Ph.D. in Africana Studies
Graduate Admissions Announcement
The Department of Africana Studies at the University of Pittsburgh will not be admitting a new cohort until FALL 2028. Applications are expected to open @ Sept. 2027.
We appreciate your interest in our graduate programs and encourage prospective students to check back for future admissions updates.
The Concentration on Race & Equity
Drawing from various methodological and theoretical approaches, this research theme articulates an understanding of race as a social construct with material, intellectual, cultural, political, and bioethical implications. It aims to create and develop the tools to achieve social justice and equity t roughout Africa and its diaspora. The University of Pittsburgh is one of the world’s best institutions for the health sciences and graduate students may enhance their expertise in this field by earning certificates in Public Health Programs with an emphasis on equity. Students can also earn a certificate in Digital Studies and Methods.
http://www.publichealth.pitt.edu/certificates
http://www.dsam.pitt.edu/about
The Concentration on Migration & Community Transformation
Building from the extensive scholarship in Africana and African Diaspora Studies, this research theme analyzes the causes and implications of the movements of people of African origin throughout time and space. Through an interdisciplinary methodological approach, it sheds light on how such movements led to transformative outcomes in both the sending and receiving spaces. Graduate Students may find support for their research with the University Center for International Studies & The World History Center.
https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/main/
https://www.worldhistory.pitt.edu
The Concentration on Culture & Creative Production
This research theme seeks to illuminate the intersections between socio-economic, political, intellectual, and psychological transformation and Black cultural productions in music, literature, performing and visual arts, as well as film & media. To further develop their expertise, Graduate students may use resources from various programs, including:
The Center for African American Poetry and Poetics https://www.caapp.pitt.edu/about/people
The PhD Concentration in Jazz Studies https://www.music.pitt.edu/graduate/phd-jazz-studies
The graduate program in Film & Media Studies https://www.filmstudies.pitt.edu/graduate
The August Wilson archive& the Rob Penny papers https://augustwilson.library.pitt.eduhttps://library.pitt.edu/rob-penny-papers
Funding opportunities
The Ph.D. program in Africana Studies is fully funded for five years. The Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and the University of Pittsburgh support the most outstanding incoming and continuing students through various internal fellowships. Fellowships carry a stipend plus a tuition scholarship for the duration of the award. No duties are attached to these fellowships.
https://www.asgraduate.pitt.edu/financial-support/fellowships-internal
Graduate students may also receive funding from research and teaching appointment
https://www.asgraduate.pitt.edu/financial-support/teaching-and-research-appointments-tatfgsagsr
Career opportunities
The Ph.D. program in Africana Studies prepares graduate students for university-level research and teaching. Through rigorous pedagogical training and workshops offered by faculty members and the University Center for Teaching and Learning, students are prepared to teach at the university level, publish articles in top academic journals, and develop the foundation for an award-winning manuscript. The Ph.D. program in Africana Studies also prepares graduate students for professions in international relations & development, public policy & government, the arts, health equity & global health, non-profit organizations and other careers.