Lawrence Bobo, W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences and new dean of social science in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, spoke with the Gazette about Du Bois’ place in the history of sociology and about how many of his insights about African-Americans and the larger culture remain spot-on today. 

Athlete and activist Colin Kaepernick and activist and comedian Dave Chappelle are among the eight distinguished people who will receive the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal at the sixth annual Hutchins Center Honors presented by the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University.

Announcing the 2018-2019 Fellows

The Hutchins Center for African & African American Research Announces its Sixth Class of W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute Fellows

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, welcomes twenty-three Fellows for the 2018-2019 academic year.

“We are happy to welcome yet another class of scholars and artists engaged in timely and exciting work,” says...

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Filmmaker Ava DuVernay, actor and rapper LL Cool J, and six others received the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal—Harvard's highest honor in the field of African and African American Studies—before a zealous crowd in Sanders Theatre Wednesday afternoon.

On Wednesday night, October 4th, filmmaker Ava DuVernay and Hip-Hop icon and actor LL Cool J were honored at Harvard University's Hutchins Center for African and African American Research with the Hutchins Center Honors W.E.B. Du Bois Medal for their substantial contributions to African and African American history and culture.

AFTER CAUSING A STIR when she announced the lengthy, provocative title of her latest exhibition at Sikkema Jenkins, Kara Walker is being honored with a W.E.B. Du Bois Medal from Harvard University's Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. Walker is among eight recipients of the 2017 award, including filmmaker Ava DuVernay, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, and Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, who worked with Agnes Gund to establish an Art for Justice Fund that supports criminal justice reforms aimed at reducing mass incarceration.

Rap icon LL Cool J, filmmaker Ava DuVernay, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, and artist Kara Walker are among those who will be celebrated next month during an annual ceremony at Harvard's Hutchins Center for African & African American Research.