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Interdisciplinary Concentration in African Diaspora Studies

Program Planners

Interdisciplinary concentrations in African World Studies focus on the history and culture of the African continent and of people of African descent throughout the world. Because of the enormous breadth of this subject African World Studies has three distinct concentrations: African Studies, Diaspora African Studies, and African American Studies.

The African Diaspora Studies Concentration explores the history and culture of persons of African descent living outside the African continent. The migration of Africans before the Arab or trans-Atlantic slave trade, and the experiences of those communities, is studied in concert with narratives of Asian, Middle Eastern, European, North and South American, and Caribbean communities that evolved since the 15 th Century. Particular attention is placed on the Diaspora’s African religious and socio-cultural retentions, resistance and liberation movements, and the interplay of issues of race, class, and gender. Similarities of worldwide stereotypic depictions of Africana people and corresponding constructions of identity that challenge the stereotypes are also examined.


Self-Designed Alternatives

The interdisciplinary concentration in African Diaspora Studies focuses on the history and culture of the African continent and of people of African descent throughout the world. Through careful advisement, using the self-designed option – or a combination of faculty-designed and self-designed, students may also complete additional emphases, including, but not limited to: Caribbean Studies, Francophone Studies, Africana Herstory, and/or Race, Justice and Equality.


Faculty Sponsors

Piper Kendrix-Williams (African-American Studies/English)


Courses and Requirements

The interdisciplinary concentration in African Diaspora Studies requires a total of six courses from the lists below plus one approved course in laboratory science and one in quantitative reasoning. Each emphasis requires some core courses plus others as specified. First Seminars may count toward completion of this concentration if their subject matter is appropriate. Students must consult with faculty sponsors to determine whether their first year seminars can be so applied, and to obtain written permission to do so. Courses listed in the following emphases do not have prerequisites unless specified.

Core Courses

Two of the following:

Arts and Humanities
  • AAS 335/Caribbean Women Writers (same as LIT 335)
  • AAS 377/African American Literature to 1920 (same as LIT 377)
  • AAS 378/African American Literature 1920-1980 (same as LIT 378)
Social Sciences and History
  • AAS 280/Women of African Descent in Global Perspective

History Courses

Two of the following:

  • AAS 179/African American History to 1865
  • AAS 180/African American History Since 1865
  • AAS 311/Great Lives in Caribbean History
  • HIS 153/Imagining Africa
  • HIS 356/State and Slavery in West Africa
  • HIS 357/Religion and Politics in Africa
  • HIS 351/Ancient and Medieval Africa
  • HIS 352/Colonial and Modern Africa
  • HIS 356/State and Slavery in West Africa

Arts or Humanities Courses

One of the following:

  • AAS 235/African-American Film
  • AAS 240/History of Jazz
  • AAS 251/Harlem Renaissance When in Vogue
  • AAS 280/Women of African Descent in Global Perspective
  • AAS 335/Caribbean Women Writers (same as LIT 335)
  • AAS 346/African Art History
  • JPW 321/AAS 321 Race, Gender, and the News
  • WGS 360/Literature by Latinas and Latin American Women

Social Science or History Courses

One of the following:

  • AAS 179/African American History to 1865
  • AAS 180/African American History Since 1865
  • AAS 3375/WGS 365/Black Feminist Thought (prerequisite: AAS 280/ WGS 260/Women of African Descent in Global Perspective)
  • AAS 373: Slavery and Black Womanhood
  • AAS 376/HIS 365/WGS 361/African American Women’s History
  • HIS 351/Ancient and Medieval Africa
  • HIS 352/Colonial and Modern Africa
  • HIS 354/South African History
  • HIS 355/East African History
  • HIS 356/State and Slavery in West Africa
  • HIS 357/Religion and Politics in Africa
Please note: The Liberal Learning Program has been renamed The College Core, and some of its components have also been renamed. Learn More
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