Established in 1969, the Department of Africana Studies is one of the oldest Black Studies departments in the United States. While other similar academic programs began as programs alone, Binghamton University demonstrated its commitment to curricular diversity and established a full-fledged department at the outset. Initially known as the Department of Afro-American Studies and later as the Department of Afro-American and African Studies, the department began offering courses in 1970. In 1994, it became the Department of Africana Studies.

The Range of course offerings affirms the intellectual importance of research and scholarship of the contribution to the world culture of peoples of African descent worldwide. In sharing the University's commitment to academic excellence, the Africana Studies Department provides students with the requisite tools to understand, analyze, and evaluate events and phenomena that structure the experiences and possibilities of people of African descent.
>Read the department's mission