Center for the Study of Popular Music

Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar is Professor of History and the founding Director of the Center for the Study of Popular Music. Prior to this role, he served as the University of Connecticut’s Vice Provost for Diversity and Chief Diversity Officer. Dr. Ogbar served as Associate Dean for the Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 2009-2012 and Director of the Institute for African American Studies, 2003-2009.He is the author of Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004), winner of an “Outstanding Academic Title” from Choice (2005) and editor of Civil Rights: Problems in American Civilization (Houghton Mifflin 2003). His book, Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap (University Press of Kansas), was published in fall 2007. It is the winner of the W.E.B. Du Bois Book Prize from the Northeast Black Studies Association (2008). His book, The Harlem Renaissance Revisited: Politics, Arts and Letters, an edited volume, was published in 2010 by Johns Hopkins University Press. In 2018 he released Keywords in African American Studies, co-edited with Erica A. Edwards and Roderick A. Ferguson with New York University Press. Dr. Ogbar’s articles appear in the Journal of Religious Thought, Journal of Black Studies, Souls, Centro and Radical Society among other academic journals. His latest book, America’s Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy, was published in 2023 with Basic Books. Among other honors, Publishers Weekly named it one of the “Best Nonfiction Books of 2023,” " Raised in Los Angeles, California, Ogbar is a member of Phi Beta Kappa international honor society; he received his BA in history from Morehouse College and his MA and Ph.D. degrees in history from Indiana University.

Education

• Ph.D. 1997 Indiana
• MA 1993 Indiana
• BA 1991 Morehouse

Professional Experience

• 2012-2014 Vice Provost for Diversity
• 2009 – 2012 Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• 2003 – 2009 Director, Institute for African American Studies

Selected Awards & Honors

• 2024 Award for Documenting Georgia's History, Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council
• 2021 Provost Award for Outstanding Service
• 2017-18 Research Fellow, University of Connecticut Humanities Institute
• 2012 Student Support Services "Outstanding Faculty Award"
  University of Connecticut
• 2008 W.E.B. Du Bois Outstanding Book Award
  Northeast Black Studies Association
• 2005 National "Standout Scholar"
  Black Issues in Higher Education