African American and African Diaspora Studies, AAADS African American and African Diaspora Studies (AAADS) The Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies (AAADS) is a multidisciplinary department of the College of Arts and Sciences, offering the bachelor of arts, the master of arts, and PhD. A minor at the doctoral level is also offered. It is the mission of AAADS to create and share scholarship of the highest quality dealing with the African American and African diasporic experience; promote the study and understanding of the historical and contemporary connections among Africans, African Americans, and other New World black communities; and affirm the democratic tradition of equal opportunity for all by combating all forms of discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, disability, and religious differences. To fulfill our mission, AAADS introduces students to a wide range of current research and scholarly opinion on the history, culture, and social status of black Americans and their African heritage, as well as a breadth of topics on the African diaspora. As an intellectual enterprise, the department provides an interdisciplanary analysis of the African American and African diasporic experience. As a humanistic discipline in the democratic tradition, AAADS seeks to dispel the myths and expose the attitudes that perpetuate racism in American life. Toward these ends, the department assumes the ongoing responsibility of creating materials and conducting seminal research that aids in the development and shaping of African American and African diaspora studies as a discipline.