Graduate Curriculum


The Department of African American and African Studies offers a two-year MA degree program whose purpose is to provide a broad-based graduate education in what, in all its complexity and multiplicity, currently constitutes African American and African Studies. It is designed to ensure a range of study in the major areas of the discipline and, at the same time, to allow students to pursue their areas of interest through formal course work and independent study.

The Department of African American and African Studies offers a MA degree with three possible areas of concentration:
  1. African American Studies
  2. African Studies
  3. Comparative Diaspora Studies
The Program has a minimum of sixty (60) credit hours. Of these, no more than ten (10) credit hours may be taken outside of the Department of African American and African Studies. Students may take up to five (5) credit hours of independent study. The permission of the Director of Graduate Studies is required where a student wishes to enroll in additional independent study or coursework outside of the department.

Students enrolled in the MA Program in African American and African Studies must also write a thesis or take a comprehensive examination at the conclusion of their course of study.

* Subject to the rules of the Graduate School, students pursuing the MA degree in African American Studies may elect either of the following degree program plans:
  1. The Thesis Plan: 55 credit hours of course work, 5 credit hours of thesis research, and an oral examination.
  2. The Non-Thesis Plan: 60 credit hours of course work, a comprehensive written examination, and an oral defense.
Core Requirements

All students are required to take the following core courses, totaling fifteen (15) credit hours:

AAAS 754
Methodological Perspectives in African American and African Studies (5 credit hours)
AAAS 756
Theorizing Race and Ethnicity (5 credit hours)
AAAS 758.01 Comparative History of the African Diaspora I: Enslavement and Emancipation (5 credit hours)
OR
AAAS 758.02
Comparative History of the African Diaspora II: Colonial & Postcolonial Realities (5 credit hours)

Specific Requirements for the African American Studies Concentration

Focus Areas:
  1. Cultural Studies

    20 credit hours from the following:

    AAAS/HISTORY 752
    Readings in African American History
    AAAS 757.01
    Intro to Graduate Studies in African American Literature (1746-1900)
    AAAS 757.02
    Intro to Graduate Studies in African American Literature (1900-Present)
    AAAS/ENGLISH 851
    Seminar in Critical Approaches to Black Literatures (when primary focus is on the African American experience)
    AAAS 854
    Seminar in Major Black Authors (when primary focus is on the African American experience)
    AAAS/HISTORY 875
    Seminar in African American History

  2. Social Studies

    20 credit hours from the following:

    AAAS 630
    Black Political Movements and Organizations
    AAAS 718
    Citizen Participation
    AAAS 734.01
    Topics in Race and the American Legal System: Affirmative Action
    AAAS 734.01
    Topics in Race and the American Legal System: Race and Employment
    AAAS 775.03
    Feminism and Black Political Thought
    AAAS 782
    Modern Black Political Thought
    AAAS 862
    Mental Health and the African American Community
    AAAS 865
    Race, Gender and Class in the Black Community

    25 credit hours of electives
Specific Requirements for the African Studies Concentration

Focus Areas:
  1. Cultural Studies

    20 credit hours from the following:

    WOMEN STUDIES 623
    African Women
    AAAS 742
    African Historiography and Methodology
    AAAS 743
    Studies in African History (Repeatable)
    AAAS 750
    Language and Society in Africa
    AAAS 751
    Intro to Graduate Studies in African Literature
    AAAS 760
    African Popular Culture
    AAAS 774
    Africa Before Colonial Rule
    AAAS 780.02
    African Performing Ensemble
    AAAS 789
    Performance Practices in African Music

  2. Social Studies

    20 credit hours from the following:

    GEOG 608
    South Africa: Society and Space
    AAAS 725
    Political Development of Sub-Saharan Africa
    AAAS 732
    Law, Politics and Human Rights in Africa
    AAAS 781
    Topics in African Political Philosophy (Repeatable)
    AAAS 833
    Seminar in U.S.-Africa Relations

    25 credit hours of electives
Specific Requirements for the Comparative African Diaspora Concentration

*Adjustments may be made to this section

20 credit hours from the following:

AAAS 705.01
Graduate Seminar in Southern African Society and Culture
AAAS 705.03
Graduate Seminar in West African Society and Culture
AAAS 748
Contemporary Art Music Traditions of Africa and the Diaspora
AAAS 792
Interdepartmental Studies in the Humanities
AAAS 851
Seminar in Critical Approaches to Black Literatures
AAAS 854
Seminar in Major Black Authors
AAAS 860
Seminar in Comparative Black Literature
AAAS 863
Reading the African Diaspora

25 credit hours of electives

*General Curriculum Requirements are subject to change.