The project conducts international comparative studies of communities of African descent and trains scholars in the social sciences in the field of African diaspora studies. The project's research is focused primarily on Latin America and the Caribbean, where the largest number of peoples of African descent have settled outside of Africa. Additional studies are currently looking at the African diaspora in Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, India, and Mexico. A major focus of the ADRP is the production of research for dissemination to wide audiences. Our aim is to produce research that is accessible to policy makers, community and self-help organizations, lay persons, and scholars.
Researchers engage in intense programs that include data collection, analysis, and writing.
Dissemination of this research takes many forms. The ADRP produces a working paper series and monographs. Distributed to 42 states and more than 50 countries throughout the world, the newsletter had a mailing list of almost 2,000, but the copies were recirculated among thousands more people. The project still receives requests for back issues of the newsletter. The Global Black African Diaspora 2000 Series - Roots, Routes, and Redefinitions is a forthcoming publication of ten volumes to be published by Michigan State University Press beginning in 1999.