Imagining a Higher Education Career in African American Studies

This article was written during the 2020 summer seminar “Imagining a Higher Education Career in African American Studies” at Princeton University, coordinated by Dr. Dannelle Gutarra Cordero. This summer seminar aimed to be a safe and restorative space for ten undergraduate students of Princeton University from underrepresented backgrounds that intend to pursue or explore a career in higher education in African American Studies. This article is the culmination of the scholarly collaboration throughout this summer seminar, where, as research associates, all participants researched the possibilities and challenges of a higher education career in African American Studies in the United States. This article explores institutional anti-Blackness in higher education in the United States, identifies research challenges for scholars of African American Studies, and advocates for educational reform in the institutional valuation of mentorship, of decolonizing academia, of tenure justice, and of anti-racist and reparative support for Black faculty and students.