African/African American Studies Concentration
The African and African American Studies concentration is designed to complement a student's disciplinary major through an interdisciplinary specialization on the contexts and experiences of Africans and their many diasporas. Combining area studies and ethnic studies foci, the African and African American Studies concentration provides students the opportunity to explore the rich connections and exchanges among African people, their descendants, and the global locales--in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East--in which they have made and are making their lives. Students can do this through both on-campus courses and off-campus studies programs. In their senior year African and African American Studies concentrators draw connections among these courses through an interdisciplinary reflective capstone experience.
Fostering interdisciplinary critical thinking, the African and African American Studies concentration prepares students for lifetime engagement in scholarship as well as in fields such as law, public policy, education, public health, social work, and the arts. Toward this end, and in addition to coursework, students are encouraged to take advantage of the rich array of speakers, exhibits, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities related to Africans and their diasporas.
Requirements for the Concentration
The African/African American Studies Concentration requires seven courses as follows:
One interdisciplinary course with an "AFAM" designation;
Two survey courses that introduce the "state of the field" of African and/or African Diaspora studies within specific disciplines;
Three distribution courses (from the list of relevant courses) chosen from at least two of the following disciplinary groups: Arts and Literature; Humanties; Social Sciences. Two of the three distributional courses must be at the 200-level or above. At least one of the distribution courses should be a 300-level course in which the student produces a substantial paper or project in African and/or African American Studies. In rare cases, a student can petition to write a substantial paper in a 200-level course (i.e., be released from the 300-level course requirement), if that course is highly relevant to their own focus.
The capstone experience consists of AFAM 398, a two-credit course in which the student creates a portfolio of their work in African and African American studies and writes a 5-10 page reflective essay tying these papers together. This course gives students an opportunity to seriously relfect about the courses they have taken and the work they have produced within the concentration, and to draw connections among them. By bringing together African and African American Studies majors and concentrators, this two-credit course facilitates common discussion of the main themes in African and African American Studies and how they are woven through the corpus of each student's undergraduate opus.
Concentrators are highly encouraged to take the AMST 345 junior methods course.
Structure of Courses Applicable to the Concentration
Interdisciplinary Course (6 credits). Each student must complete one interdisciplinary 6-credit course which, in part, specifically discusses African/African-American Studies as a discipline.
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Survey Courses (12 credits). Each student must take two of the following 6-credit courses:
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Distribution Courses (18 credits). Each student should take 18 credits chosen from at least two of the following disciplinary groups: Arts and Literature, Humanities and Social Sciences including one six-credit course which must be at the 300-level.
Arts and Literature
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Humanities
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Social Sciences
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Additional Distribution Electives: Arts Practice
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Senior Seminar/Capstone Experience (2 credits)
The capstone experience consists of AFAM 398, a two-credit course in which the student creates a portfolio of their work in African and African American Studies and writes a 5-10 page reflective essay tying these papers together. This course gives students an opportunity to seriously reflect about the courses they have taken and the work they have produced within the concentration, and to draw connections among them.