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Professor of History Lorelle Semley felt she was onto a good thing when she came to Boston College as director of the African and African Diaspora Studies Program in 2023.

A year later, she is just as鈥攊f not more鈥攗pbeat about her decision.

Semley is a historian of Africa who also has incorporated African diaspora history into her research and teaching by working creatively across many archives, source materials, and large spans of time and space. As a researcher with expertise in West African history, Black French Studies, gender history, legal history, and urban history, she sees AADS as a multifaceted program that approaches questions of history, society, politics, and intellectual traditions through an array of disciplines. 聽

鈥淚n most programs that combine Africa and the African diaspora, there are often a couple of ways to organize the curriculum,鈥� said Semley, who previously taught at the College of the Holy Cross and Wesleyan University. 鈥淥ne model is a distribution requirement based on departments such as History, English, Sociology, etc. The departments may also be grouped into larger categories as 鈥榟umanities鈥� or 鈥榮ocial sciences.鈥� Another popular approach uses regional classifications such as 鈥楢frica鈥� or 鈥楢frican American/African Diaspora鈥� or 鈥楲atin America.鈥�

鈥淲hat I appreciated about the Boston College program is use of thematic frameworks: 鈥業ntellectual Traditions and Cultural Production鈥� or 鈥楶olitics and Social Inquiry.鈥� In addition, there is a Black Atlantic course requirement for students to take four courses that are comparative or global in approach. I like that Africa is integrated into the curriculum and not only seen as part of the past but in dialogue with the global African diaspora throughout the past and present.鈥�

AADS, which offers both a major and minor, considers the history, culture, and politics of the African continent and African-descended peoples in the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, according to the program website. 鈥淐overing vast historical periods and geographies, AADS acquaints students with the multiplicity and diversity of the African Diaspora and the world in which we all live.鈥�

In addition to the AADS signature course, Introduction to African Diaspora Studies, the program鈥檚 offerings also include: Food Justice across the African Diaspora; Black and Popular; History of Medicine and Public Health in the African Diaspora; and Introduction to African Art and Visual Culture.

Semley鈥檚 current research examines Black populations in Bordeaux, France, from the 18th to 20th centuries. She has also published To Be Free and French: Citizenship in France鈥檚 Atlantic Empire鈥攃o-winner of the World History Association Bentley Book Prize in 2018鈥攁nd Mother Is Gold, Father Is Glass: Gender and Colonialism in a Yoruba Town. She is finishing up her terms as editor-in-chief of History in Africa, one of the two flagship journals of the African Studies Association, and as associate review editor for the American Historical Review.

Semley points to recent joint faculty hires鈥攊ncluding new core faculty who arrived this fall in Communication and in Art, Art History, and Film, along with two others in Psychology and Neuroscience鈥攁s adding strength upon strength to AADS offerings, which will be further enhanced through an open search now being conducted by the program. Semley believes these new faculty colleagues, and the teaching and research avenues they represent, can enrich and broaden the curriculum.

For example, for the current open search there is an interest in Haitian Studies鈥攁 particularly good fit given the large, vibrant Haitian community in Boston, she said鈥攚hich would strengthen the program鈥檚 Caribbean content while adding a Francophone component.聽 Another area is the intersection of STEM and AADS, and Semley sees several ways to address this issue through research questions or outcomes related to African and/or African diaspora communities.

鈥淪cholars may also be examining questions of diversity in relation to their own discipline,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ADS already has a strong contingent of faculty in disciplines like history, sociology, and psychology who examine issues related to public health and health disparities. Courses cross-listed with STEM fields would offer students new ways of thinking about AADS in relation to their interests and identities as scientists. They could imagine different ways that health, technology, or AI, for example, might relate to the history and experience of African and African diaspora communities around the world.鈥�

AADS also seeks to make its presence felt outside the classroom, Semley added: The program is co-sponsoring the McMullen Museum of Art fall exhibition, showcasing 17 contemporary African artists whose work reflects their own journeys of self-realization while living in the United States and in European countries. 鈥淟ike our courses, these works reveal the global nature of the African diaspora,鈥� Semley told the Chronicle earlier this fall. 鈥淭he tension between transformation and belonging emerges because the African diaspora is 鈥榚verywhere鈥� yet often erased.鈥�

Semley also co-sponsored an international conference on earlier this month with five colleagues based at other American universities. Highlights included what Semley describes as 鈥渁n incredible keynote鈥� by scholar/director/artist Mame-Fatou Niang of Carnegie Mellon University and performances by the Boston College Symphony Orchestra Ensemble and Voices of Imani in the McMullen Atrium. In the social media flurry afterward, 1990s rap icon MC Hammer 聽commented on a tweet on X (formerly known as Twitter) by conference attendee Robin Mitchell; he mused about 鈥渁ll the books that have yet to be written.鈥�

Yet the content, and even the existence, of academic programs like AADS has become a subject of national controversy, especially in political circles, with critics charging that such teaching is divisive or inappropriate. But this debate, which Semley noted is not unique to the U.S., overshadows a key facet of higher education: to expand, even challenge, what we know.

鈥淚n some classes, I鈥檝e taught about the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804. A few years ago, students in one of my classes had never heard of it, but now, most seem to have learned the general outlines of the event as an important one. However, they may not understand fully the ramifications for Haitians, for France, and even for the U.S. Even the most current events cannot be fully understood without knowing the complexity of the Haitian Revolution and its aftermath.

鈥淪tudents sometimes struggle with the details of other aspects of history and society. For example, some students in one of my classes are surprised by the arguments some activists have made in their quest for鈥攚hat is ultimately鈥攆ull citizenship and belonging. In those instances, I tried to focus on the idea of 鈥榠magination.鈥�

鈥淪ometimes we have to recognize that we may not have the words or imagery to envision the world in other ways. However, by taking an AADS class, a student has accepted an invitation to learn about other perspectives.

鈥淪ometimes the impact of historical events we never heard of are hidden in plain sight all around us, all around the world. In the end, AADS courses teach about more than what happened in the past; our courses give students the tools to enact change in their own ways for their own futures.鈥�