African American Studies is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the experiences, history and cultural productions of people of African descent in the United States.
As an academic discipline, African American Studies considers the study of the particular experiences and contributions of African Americans to be a valuable, distinct area of inquiry; it also recognizes the international and intersectional nature of African American life, especially in its ties to Africa, the African diaspora and to other people of color in the United States.
Through its emphasis on diverse perspectives and theoretical approaches to race, the minor provides students with a transformative intellectual experience and competencies that will equip them to engage actively with the world.
Declaring a Minor in African American and African Studies
The procedure for declaring a minor in African American and African Studies is now entirely electronic.
The steps are as follows:
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- To be ready to declare, you must have enrolled in either AAS 1010 or AAS 1020.
- This means that you may declare a minor before you have even started the semester in which you will take 1010 or 1020.
- If this is the case, then fill out the AAS Minor Worksheet provided below.
Make sure to put the course number, the full course title, and the semester you’ve taken it or plan to take it.
Course Requirements
The minor in African and African American Studies requires 21 units. To fulfill the requirements for the minor in African and African American Studies, students must take one required course. Students should choose the remaining 18 units from a list of elective courses approved by the advisory committee.
The Department of African American Studies awards a minor to students who, in addition to meeting the requirements for a major, complete 18 credits in the African American Studies minor.
This minor is designed for students interested in African American culture and the educational, social, political, and economic development of people of African descent in the United States. In particular, it provides students with the opportunity to explore the experiences of African Americans using theories and methods originating in the field.
Students are made aware of the potential to apply such knowledge to the solution of social, political, and economic problems. African American Studies is an intellectual field of inquiry that examines the history of people of African descent from the colonial period through the present; how systems of racial inequality are produced through state policy, traditional western scholarly disciplines, and popular discourse; and the social, political and cultural movements that black people have developed to identify and resist the unequal material and political conditions that shape black social life in the African Diaspora.
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Course List
Here's an example of a course list:
- Required Course (3 Units):
- AFST 201: MAIN THEMES IN AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES
- Electives (18 Units): Select six of the following from at least three different disciplines (four must be upper-level courses):
- AFST 411: TOPICS IN AFRICAN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
- ANTH 329: THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF AFRICA
- ARTH 335: AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART
- COMM 382: AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNICATION
- EMF 210: AFRICAN-AMERICAN CINEMA
- ENGL 233: SURVEY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE
- ENGL 234: MAJOR WRITERS IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE
- ENGL 336: POST-COLONIAL LITERATURE
- ENGL 347: CITIES IN WORLD LITERATURE WRITTEN IN ENGLISH
- ENGL 348: LITERATURE OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA
- ENGL 477: TOPICS IN BLACK AMERICAN LITERATURE
- FMST 311: AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILIES
- GEOG 431: GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA
- HIST 135: HISTORY OF AFRICA TO 1900
- HIST 136: AFRICA SINCE 1900
- HIST 328: THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AFRICA (C.
Program Requirements
Here are some of the core program requirements:
- Requirements for the Minor: 18 credits
- A grade of C or better is required for all courses in the minor, as specified by Senate Policy 59-10.
- In addition, at least six credits of the minor must be unique from the prescribed courses required by a student's major(s).
Course List:
Prescribed Courses: Require a grade of C or better
- AFAM 100N Black Freedom Struggles (3 Credits)
- AFAM/WMNST 101N African American Women (3 Credits)
- AFAM 110N Introduction to African American Studies (3 Credits)
Additional Courses: Require a grade of C or better. Select 9 credits from the following (at least 6 credits must be at the 400 level):
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- AFAM/WMNST 102 Women of the African Diaspora
- AFAM/SOC/WMNST 103 Racism and Sexism
- AFAM/INART 126N The Popular Arts in America: The History of Hip-Hop
- AFAM/RLST 145 African Diaspora Religions and Spiritualities
- AFAM/RLST 146 The Life and Thought of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Contexts and Approaches Elective Courses
By situating their coverage of African American history, experiences and culture in specific disciplinary, and often comparative, contexts, these courses allow students to approach African American Studies from multiple perspectives and with the tools of multiple methodologies.
Complete at least two courses (6 credits) from the following:
- ANTH 115 - Anthropology of Race, Class, and Gender
- ANTH 215 - The Caribbean
- COMM 300 - Media and Multiculturalism
- COMM 365 - Introduction to Intercultural Communication
- CRJU 350 - Behind the Walls: Crime and Justice
- CRJU 352 - Urban Crime
- CRJU 358 - Race, Class, Crime and Justice
- CRJU 388 - Hate Crime
- DANC 237 - Theory and Practice of Jazz Dance, Fall
- DANC 247 - Theory and Practice of Jazz Dance, Spring
- DANP 153 - Jazz Dance
- DANP 165 - Tap Dance
- DANP 166 - African Dance
- DANP 167 - Hip-Hop Dance
- ENGL 377 - Post-Colonial Literature and Theory
- GEOG 333 - Geography of Environmental Justice
- GEOG 388 - Geography of Africa
- HEAL 404 - Cultural Diversity in Health and Disease
- HIST 445 - United States History: The Civil War
- MGMT 471 - Diversity in Organizations
- MUSC 107 - Beginning West African Drumming Ensemble
- MUSC 113 - Jazz Band
- MUSC 168 - American Popular Music
- POLI 343 - Constitutional Law and Politics: Liberty and Equality
- PSYC 230 - Cross-Cultural Psychology
- SCWK 270 - Social Work Issues of Diversity and Oppression
- SOCI 207 - Social Inequality
- SOCI 222 - African World Perspectives
- SOCI 256 - City Neighborhoods: Exploring the Formation of Urban Enclaves
- SOCI 316 - Social Movements
- SOCI 337 - Environmental Sociology
- SPED 203 - Cultural Diversity Issues in School and Society
Notes:
- Students must take courses with at least two different prefixes (not including AFAM). In other words, coursework for the minor must be from at least two different departments.
- Students must take at least one course at the 300 level or above.
- By permission of the African American Studies Coordinator, departmental topics and themes courses, including Second Year Seminars, may count towards the minor. Each semester during advising, the coordinator will circulate a list of courses from the upcoming semester that will count towards the minor.
- By permission of the coordinator, directed studies, study tours, internships or service learning projects may count for up to three credits toward the minor.
Up to six credits of relevant study abroad may apply to the minor with the prior approval of Director of Undergraduate Programs.
Students considering a minor in African American and African Studies may consult any AAS faculty advisor, or contact the Director of Undergraduate Programs (DUP), Anne Rotich.
The objectives of the university's academic advising program are to help advisees identify and achieve their academic goals, to promote their intellectual discovery, and to encourage students to take advantage of both in-and out-of class educational opportunities in order that they become self-directed learners and decision makers.
Both advisers and advisees share responsibility for making the advising relationship succeed. By encouraging their advisees to become engaged in their education, to meet their educational goals, and to develop the habit of learning, advisers assume a significant educational role.
The advisee's unit of enrollment will provide each advisee with a primary academic adviser, the information needed to plan the chosen program of study, and referrals to other specialized resources.
