Taking as its central mission the study of peoples of African descent on the continent and in the diaspora, the Africana Studies major seeks a nuanced and interdisciplinary understanding of the human experience. The Africana Studies major does so through the humanities, arts, and social sciences, with particular emphasis on continuities and discontinuities across geography and time. Its broad educational objectives are to engender among all students an intellectual appreciation of black lives and their saliency for all human experience; to deepen students’ critical analytic skills; and to value social equality, democracy, and humanitarianism. The Africana Studies major strives to provide students with substantive knowledge of the black world and its linkages to national as well as pre-, sub-, supra-, and transnational processes. Students play an active role in the Africana Studies Institute’s mission to facilitate respect and positive intersocial relationships within the university community. Completion of the B.A. in Africana Studies prepares the student for work in government, community agencies, international organizations, business, journalism and communications, or for graduate studies that lead to careers in research and teaching.
Requirements
To satisfy the Africana Studies major, the student must complete 27 credits in AFRA courses, with at least one three-credit course in each of groups A, B, and C. Students must also complete 12 credits of related courses from Group D. Variable Content courses may be applied to distribution groups determined by course content and advisor consent. All majors must take AFRA 2211 and AFRA 4994W; the latter is generally taken senior year.
Group A: History
AFRA 3206, 3208, 3563, 3564, 3568, 3569, 3620, 3752, 3753.
Group B: Social and Political Inquiry
AFRA 3025, 3033, 3106, 3152, 3252, 3501, 3505, 3618, 3642, 3647, 3652, 3825.
Group C: Literature and the Arts
AFRA 2214/W, 3131/W, 3132, 3213/W, 3215/W, 3217/W.
Group D: Related Courses
- History: HIST 3201, 3202, 3510, 3541, 3554, 3561, 3562, 3575, 3674.
- Literature and the Arts: ANTH 3450W; ARTH 3645; AASI/ENGL 3212; COMM 4422; COMM/LLAS 4320; ECON 2444; ENGL 3210, 3218/W, 3609, 4203W; FREN 3218; MUSI 3421W.
- Social and Political Inquiry: AASI/SOCI 3221/HRTS 3571; AASI/SOCI 3222/HRTS 3573; COMM 3321/LLAS 3264/WGSS 3260; ECON 2444; HDFS 2001; HRTS/POLS 3807; HRTS/SOCI 3421; INTD 3584; POLS 2998, 3406, 3255; POLS 3662/LLAS 3270; POLS/URBN 3632W; POLS/WGSS 3216; SOCI 2503, 2827, 3429, 3701; WGSS 2267.
Variable Content
AFRA 2214W and AFRA 4994W satisfy the Information Literacy Competency and Writing in the Major requirements.
A minor in Africana Studies is described in the Minors section.