Throughout history, African and African American peoples have played a central role on the world’s stage, and they continue to offer perspectives critical to understanding the post-modern world. The Africa/African diaspora experience has been most commonly expressed and understood through its history, arts, religion, and politics, and the program draws expertise from an array of disciplines. As students explore the values and lifestyles deriving from communities of African heritage, they gain a fuller understanding of the significance of these global communities’ contributions to the larger world.
Overview of the Concentration
The Africa and the African Diaspora concentration integrates studies of African history and culture, the forced movement of African peoples to the New World, and the consequences of slavery and post-slavery relations in the United States. The concentration in Africa and the African Diaspora provides students with the opportunity to study the ways in which Africans and peoples of African descent understand and interpret their interactions with global cultures and traditions.
Requirements for the Concentration
The concentration requires a minimum of five courses. Students are strongly advised to enroll in the interdisciplinary seminar, AFAD 231 Africa and the Americas: The Diaspora Experience, during their first or sophomore year. One independent study may be counted toward the concentration.
Students are also encouraged to include study abroad or away in their concentration planning. See the program director for information on the programs available in Namibia, South Africa, Ghana, and Tanzania, as well as in the British and French Caribbean.
Course List | Code | Title | Credits |
| AFAD 231 | Africa and the Americas: The Diaspora Experience | 1.00 |
| Academic Internship | |
| Independent Study | |
| Academic Internship | |
| Directed Undergraduate Research | |
| Independent Research | |
| The Hero and the Trickster in Post-Colonial Literature | |
| American Racial and Multicultural Literatures | |
| Women of the African Diaspora | |
| The Major Seminar | |
| Topics in Francophone Studies | |
| Genre Studies | |
| Slavery in the Americas | |
| Civil Rights and Revolution | |
| African American History | |
| America in the Civil War and Reconstruction Era | |
| Introduction to African History | |
| Sem: Muslim Societies in Sub-Saharan Africa | |
| Research Seminar: American History | |
| Introduction to Cultural Anthropology | |
| Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective | |
| Race and Class in American Culture | |
| Total Credits | 5 |
Required Seminar
AFAD 231: Africa and the Americas: The Diaspora Experience
The seminar examines Africans in dispersion/Diaspora as students interrogate the African background of African Americans and links between Africans and African Americans. The course examines the dynamics of precolonial West African societies; the nature of the interaction between Africa and the New World; and the role Africans, African culture, and African institutions played in the political, economic, cultural, and religious life of the New World. Students examine the ties that bind Africans and African Americans and explore questions such as: To what extent was the iconography of Africa used to mobilize Africans in dispersion? How effectively was the consciousness of Africa sustained in the New World? What are the contributions of African Americans to Africa? Also counts toward history, race and ethnic studies, and social studies education majors, and race and ethnic studies concentration.
OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies; Power and Race.
AFAD 294: Academic Internship
OLE Core Requirement: OLE Experience in Practice.
AFAD 298: Independent Study
Independent work is guided by a faculty member. Students need to have the necessary background, including appropriate coursework, before an independent project is approved. A student may not substitute an IS/IR course for a course regularly offered in a department or program. IS/IR culminates in at least one product (a paper, laboratory report, work of art, etc.). Normally, the student and faculty instructor are expected to meet at least once a week. See catalog for more information under registration and course enrollment.
Prerequisites: at least second-year standing; at least 2 relevant courses for 298 (IS); approval from the faculty instructor, the academic advisor, and the department chair or program director.
AFAD 394: Academic Internship
OLE Core Requirement: OLE Experience in Practice.
AFAD 396: Directed Undergraduate Research
This course provides a comprehensive research opportunity, including an introduction to relevant background material, technical instruction, identification of a meaningful project, and data collection. The topic is determined by the faculty member in charge of the course and may relate to their research interests. Offered based on department decision. May be offered as a 1.00 credit course or .50 credit course.
Prerequisite: Determined by individual instructor.
AFAD 398: Independent Research
Independent work is guided by a faculty member. Students need to have the necessary background, including appropriate coursework, before an independent project is approved. A student may not substitute an IS/IR course for a course regularly offered in a department or program. IS/IR culminates in at least one product (a paper, laboratory report, work of art, etc.). Normally, the student and faculty instructor are expected to meet at least once a week. See catalog for more information under registration and course enrollment.
Prerequisites: at least second-year standing; at least 5 relevant courses for 398 (IR); approval from the faculty instructor, the academic advisor, and the department chair or program director.
Elective Courses
Elective courses must be relevant to the focus of the concentration. For some electives, students may be required to negotiate specific assignments with the instructor and the director of the concentration. Other courses not identified in this list may also be acceptable, depending on the relevance of their content to the concentration.
ARTH 265 African American Art
ENGL 108 The Hero and the Trickster in Post-Colonial Literature
ENGL 202 Queer of Color Literature
ENGL 205 American Racial and Multicultural Literatures
ENGL 207 Women of the African Diaspora
ENGL 399 The Major Seminar (when the topic pertains to Africa and the African diaspora)
FREN 372 Topics in Francophone Studies
FREN 373 Genre Studies
HIST 165 Slavery in the Americas
HIST 181 Civil Rights and Revolution
HIST 277 African American History
HIST 288 America in the Civil War and Reconstruction Era
HIST 291 Introduction to African History
HIST 292 Sem: Muslim Societies in Sub-Saharan Africa
HIST 370 Research Seminar: American History (when the topic pertains to Africa & the African diaspora)
HIST 395 Oral History Seminar
MUSIC 231 History of Jazz
MUSIC 347 Somali Community Engagement through Music
RACE 121 Introduction to Race and Ethnic Studies
SOAN 128 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (with a focus on Africa)
SOAN 261 Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
SOAN 264 Race and Class in American Culture
