
Chair and Amos Lawrence Professor of Africana Studies and Faculty Affiliate in Comparative Literature
Education
M.S. Boston University
Ph.D. Northwestern University
Areas of Expertise
Performance Studies, Jazz Studies, African Diaspora Studies, Mass Communications (Advertising), Popular Culture Studies and Sport Studies
Courses
AFR 216 / AMST 212 / COMP 212 / DANC 217 SEM
Moving While Black (not offered 2025/26)AFR 323 / ARTH 223 / COMP 322 / AMST 323 / ENGL 356 SEM
Comic Lives: Graphic Novels & Dangerous Histories of the African Diaspora (not offered 2025/26)AFR 440 SEM
CAPSTONE: Performing Blackness (not offered 2025/26)Scholarship/Creative Work
Select Publications
- Jazz Diasporas: Race, Music and Migration in Post-World War II Paris. Berkeley: U of California P, 2016.
- Lischer-Katz, Zack, Carter, Bryan and Rashida K. Braggs. “Volumetric Video: Preservation and Curation Challenges of an Emerging Medium.” International Journal of Digital Curation. 19.1 (2025): 1-23.
- “Lessons in Black Women’s Laughter: A Play-Essay on Parisian Jazz Journeys,”Women & Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture. 27 (2023): 65-85.
- Braggs, Rashida with William Murray and Elijah Parks. “Composing Baldwin’s Joyful Song,” James Baldwin Review. 9 (2023).
- “Herbert Gentry’s Jazz Spirit in Postwar Paris.” Americans in Paris: Artists Working in Postwar France, 1946–1962. Eds. Balken, Debra Bricker and Lynn Gumpert. Munich: Hirmer; New York: Grey Art Gallery, New York University, 2022.
Select Performances
- Interdisciplinary Performer, Director, and Producer, Amber in the City of Light. United Solo Festival at One Theater, New York City. October 19, 2024.
- Interdisciplinary Performer, Director, and Producer, Runnin’ to Grace. United Solo Festival’s Virtual Series. July 2021- June 2023.
Awards, Fellowships & Grants
- Best Multi-Media Show. Awarded by the United Solo Theatre Festival, 2024-2025.
- Fulbright Global Scholar Award (Canada and France), 2023-2024
- NEH Digital Humanities Advancement Grant, 2022-2023.
- The Cultural Diaspora Residency. Awarded by The Camargo Foundation, 2021-2022
Current Committees
- British Post Graduate Fellowship Committee
Biography
Rashida K. Braggs is the Amos Lawrence Professor of Africana Studies and department chair, as well as a faculty affiliate in Comparative Literature at Williams College. Her book Jazz Diasporas: Race, Music and Migration in Post-World War II Paris investigates the migratory experiences of African American jazz musicians in 1946-1963 Paris. In her current book & performance project, she explores the experiences of multiple black jazz women performers of African descent as they migrated to and settled in Paris, France from 1968 to present day. Her work has also been published in such journals as The Journal of Popular Music, The Black Scholar and Women & Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture. Dr. Braggs is a scholar-performer who acts, dances, sings, composes music and performs spoken word. Her performances have been supported by the Williams College Museum of Art, Jacob’s Pillow and the United Solo Theatre Festival.