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.
Option B 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 Option B mechanism-or a combination of Options A and B, students may also complete additional emphases, including, but not limited to: Caribbean Studies, Francophone Studies, Africana Herstory, and/or Race, Justice and Equality.
See the Option B explanation at http:www.tcnj.edu/~liberal/define.html
Faculty Sponsors
Christopher Fisher (African-American Studies/History), Piper Kendrix-Williams (African-American Studies/English), Moussa Sow (Modern Languages/African-American Studies), Kim Pearson (Interactive Multimedia/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 179/African and Diaspora Religions
- AAS 335/Caribbean Women Writers (same as LIT 335)
Social Sciences and History
- AAS 280/Africana Women in Historical Perspective
History Courses
Two of the following:
- AAS 205/African American History to 1865
- AAS 206/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 201/African and Diaspora Religions
- AAS 235/African American Film
- AAS 240/History of Jazz
- AAS 251/Harlem Renaissance
- AAS 280/Africana Women in Historical Perspective
- AAS 335/Caribbean Women Writers (same as LIT 335)
- AAS 346/African Art History
- AAS 365/African Cinema: Francophone African Experience through Film
- AAS 428/Writings of WEB DuBois
- 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 375/WGS 365/Womanist Thought (prerequisite: AAS 280/ WGS 260/Women of African Descent in Global Perspective, or WGS 375/Global Feminisms)
- 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