The program in African and African American Studies provides a cross-culturally and historically comparative framework to study the rich connections and exchanges among African people, their descendants, and the various “new worlds” in which they have made and are making their lives. A particular strength of Carleton’s African and African American Studies program is the opportunity to explore these issues both on the African continent and in numerous African diasporas—of varying historical depth—in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. African and African American Studies combines area studies and ethnic studies foci on the cultural, literary, political, social, and intellectual responses to slavery, colonialism, missionization, and racialization throughout Africa and its many diasporas.

Students can pursue their intellectual interests in Africa and its diasporas through on-campus courses and off-campus studies programs (including four programs offered through Carleton’s departments of French and Francophone Studies, History, and Environmental Studies), and through a rich variety of courses in nearly all curricular exploration divisions. Through multidisciplinary training, students are encouraged to develop their analytic, research, and literary skills; they acquire the intellectual tools to critique and correct the distortions and silences about Africans and their descendants in both academic canons and public discourse.

If you're a student thinking about a concentration or major in AFAM, you may wish to meet with our Student Department Advisor (SDA), David Tullis '12 or our Faculty Program Director, Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg.