Publication Title

Theatre Journal

Student in a Black Studies class in a west side Chicago classroom, 1973

African American Studies: Foundations and Key Concepts

This non-exhaustive list of readings in African American Studies highlights the vibrant history of the discipline and introduces the field.

frame capture

The Digital Voyage

Facing Ourselves Online

The photographic pressure to curate our faces is inextricable from the online pressure to curate our lives; to present and perform.

Anna Deavere Smith as Cornel West in “Twilight: Los Angeles.”

Remembering the L.A. Uprisings Through Theater

Just one year after the Rodney King verdict and subsequent L.A. riots, Anna Deveare Smith opened her one-woman show “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992."

Judith Butler

Judith Butler

The philosopher inspired a whole generation of American queer theorists.

African-American students at North Carolina A&T College participate in a sit-in at a F. W. Woolworth's lunch counter reserved for white customers in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Copyright Bettmann/Corbis / AP Images)

Politics & History

How the Body Can Shape Social Protest

By using the body to resist and respond to violence and social injustice, protesters literally embody their cause.

Pilot flying an airplane enjoying the view.

The Poetry Up There: An Interview With Skyfaring Author and Pilot Mark Vanhoenacker

Mark Vanhoenacker, pilot and onetime PhD candidate in East African history speaks about Skyfaring, his debut book about aviation.

A Lesbian Account of Mary Martin as Peter Pan

It's Mary Martin's iconic 1954 performance as Peter Pan in the live NBC TV broadcasts that are etched indelibly in the collective memory of many.

Editors' Picks

Politics & History

BlacKkKlansman in Context

A new film tells the story of Ron Stallworth, a black police officer who infiltrated the KKK in 1972. What was the context for this odd moment in history?

Marking the Grave of the First African American Landscape Artist

Robert S. Duncanson was among the first African American artists to gain international fame. And yet his grave has stayed unmarked for 146 years.

Politics & History

Why Paul Robeson Was Labelled a Psychopath

The singer, actor, and activist Paul Robeson had a spectacular rise and then a stunning fall brought on by the Cold War's pathologizing of dissent.

Black Panther and Double-Consciousness

Double identity, present in both Marvel's Black Panther and in the critical race theory of double-consciousness, enables black American viewers to see their two identities played out on screen.

Education & Society

Black Youths Aren’t Broken

The graduation rate gap between black and white kids is a major issue. One organization emphasizes social identity, media literacy, and youth development in redressing the problem.