黑人研究系的产生是由于学生需要一门更相关的课程，一本与《非洲侨民》有关的课程，以及为教师，教职员工和学生提供更多有意义的机会。该系每年为4,000多名满足一般教育要求的学生提供服务，以满足其本科专业以及更广泛的学术界的需求。黑人研究系通过考察黑人在各个社会中的历史和当代表现，力求提高人们对黑人经历的一般认识和了解。该系汇集了关注黑人美国，非洲散居和非洲的学者。它采用跨文化的方法，融合了教师，学生和广大社区的积极参与。教授和讲师系的学生以历史，文学，电影，宗教，艺术和社会科学为基础，特别集中在实现诸如民主与
The first Black Studies Department in the University of California system, UCSB Black Studies was founded in 1969 in response to student protests. Student activists envisioned Black Studies as an important expression of the hopes and creative expression of Black people and the keystone of a larger Black Freedom movement, declaring Black studies represents an individual and community need, the one inseparable from the other. UCSB Black Studies centers social justice as well as intellectual rigor in our courses. As a student in the program, youll learn from faculty in multiple disciplines including History, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Political Science, Performance Studies, and Comparative Literature. We demand intersectional justice by examining how gender, sexuality, class, religion, nationality, and disability shape Black lives globally. The department brings together scholars studying Black lives in the United States, the Caribbean, South America, and Europe as well as on the African continent, fostering a transnational understanding of race, place, gender, and freedom.