African and African American Studies

The African and African American Studies program in the College of Arts and Sciences offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of African people in Africa and the Diaspora. Our program has three areas of activity - curriculum, an annual lecture series, and community outreach - but our key focus is on our interdisciplinary academic program.

Our mission is to help students to develop a solid knowledge base in African and African American studies as well as to acquire analytical skills and approaches that will enhance understanding of historical and contemporary issues associated with the experience of Africans and African Americans.

Our program includes three required core courses (AAAS 2100, 3100, and 4100) which present a general survey of African and African American Studies, theoretical frameworks and methodologies for approaching the African and African American experience, and a capstone course on focusing on a particular aspect of these experiences.

In addition to these core courses, students choose twenty-one hours of elective credits from three areas of concentration - the Humanities, the Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Arts. AAAS also offers students the opportunity for international education through a three-week summer study abroad course, "Ghanaian History and Cultures."