The Center for Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan was launched in 1970 through a valiant joint effort by members of the faculty, staff, and LS&A Dean’s Office, whose commitment was heightened by student activism. Forty-one years later, on a classically overcast Michigan day, the U-M Regents approved the departmentalization of the unit.  As Angela Dillard, Former Director of CAAS, noted, "This is more than just a symbolic gesture or mere name change. Rather, it is the culmination of a long process and a change for which generations of students, faculty, administrators and alums have been pressing. It's a coming-of-age and a vote of confidence." Tiya Miles, incoming Chair of DAAS, observed: “Faculty member Harold Cruse and his colleagues felt back in 1970 that departmentalization, rather than center status, was the ultimate goal for the unit, as departmental status represented to them autonomy and institutional regard as well as intellectual respect for Africana studies. The Regents’ decision is the first step toward realizing this goal of the unit’s earliest visionaries. The next steps on our path of continued excellence will need to be taken by our incredibly capable DAAS community.” The Center officially becomes the Department on September 1, 2011. The Department expresses deepest thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this moment a reality, including former directors James Jackson, Kevin Gaines, and Angela Dillard, faculty, staff, the LS&A Dean's Office, and all the Friends of CAAS on campus and beyond.

See more details about this story in the University's Record Update: http://www.ur.umich.edu/update/archives/110218/caas

DAAS Promotional Video Short from DAASVIDEOS on Vimeo.

Quick Links

Winter 2012 Course Guide