General Requirements

Major in African American Studies

The Department of African American Studies currently offers a major in African American Studies. Students must complete ten (10) courses, totaling a minimum of thirty (30) credit hours, and must choose a concentration: Global Race and Ethnicity (GRE), Race, Space, and Public Policy (RSP), and Creativity, Design, and Emerging Forms (CDE). Eligible students electing the honors thesis major must complete a minimum of thirty-six (36) credit hours and choose a concentration area. Courses that deeply and substantively examine Black culture, history and experience throughout the Americas, study African culture, history, people, and politics as pretext and context to Africans in the Americas experience, and explore the Black Atlantic diaspora satisfy the major’s requirements. Students are encouraged to select at least nine credit hours of course work specifically related to African American experience in the United States.

Required courses for Majors:

  • AFAM 101 (Introduction to African American Studies)
  • AFAM 456 (Methodologies and Theoretical Issues in African American Studies)
    • Prerequisites: AFAM 101; MATH 035, 004, 007, or 040, or AP-STATS Credit, or AP-CALC
  • Five courses within the area of concentration (of the five courses, one course must be at the 100-level, one course must be at the 200-level, one course must be at the 300-level, and one course must be at the 400-level).
  • Two courses within the non-concentration area (courses should be above the 200-level).
  • One elective on gender, sexuality, or disability (course should be at or above the 200-level).

Overlay requirements that can be satisfied by any of the above:

  • One pre-twentieth century course
  • One African diaspora outside the United States course

New Major Tracking Form (Fall 21/Class of 2025 onward)

Old Major Tracking Form (Prior to Fall 21)

Minor in African American Studies

The Department of African American Studies has implemented the following requirements for the minor in African American Studies.  Students must successfully complete six (6) courses, totaling a minimum of eighteen (18) credit hours. Courses that deeply and substantively examine Black culture, history and experience throughout the Americas, study African culture, history, people, and politics as pretext and context to Africans in the Americas experience, and explore the Black Atlantic diaspora satisfy the major’s requirements. Students are encouraged to select at least nine credit hours of course work specifically related to African American experience in the United States.

New required courses for Minors:

  • AFAM 101 (Introduction to African American Studies)
  • AFAM 456 (Methodologies and Theoretical Issues in African American Studies)
    • Prerequisites: AFAM 101; MATH 035, 004, 007, or 040, or AP-STATS Credit, or AP-CALC
  • Four courses (one at each level, and one elective in department)

New Minor Tracking Form (Fall 21/Class of 2025 onward)

Old Minor Tracking Form (Prior to Fall 21)

For questions regarding the major or minor, or to declare a major or minor, please contact the Department Chair.

Concentration Descriptions

Global Race and Ethnicity (GRE): Courses in this concentration will comparatively address transnational movement and circuits in patterns and practices that order racialization and ethnicity in black subjects and black life. Courses will provide a critical stance about the relationships between any or all of the following: diaspora/migration, refugee studies, equity, citizenship, border studies, indigenous studies, sociolinguistics, language policies, and social and artistic movements geographies outside of the U.S. and within emerging African and African Diasporic communities’ cultural practices or social policy.

  • Satisfied by:
    • AFAM 103, 110, 115, 120, 130, 135, 140, 143, 150, 155, 165, 170, 190, 195, 201, 206, 210, 211, 214, 215, 216, 225, 226, 230, 233, 240, 255, 265, 270, 280, 285, 303, 304, 306, 307, 308, 309, 315, 320, 325, 330, 335, 340, 345, 390, 406, 408, 409, 419, 420, 425, 430, 438, 440, 450
    • HIST 111, HIST 112, HIST 280, HIST 285, HIST 293-01, HIST 293-70, HIST 297-70, HIST 391, HIST 482, HIST 488-70, HIST 684-01, HIST 688, THEO 126, THEO 901, ANTH 240-01, ANTH 283-01, ANTH 392-01, INAF 100, INAF 365-01, INAF 357, INAF 100

Race, Space, and Public Policy (RSP): Courses in this concentration will examine spatial formations, labor and economy, and growth and formation of racial and ethnic identities alongside the cultural, governmental, physical, and social ecosystems of the modern city, as well as rural areas. They will also address critical human geography and the changing perceptions, measures, and reproduction of inequality in traditional and newly emerging American publics.

  • Satisfied by:
    • AFAM 115, 120, 145, 150, 160, 202, 205, 206, 210, 211, 215, 225, 229, 245, 260, 270, 304, 305, 307, 308, 318, 320, 330, 335, 406, 408, 409, 420, 430, 450
    • HIST 280, HIST 285, HIST 293-01, HIST 293-70, HIST 297-70, HIST 388-01, HIST 391, HIST 482, HIST 497, HIST 901, SOC 250, THEO-012-20, THEO 112-10, THEO 381, THEO 901, GOVT 282, GOVT 412-01, ENGL 210, ENGL 467

Creativity, Design, and Emerging Forms (CDE): Courses in this concentration will explore how contemporary expressive practices are often located between or beyond traditional disciplines, and define art-making as a process supported by theory, analysis, research, and conceptualization. Courses will emphasize imagining alternative futures through creative methodologies and design-led research tools on route to addressing pressing social, economic, political, and environmental issues and challenges of local, national, and global dimensions.

  • Satisfied by:
    • AFAM 103, 110, 137, 140, 143, 145, 165, 170, 185, 190, 195, 201, 206, 210, 215, 216, 226, 229, 230, 233, 235, 240, 245, 250, 255, 265, 270, 285, 303, 305, 309, 310, 315, 318, 325, 330, 335, 340, 345, 390, 402, 405, 406, 410, 415, 419, 420, 425, 430, 440
    • ENGL 202, ENGL 210, ENGL 391, ENGL 392, ENGL 393, ENGL 467, INAF 365-01