Program of Study (CAS Bulletin)
Africana Studies Program
Major Requirements (for students who enroll in CAS in Fall 2006 and after)
The new Africana Studies major consists of introductory, elective, and research components, together comprising a total of eleven courses, as laid out below:
Two introductory courses: should be taken in this order:
V18.0001, Concepts in Social and Cultural Analysis—An introduction to key terms and analytical categories for interdisciplinary work in Africana Studies and related fields
V18.0101, Approaches to Africana Studies (V18.0104, Intro to Pan-Africanism or V18.0105, Intro to Black Urban Studies will fulfill this requirement)
Seven elective courses: one course from each of the four areas listed below, plus a fifth in any of the four areas, and 2 common elective courses as indicated below:
- One Africana Studies related course focusing on the social sciences (Anthropology, Sociology, Political Science, Linguistics, and Economics).
- One Africana Studies related course focusing on the humanities (History, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Religion, African Languages).
- One Africana Studies related course focusing on the Arts (this can be studio or art history course- such as Theatre, Performance Studies, Film, Cinema studies, Dance, Photography, Dramatic Writing, Fine Arts, Art History, Music)
- One Africana Studies related course focusing on the Sciences (Medicine, Dentistry, Public Health, Journalism, Psychology, etc.)
- One additional elective chosen from any of the areas above.
- Two Common Electives: upper-division courses offered by the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis which address issues pertinent to Africana Studies in relation with other SCA majors.
Two research core courses:
V18.0040/0042 Africana Studies-related Internship Fieldwork & Seminar (4 credits)
V18.0090 Senior Research Seminar
A note about Language/Linguistic Competency: The type of rigorous intercultural study promoted within the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis requires students to recognize the complex modes of communication at work both within and across different social groups. The department therefore strongly encourages its students to develop advanced skills in language and linguistics by any of the following means: taking elective courses in sociolinguistics; studying a language other than English beyond the minimum level required by CAS; studying languages especially germane to the department’s fields of study; pursuing community-based internship fieldwork necessitating the development and use of specific language skills; undertaking study or research abroad in contexts entailing the exercise of key language or linguistic capabilities.
Minor
Four courses are required for the minor in Africana Studies. Students minoring in Africana Studies must take one of the following introductory courses
Approaches to Africana Studies, V18.0101; or Introduction to Pan-Africanism, V18.0104 (formerly V11.0010); or Introduction to Black Urban Studies, V18.0105 (formerly V11.0020)
Honors
Departmental Honors in Africana Studies—as in all the majors administered within SCA—requires a minimum of three courses with honors designations: An honors section of Strategies for Social and Cultural Analysis, in which students design their thesis research projects (or preliminary versions thereof), is normally taken in the sophomore or junior year. In the senior year, students take a two-semester honors sequence, consisting of a fall honors section of the Senior Research Seminar (V18.0900) and spring Independent Honors Research (8 points total), in which they complete a substantive research project with a significant component based on original primary research. Additional honors credit may be taken in honors sections of the introductory Concepts course, in designated sections of other departmental courses, or in interdisciplinary departmental honors junior seminars, when offered.
