first group of students declared a minor in the discipline in spring semester 1994. In addition to declaring a major and minor, each student at Xavier must complete 66 hours of core requirements to prepare them as professionals and leaders who can make a contribution to a more just and humane society. Thus each student must take at least one core course in African American Studies. Within the last nine years, thousands of students have matriculated in the core course Introduction to African American History and Culture (AFAM 2000). Given success with the AFAM 2000 course, and based on support and a recommendation by the Planning Council of Arts and Sciences, three additional courses have been approved by the Academic Council to serve as selections to fulfill the University core requirement in African American Studies: the Harlem Renaissance Movement, Special Topics, and Pan-Africanism.

Since 1993, African American Studies has been in the forefront of hiring junior and senior faculty who have contributed not only to African American Studies as a discipline, but to the intellectual life of the campus overall. Faculty in AFAM making a contribution to Xavier earned terminal degrees from the following institutions:

Emory University
Florida State University
Harvard University
Howard University
John Hopkins University
Ohio State University
Princeton University
State University of New York-Buffalo
Temple University
University of California-Riverside
University of South Florida
Western Michigan University

Given the training of faculty who have taught and continue to teach in the interdisciplinary concentration in African American Studies, students enrolled in core courses or who have declared a minor in AFAM at Xavier benefit from exposure to approaches central to the following areas of studies:

American Studies
African Studies
African American Studies
English
History
History of Science
Music
Philosophy
Psychology
Religious Studies
Sociology
Theology
Women's Studies