Africana Studies, African Studies Concentration, BA

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Requirements for Major

Required Credit Hours: 36

Major Declaration:

Prospective majors in AFST should discuss their plan-of-study with a faculty advisor by the end of the sophomore year. Declaration forms and instructions for majors and minors are available at the websites of Africana Studies and the University Registrar.

Language Requirement

Africana Studies requires an Africa-relevant foreign language study that exceeds the College-wide proficiency requirement. This means one course beyond the 202-level in one language, or 202-level proficiency in two languages. Besides native African languages (such as Amharic, Hausa, Oromiffa, Swahili, Yoruba, Wolof and Zulu), the following can be used to fulfill the requirement: Arabic, French, Portuguese, or Spanish. Others, such as Creole, may be approved on a case by case basis. Students are well-advised to choose languages that are appropriate for the chosen concentration.

Major Computing Requirement (MCR):

Each major must fulfill the MCR by earning a grade of C- or better in one of the courses listed under Methods (see below) or take CSCI 131 or higher.

Major Writing Requirement (MWR):

The following writing-intensive courses satisfy the MWR for Africana Studies:

AFST 301 - Critical Debates in Africana Studies (3-4)
AFST 306 - Topics in Africana Studies (1-4)
AFST 406 - Advanced Topics in Africana Studies (3-4)
AFST 480 - Independent Study (3-4)
or
AFST 495 - Senior Honors (3)
AFST 496 - Senior Honors (3)

Common Core:

All majors, regardless of concentration, will take a gateway course:

AFST 205 - Introduction to Africana Studies (3)

Capstone Experience:

Majors must also have a capstone experience with a significant research component, which is satisfied by taking the following:

AFST 406 - Advanced Topics in Africana Studies (3-4)
AFST 480 - Independent Study (3-4)
or
AFST 495 - Senior Honors (3)
AFST 496 - Senior Honors (3)

Note:

These courses total at least 6 credits.

Methods:

The 3 credit methods course may be selected from any of the participating departments. The choices include, but are not limited to:

ANTH 302 - Ethnographic Research (3)
Any statistics course (ECON, PSYC, or SOCL)
ENGL 209 - Critical Approaches to Literature (3)
GOVT 301 - Research Methods (3)
RELG 391 - Theory and Method in the Study of Religion (3)
SOCL 352 - Methods of Social Research (3)

Note:

Students who intend to write an Honors thesis should select the methods course that best meets their needs.

Electives:

The remaining credits are to come from elective courses in the Humanities and Social Sciences that are specific to each of the three Concentrations that constitute the Major. These are listed by Concentration. The University Registrar publishes the most recent list of eligible courses every semester.

Concentration in African Studies

Group One

Mandatory (choose one per line)

AFST 340 - Peoples and Cultures of Africa (3) or
AFST 341 - African Ritual and Religious Practice (3)
AFST 344 - Politics in Africa (3)
AFST 308 - West Africa Since 1800 (3) or
HIST 181 - African History to 1800 (3) or

Group Two

Humanities (choose no more than three)

AFST 306 - Topics in Africana Studies (1-4) (African topics only)
AFST 320 - African Religions, African Lives: Religious Power, Complexity and Change in Africa and the Diaspora (3)
AFST 321 - Women in Africa and the Diaspora (3)
AFST 330 - Arts in Africa (3)
AFST 331 - History of Jazz (4)
AFST 332 - Sex & Race in Plays & Films: Dramatizing Diversity (3)
AFST 340 - Peoples and Cultures of Africa (3)
AFST 341 - African Ritual and Religious Practice (3)
AFST 386 - Francophone African Literature II (in English) (3) (in English)
AFST 406 - Advanced Topics in Africana Studies (3-4) (African topics only)
ANTH 320 - Rise and Fall of Civilizations (3)
ANTH 336 - African Cultural Economies (3)
ARAB 309 - Survey of Arabic Literature in Translation (3)
ARAB 310 - Topics in Modern Arabic Literature in Translation (3)
FREN 385 - Francophone African Literature I (in French) (3)
FREN 450 - Seminar in French/Francophone Literature, Language, or Culture (3)
MUSC 241 - Worlds of Music (4)
RELG 212 - Introduction to Islam (3)

Groups Three

Social Sciences (choose no more than four)

AFST 304 - Introduction to the African Diaspora (3)
AFST 308 - West Africa Since 1800 (3)
AFST 310 - Comparative Economic Inequality in Multiracial Societies (3)
AFST 312 - The Global Color Line: U.S. Civil Rights and South African Anti-Apartheid Politics (3)
AFST 316 - African History to 1800 (3)
AFST 317 - African History since 1800 (3)
AFST 320 - African Religions, African Lives: Religious Power, Complexity and Change in Africa and the Diaspora (3)
AFST 321 - Women in Africa and the Diaspora (3)
ECON 300 - Topics in Economics (3) (African Economies)
GOVT 312 - Politics of Developing Countries (3)
HIST 316 - Pan-Africanism: History of a Revolutionary Idea (3)
HIST 317 - History of Modern South Africa (3)
HIST 325 - The Rise and Fall of Apartheid (3)
HIST 413 - Topics in History (3) (relevant topics only)
HIST 414 - Topics in History (3) (relevant topics only)

Electives:

A reasonably comprehensive but by no means exhaustive listing of courses that may be counted toward the Major or the Minor appears above. Not all courses are offered every semester, and newly-added courses not yet in the Catalog may qualify. This listing is designed as an advising aid for faculty and students to ensure a coherent plan of study.

Group One contains courses that are mandatory for each Concentration. Group Two and Group Three list electives from which at least 27 credits must be taken. The classification of AFST 480 , AFST 495 -AFST 496 and AFST 498 depends on the topic. A course can be counted only under one group.