African American Studies Program Minor

Adonijah L. Bakari, Director

The African American Studies Program offers an undergraduate interdisciplinary minor. The primary objective is to provide students an opportunity to examine the multidimensional, multicultural experiences of African Americans and their responses to the blending of an African heritage and American culture.

The person who completes the African American Studies minor will have enlarged perspectives and increased skills and marketability for jobs in the fields of education, criminal justice, social work, governmental departments and agencies, and in the private sector.

Interdisciplinary minors are open to all students in the University. A student may take no more than 6 hours in a single department toward an interdisciplinary minor unless he or she surpasses the required 15-21 hours necessary for that minor. A student may take no more than 3 hours credit toward a minor in the same department or discipline in which he/she is taking a major, and no course may be counted for both major and minor credit. Students must fulfill all departmental prerequisites for any course within an interdisciplinary minor. The minor in African American Studies requires 21 semester credit hours including 12 hours of foundation courses.

Required courses (12 hours):

AAS 2100 - Introduction to African American Studies 3 credit hours
AAS 2020 - Themes in Literature and Culture: Survey of Afro-American Literature 3 credit hours OR
ENGL 2020 - Themes in Literature and Culture 3 credit hours
AAS 3250 - Perspectives on Black Psychology 3 credit hours OR
PSY 3250 - Perspectives on Black Psychology 3 credit hours
AAS 2040 - Survey African American History I 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2040 - Survey African American History I 3 credit hours
OR
AAS 2050 - Survey African American History II 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2050 - Survey African American History II 3 credit hours

Electives (9 hours):

AAS 3180 - African Politics 3 credit hours
AAS 4600 - Interdisciplinary Seminar in African American Studies 3 credit hours
AAS 4990 - Independent Study in African American Studies 3 credit hours
AAS 3514 - People and Cultures of Africa 3 credit hours OR
ANTH 3514 - Peoples and Cultures of Africa 3 credit hours
AAS 3340 - The Black Experience in Modern Afro-American Literature 3 credit hours OR
ENGL 3340 - African American Literature 3 credit hours
AAS 3470 - Geography of Africa 3 credit hours OR
GEOG 3470 - Geography of Africa 3 credit hours
AAS 2040 - Survey African American History I 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2040 - Survey African American History I 3 credit hours
AAS 2050 - Survey African American History II 3 credit hours OR
HIST 2050 - Survey African American History II 3 credit hours
AAS 4430 - Sub-Saharan Africa 3 credit hours OR
HIST 4430 - Sub-Saharan Africa 3 credit hours
AAS 4490 - Mexico and the Caribbean 3 credit hours OR
HIST 4490 - Mexico and the Caribbean 3 credit hours
AAS 4750 - African American Social and Intellectual History 3 credit hours OR
HIST 4750 - African American Social and Intellectual History 3 credit hours
AAS 4530 - History of Jazz 3 credit hours OR
MUHL 4530 - History of Jazz 3 credit hours
AAS 4200 - African American Film, Theater, and Television Images 3 credit hours OR
SOC 4200 - African American Film, Theater, and Television Images 3 credit hours
AAS 3200 - Cultural Diversity: Competency for Practice 3 credit hours OR
SW 3200 - Cultural Diversity: Competency for Practice 3 credit hours
PS 4180 - African Politics 3 credit hours
SOC 4240 - Race and Ethnic Relations 3 credit hours

Courses of Related Interest

Courses considered consistent with the goals and objectives of the African American Studies program are designated as “of related interest.” However, African American Studies minors MAY NOT use these courses towards the minor without prior approval from the program’s director.

ECON 4470 - Economic Development of the Third World 3 credit hours
HIST 3030 - Topics in African American History 3 credit hours
HIST 4760 - America Divided: Race, Class, and Gender 3 credit hours
PSY 4720 - Multicultural Perspectives in Psychology and Education 3 credit hours