Faculty Spotlight Interview: Chad Williams
Tomorrow Foundation Professor of History and African American Studies and 黑人散居澳门威尼斯人注册网站研究 Chad Williams is an expert on W. E. B. Du Bois, African American history, and World War I.
He is currently working on two book projects, an exploration of the meaning and significance of Black Studies, and a history of the intellectual and political development of pan-Africanism and West African independence movements through the experiences of Nnamdi Azikiwe and Kwame Nkrumah.
Tell us about your work on The Wounded World: W. E. B. Du Bois and the First World War?
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What challenges did you face in this project?
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Can you tell us about your two current book projects?
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A second project that I’m eager to start making progress on looks at two of the most remarkable individuals in modern African and African diasporic history, Kwame Nkrumah and Nnamdi Azikiwe, the presidents of Ghana and Nigeria, respectively, during the African independence period. I’m specifically interested in their years in the United States as students and activist intellectuals. I want to understand what was it about their experiences in the United States that shaped them—that shaped their destinies—as future African independence leaders. And through them, what can we also learn about Pan Africanism and Black diasporic intellectual, cultural and political life in early-mid twentieth century America and its connection to African liberation movements?
Readings on the syllabus for your class, History of Black Studies, includes Harriet Jacobs’ book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, which was edited by another BU professor, Koritha Mitchell. What is it like teaching at a university where faculty, including yourself and your peers, have contributed to such prominent pieces in the discipline?
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What do you hope your students will take away from the perspectives offered by your course?
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Interview by Kelly Broder (COM’27)