This article was written during the 2020 summer
seminar “Imagining a Higher Education Career in African American Studies” at
Princeton University, coordinated by Dr. Dannelle Gutarra Cordero. This summer
seminar aimed to be a safe and restorative space for ten undergraduate students
of Princeton University from underrepresented backgrounds that intend to pursue
or explore a career in higher education in African American Studies. This article
is the culmination of the scholarly collaboration throughout this summer
seminar, where, as research associates, all participants researched the
possibilities and challenges of a higher education career in African American
Studies in the United States. This article explores institutional
anti-Blackness in higher education in the United States, identifies research
challenges for scholars of African American Studies, and advocates for
educational reform in the institutional valuation of mentorship, of
decolonizing academia, of tenure justice, and of anti-racist and reparative
support for Black faculty and students.
