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About Us
History & Mission
Rooted in legacy. Anchored in community. Driven by scholarship to build a future where all can rise.
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    Center for the Study of Afro-American History and Culture
    Students Virgil Roberts and J. Daniel Johnson meet with administrators to establish protocols for the center.
    1968
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    Center for Afro-American Studies (CAAS)
    Founded
    1969
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    Center sponsors Nommo, featuring activities of black faculty, students and staff at UCLA
    1972
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    B.A. in Afro-American Studies Established
    1974
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    CAAS Newsletter
    Launched
    1977
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    Symposium on “Walter Rodney, Revolutionary and Scholar: A Tribute”
    1981
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    Thurgood Marshall Lecture on Law and Human Rights
    Established
    1987
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    Life in a Day of Black L.A. photos travel as an exhibit.
    1993
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    Summer Humanities Institute (SHI)
    Established with grant from Mellon Foundation
    2001
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    Kenny Burrell Archive of African American Music
    Professor and musician Kenny Burrell donated personal items to establish the Kenny Burrell Archive of African American Music.
    2002
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    CAAS Renamed Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies
    The Center was renamed after Nobel Prize winner, scholar, activist, and UCLA alumnus Ralph J. Bunche, in commemoration of the centenary of his birth.
    2003
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    Black Los Angeles Project
    The Center culminates the Black Los Angeles Project with release of Black Los Angeles: American Dreams and Racial Realities, published by NYU Press.
    2010
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    From IDP to Department
    The Department of African American Studies was established in the summer of 2014.
    2014
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    Funding for Research on Black Life
    The Bunche Center was distinguished and supported as an academic research center by the California Legislative Black Caucus.
    2018
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    Black Policy Project
    BPP is a multifaceted policy oriented research initiative housed within the Bunche Center.
    2019

Founded in 1969, the Center for Afro-American Studies (CAAS), was renamed after Nobel Prize laureate, esteemed scholar, activist, and UCLA alumnus Ralph J. Bunche in 2003, in commemoration of the centenary of his birth.

More on Ralph J. Bunche
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The Center’s history is a storied one, emerging from the impassioned struggle of Black students at UCLA, who sought to have their history and culture recognized and studied. This demand for recognition gained heightened significance when tragedy struck in January 1969, as two Black Panthers, Aprentice “Bunchy” Carter and John Huggins, lost their lives in a clash over leadership of the center at Campbell Hall.

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Paintings from a 2023 vigil for Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter and John Huggins Jr. who were UCLA students and Black Panthers shot and killed in Campbell Hall on January 17, 1969. Credit: Myka Fromm/Daily Bruin.

Our Mission
The UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies advances knowledge and fosters innovation.

Established as an Organized Research Unit, the Bunche Center drives change through cutting-edge research, academic programs, and community partnerships that center the experiences of people of African descent. The Center deepens understanding of the history, culture, and sociopolitical realities shaping the African diaspora while confronting the challenges that affect the psychological, social, and economic well-being of Black communities. Research sponsored and conducted by the Center spans the humanities, social sciences, arts, STEM fields, and professional schools—uniting scholars across disciplines to illuminate and transform the study of African American life.

Our Research Initiatives
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Leadership
Dr. Lorrie Frasure

Under the leadership of Dr. Lorrie Frasure, the inaugural Ralph J. Bunche Endowed Chair and a Professor of Political Science and African American Studies, the Center operates within UCLA’s Institute of American Cultures (IAC) – the central hub to four ethnic studies centers – American Indian Studies Center, Asian American Studies Center, Bunche Center for African American Studies, and Chicano Studies Research Center. Together, the IAC and the four centers work to increase understanding of the emerging social and cultural realities in America through innovative research, events, fellowships, scholarships, grants, and civic engagement.

The Bunche Center carries forward the vision of its founders: to serve as a dynamic home for transformative academic research and community engagement that amplifies the voices, experiences, and intellectual contributions of African Americans and the global Black diaspora.

Our Leadership & Staff
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