Position Title
Assistant Professor
Antoine S. Johnson, Ph.D. was born and raised in East Oakland, California. After graduating from Castlemont High School, he attended California State University, Sacramento where he earned his BA and MA in American History. His master's thesis examined rap music during hip hop's "golden era," from roughly 1987 to 1993, and how rappers utilized their platforms to raise awareness on issues in poor and working-class Black communities, situating themselves within the Black intellectual tradition. Interests in how Black people confronted the crack and AIDS epidemic led to him attending the University of California, San Francisco, where he earned his Ph.D. in the History of Health Sciences. Antoine's dissertation explores Black HIV/AIDS activism in the Bay Area, and he is currently working on the book manuscript for this project. Antoine spends his free time with his family, running, and researching and discussing football and hip-hop culture.
- Bachelor's Degree: US History, California State University, Sacramento, 2014
- Master's Degree: US History, California State University, Sacramento, 2016
- Ph.D.: History of Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 2022
- 2024 Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society
- 2023 Jack D. Pressman-Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Development Award in 20th Century History of Medicine or Biomedical Sciences, American Association for the History of Medicine.
- Fall 2025: AAS 138 - AIDS, Race, Gender and Sexuality in Black Communities
- Winter 2025: AAS 181 - Hip Hop in Urban America
- Winter 2025: AAS 190 - Topics in African American Studies (History of Anti-Black Racism in Medicine)
- "Golden-Era Rap Music and the Black Intellectual Tradition." Black Perspectives (August 15, 2023)."
- "From HIV-AIDS to COVID-19: Black Vulnerability and Medical Uncertainty." Black Perspectives (June 2020).
- "Syllabus: A History of Anti-Black Racism in Medicine," with Elise A. Mitchell and Ayah Nuriddin. Black Perspectives (August 2020).
- Review of Royles, Dan. To Make the Wounded Whole: The African American Struggle against HIV/AIDS. H-Sci-Med-Tech, H-Net Reviews. October 2022.
- "The REPAIR Project: A Prospectus for Change Toward Racial Justice in Medical Education and Health Sciences Research: REPAIR Project Steering Committee."
- American Association for the History of Medicine
- African American Intellectual History Society
- Organization of American Historians