On Oct. 28, the Douglass Leadership House (DLH) hosted an event highlighting the new expansion of the Black Studies (BLST) Department at UR in terms of courses, staff, research, and resources for students. This is in light of the 3 million dollars in funding awarded to the University by the Mellon Foundation Grant through the Higher Learning Program. The grant will help the department have at least 10 to 12 faculty members for the 2025-26 school year. Professor Matthew Omelsky, the director of undergraduate studies and Black Studies, and Professor Ealey, a newly hired professor in the BLST Department, spoke at the event.
As for a snippet of the various courses the BLST department offers: Omelsky teaches Reimagining the Human: Global Black Speculative Fiction, which covers African, Black British, and Afro-Caribbean texts, and is taught through multimedia like films, literature, visual art, and music. He also teaches African Digital Cultures, which goes into the ways young people have used media to gain attention on political issues.
Professor Ealy is a Black feminist scholar of music, theater, dance, and performance. This spring, she will teach Black Feminist Theory and Criticism as well as Black Drama: Performance and Contemporary Issues. The former delves deep into intersectionality and the concept of idea politics while the latter class answers important questions, such as what being Black means in the space of music theater and what it means to perform Blackness.
Black Studies solidified itself as a department around two and a half years ago. The expansion of the BLST was a University response to taking the institutionalizing of Black Studies more seriously, to “make Black Studies as an intellectual endeavor and Black Studies as a field to learn and teach in,” Omelsky said. Amongst the 12 new faculty, one member will be an expert in Black public health to deepen UR’s coverage in the social sciences.
The department is also considering developing study abroad opportunities, such as in Ghana and Senegal, along with local Rochester internship opportunities. The Black Studies major requires ten classes, starting with Introduction to Black Studies taught by Professor McHarris, a mandatory prerequisite for the major. This course introduces students to many disciplines that make up Black Studies, such as music and anthropology. People can major in BLST as a social science or humanities degree, depending on which five divisional courses they take. Students will also need to take three additional elective courses in BLST and one advanced seminar Advanced Seminar in Black Studies.
A Black Studies degree can lead to many lucrative paths. According to Omelsky, many of the graduates “in the last decade have gone on to law school, they’ve gone on to medical school, [and] they’ve gone on to graduate school.”
Additionally, since last semester, the department recently changed its name to “Black Studies” from the former title, “African American Studies.” Professor Ealey explained that, “It’s about collapsing the divide […] Our department has a really strong global perspective with faculty who are working in Latin America, Caribbean, the African continent, the U.K., English-owned, Black world. So it was important for that to be reflected in the name […] Black studies […] encompasses the idea that no matter where you are, or like disciplinarily speaking, or in America versus not in America, Blackness is a global idea. Black Studies is a global project.”
Prior to BLST as a department, courses pertaining to Black Studies were offered by other departments, such as English and History. However, there will still be opportunity for interdisciplinary partnerships. “Those interdepartmental collaborations are crucial to our growth and dynamism,” Omelsky says.
What is the long-term vision of the BLST Department? McCune, who played a major role in obtaining the 3 million dollar grant and the founding department chair, believes BLST and DLH collaboration will be instrumental in shaping the space as a center for Black life, culture, and issues. “The Department wants to be a global, interdisciplinary hub of knowledge which broadens knowledge in our local communities,” McCune said, “as well as a well-regarded resource for our larger field and global world for whom BLST makes a difference.”
In the event, Omelsky and Ealey emphasized that the department values students’ opinions and looks forward to collaborating with different organizations like DLH, the Pan-African Student Association, and the Black Students’ Union, and they have events where you can really break down barriers between faculty and students.
In regards to how alumni will be involved in the expansion, McCune hopes to host alumni panels to inform students about the interdisciplinary learning opportunities within the department. “As we look at all the folks who have come through the halls of Black Studies,” he said, “who are working in many different fields — from mayors, to physicians, professors, and business people […] we hope to find ways to encourage alumni to give back.”
Omelsky encouraged students to check out classes within Black Studies. “We’re growing really quickly. We’re becoming really dynamic … We’re excited about the next few years to come and the path we’re forging for Black Studies at UR,” he added. Whether you are interested in humanities, social science, or even pre-med, the courses offered in this department thrive in the intersectionality between Black Studies and a wide range of fields.
