About the Institute

The Institute of African American Research facilitates, supports, and promotes research being done by scholars of African American and Diaspora Studies in every discipline. It encourages and creates spaces for innovative, interdisciplinary interactions and collaborations. It works to build a broad community of scholars devoted to the study of the people of African descent in the Americas and elsewhere in the diaspora.

The IAAR is also committed to the serious engagement of public policy issues, particularly to those confronting black North Carolinians, as well as those concerning African Americans throughout the United States, and African descendants in the diaspora.  It is our mission to be a valuable resource for undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty doing research, and also for persons attempting to understand and shape public policy.