African-American Studies Paper Topics

African-American Studies Paper Topics

African-American studies intersects with every possible subject area. Political science, STEM fields, philosophy, business, art and architecture, and literature, are just some of the interdisciplinary areas of study available for student writers to explore.

Interesting Research Paper Topics

When trying to choose interesting research paper topics, it is useful to look at your own areas of interest or areas where you are not very informed. Which of these directions you choose will depend on your own style and interests.

Here are just some of the paper topics that might be of interest to you:

1. Abolitionists
2. Affirmative Action: Myths and Realities
3. African American English
4. African American Literature
5. African American Popular Culture
6. African Americans and Health Care
7. African Americans and The Freedom Of Assembly
8. African Diaspora
9. African Studies
10. Africana Studies
11. Afro-Latino Studies
12. Anti-Racist Politics and Philosophies
13. Atlantic Slave Trade
14. Beauty Industries and Black Women
15. Black Americans and Political Systems
16. Black Americans and The U.S. Film Industry
17. Black Americans During The Industrial Age
18. Black Communities and The Culture Of Surveillance
19. Black Femininities and Black Masculinities
20. Black Feminism
21. Black Nationalism
22. Black Theater
23. Black Womanism
24. Black Women and Sport
25. Black Women and The History Of Reproductive Choice
26. Caribbean Slavery
27. Civil Disobedience
28. Civil Rights Act
29. Civil Rights Movement
30. Class and Race
31. Code Switching
32. Congress Of Racial Equality
33. Contemporary Racial Identity
34. Contemporary Research On Racism
35. Contemporary Segregation In American Schools
36. Desegregation
37. Empowerment Pedagogies
38. Environmental Racism
39. Ethnic Studies
40. Frederick Douglass
41. Freedom Rides
42. Gospel, Spirituals, Blues, and Rap: African American Music
43. Hard Work and Natural Talent: Race and Sport
44. Henrietta Lacks
45. Historically Black Colleges and Universities
46. How Pointing Out Racism Became “Worse” Than Being Racist
47. Ida B. Wells
48. Indentured Servitude and Slavery
49. Jim Crow
50. Justice and The Law: The Legal Constructs Of Slavery, Jim Crow, and Mass Incarceration
51. Last Hired, First Fired: Race, Sex, and Employment
52. Lynching: Reality and Metaphor
53. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X
54. Mass Incarceration
55. Maternal Health, Stress, and The “Menace” Of Black Motherhood
56. Medical Racism
57. Minorities In A Majority Culture
58. Mixed Race Identities: Challenges Within and Without
59. Origins Of Race
60. Pan-African Studies
61. Pan-Africanism
62. Phyllis Wheatley
63. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder In Black Communities
64. Psychological Effects Of Racist Of Oppression
65. Race and Class
66. Race and Ethnicity
67. Race and Freedom Of Speech
68. Race and Freedom To Travel
69. Race and Identity
70. Race and Science Fiction: Literature and Visual Media
71. Race and Social Mobility In The U.S.
72. Race In Public Policy In America
73. Race In The Commons: Race and Impromptu Social Interaction
74. Race Theory
75. Race, Sex, and Class In America
76. Racism, Bigotry, Bias, Stereotypes, and Prejudice: Individuals and Systems Of Oppression
77. Racist Ideologies From Colonial Europe To The Present
78. Reconstruction
79. Religion In Black America
80. Riots and Resistance
81. Slave Market Regions
82. Slavery In Latin America and Black Migration
83. Social Justice
84. Sociology Of Oppression
85. Sojourner Truth
86. Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Sclc)
87. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (Sncc)
88. Students For A Democratic Society (Sds)
89. The 13Th, 14Th, and 15Th Amendments
90. The African American Upper Classes In America
91. The Black Power Movement
92. The Harlem Renaissance
93. The National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People (Naacp)
94. The National Black Feminist Organization (Nbfo)
95. Transatlantic Slave Trade
96. Triangular Trade Route
97. Voting Rights Movement
98. W.E.B Du Bois
99. Writings By Radical Women Of Color
100. Zora Neale Hurston

There are many other topics available to an interested writer. Biographies of famous individuals, hidden histories in scientific and technological fields, and much more are waiting to be written. Whether examining how communities can be destroyed through urban planning, the highway planning commissions in Detroit, or revitalized by the same, New York City’s recovery, you can find a host of interesting topics about the activities within various African-American communities and the processes that shaped those communities.

See more great research paper topics by discipline.