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Major/Minor Requirements

For complete information on requirements, please visit the Undergraduate Bulletin

 

 

Required Courses for the Major and Minor

The specific content of these courses is described in the course description section of The Undergraduate Bulletin.

 

• AAS 1296. Introduction to African American Studies (3 credits)
  An introduction to the field. The history, philosophic and pedagogical basis, methodology, and relevance of African American Studies within a liberal arts education.
• AAS 2201. African Civilization (3 credits)
  A survey of Africa’s contributions to world history and civilization from 5000 B.C. to 1800 A.D. An intensive analysis of the major issues in African civilization.
• 2255. Introduction to Research Methods (3 credits)
  Prerequisite: African American Studies 1296
  Introduction to basic research methods and methodological issues in African American Studies. Course covers methods of social research, research conceptualization and design using various methods, instrument development, data collection, and introduces basic data analysis concepts and operations.
  Note: Offered during Fall semester only. Students should complete AF-AM S 4096 in the Spring immediately after this course.
• AAS 3215. Languages and Cultures of West Africa (3 credits)
  Prerequisite: AF-AM S 2201: African Civilization, prior familiarity with African societies, and/or permission of the instructor.
  This course is an introduction to the indigenous languages and cultures of West African peoples. Aspects of their geographical locations, history, social organization, worldview, values, customs, oral traditions, and communities will be discussed. A review of the impact of major historical events on these languages, and on their speakers’ life styles, identity, and customs will be undertaken. The role of these languages in the development of African and African-Caribbean languages and cultures will also be examined. In the latter part of the course, students will be introduced to the basic structure of these languages, and will be taught how to read, write, and speak some phrases in each language. The course will focus on location, worldview, history and culture as contexts for the three major languages chosen from Akan, Bamanankan (Bambara/Mande/Mandinka/Mandingo), Ewe, Fulfude (Fulani), Ga, Hausa, Wolof, and Yoruba. This is not a languages course per se, but a course about the relationship between culture, customs, and language.
• 3268. Critical Readings in African American History (3 credits)
  Using primary source material and with special attention to the United States, students will examine the African experience in the Americas from the 14th century to the present. Movements, periods, events and people that represent major social, economic and political African American thought will be surveyed.
• 4096. Senior Seminar (3 credits) (required for Majors only)
  Prerequisite: AF-AM S 2255: Introduction to Research Methods.
  A senior level course designed to provide majors with a culminating experience in which they must demonstrate mastery of the theories, concepts, and issues central to the field of African American studies. Course stresses the demonstration of knowledge through students’ participation in a variety of practical/experiential assignments. In addition, students must work in small groups to complete, write up and publicly present the social research project designed in AF-AM S 2255: Intro to Research Methods, and must submit a portfolio demonstrating skills and containing assignments relevant to demands young professionals commonly encounter in post-baccalaureate life.
  Note: Capstone course for majors. Offered in Spring only.

Recommended order of completion of AAS Core:

1. AAS 1296
2. AAS 2201
3. AAS 3215 
4. AAS 3268
5. AAS 2255
6. AAS 4096 (should be last in sequence)

 

Students are again reminded that having finished the required courses is not evidence that you have finished the necessary courses. Your advisor may recommend additional courses.

A note about the AAS Core and AAS 2255: Introduction to Research Methods
AAS 2255 (Research Methods) is offered during fall semester only, so please plan accordingly. Although AAS 2255 (Methods) is the second highest level course in the major, do not wait until your last year to take this course; the skills you will learn in AAS 2255 can be very helpful in other courses that require ability to specify a problem and to write or conduct empirical research.

 

Double majors/minors be advised: Your other major or your minor may require methods courses; these courses will not be accepted as replacements for AAS 2255. The philosophical basis and historical bases for this course are significantly different from those of other methods courses that you will encounter. Thus, please note that you must complete AAS 2255 in order satisfy requirements for the AAS major or minor.

 

Elective Courses for the Major
Have a strategic plan for selecting electives.

In addition to the five required major courses named above, the major in African American Studies requires four (4) electives.  Of the four electives, students must choose at least TWO Cultural Aesthetic courses (AAS 1124, 1125, 1152, 1158, 1165, 1252, 2131, 2134, 2208, 2934, 3176, 3271, 4115, and 4146--at least one of these must be literature-based), plus at least TWO Socio-Behavioral courses (AAS 1253, 1271, 2151, 2211, 2218, 2248, 2251, 3257, 3296, 4221, 4248, and 4389).

 

Approval of External Courses for the AAS Major

Although DAAS does not accept external courses for any of the five AAS major core requirements, persons declaring an AAS major before or during Spring 2000 are allowed to complete two of the three above-100 major electives from other departments that devote courses to African American issues. Please remember that any outside courses you wish to count as part of the major elective requirements must be deliberately focused on persons of African descent.[3]Therefore, before enrolling for AAS credit, type a letter to your DAAS group-interest advisor stating your wish to take the external course to satisfy one of your three upper level electives for your AAS major; take this letter and a copy of the most current syllabus for the course to your group interest advisor. If she or he approves, he or she should initial and date your letter; bring your now-initialed letter to the Undergraduate Director, who must also sign this approval before it is official for AAS credit. Again, do this prior to your enrollment in the course so that you do not put yourself in the precarious position of hoping for AAS credit after you have taken the outside course.

The external course allowance will be reduced to one upper level course after Spring 2000. Thus, students who declare the AAS major after Spring 2000 will be required to complete all major electives, except one, within the Department of African-Americans Studies.

 

The Minor in African American Studies
Please read all the requirements for the major as listed above. In addition to the five major core courses listed under the AAS major, minors must take two (2) additional courses, one of which must be above the 2000-level.

Make these selections based on the content areas in which you desire greater familiarity (e.g., AAS literature, AAS social issues, AAS psychology, etc.). One of these two upper-level courses may be an AAS-related course outside the department; however, students must seek written approval from the AAS undergraduate director prior to enrolling in outside courses that they want to apply toward the AAS minor. Students must earn a grade of B or higher in external courses that they wish to apply toward the AAS minor.

 

Senior Capstone Seminar (AAS 4098)
The Senior Capstone Seminar is intended to provide a culminating, summary experience for AAS majors. In this seminar, majors are required to produce a portfolio of original documents that draws upon the knowledge content and skills processes that they have learned throughout their education within the University in general and department in specific. Students will complete a variety of writing assignments similar to those that would be required in the working world; students will develop several resumes, a professional portfolio of their writings and projects, complete a major project relevant to the type of positions they will seek, and participate in a "job interview" complete with a "job talk" -- a formal oral presentation. At this writing (May 1999) AAS 4098 is offered during the spring semester only. Thus, students should register for this course during the spring of their senior year, preferably after all other major requirements are completed. 

As of September 2003, all students who declare a major in African American Studies must complete AAS 4098 Senior Seminar.  Students who officially declared African American Studies as their second major before Fall 2003 are not required to complete AAS 4098 Senior Seminar unless they do not have a senior seminar in their first majors.  Students who have AAS as a sole or first major must complete AAS 4098 Senior Seminar regardless of when they declared the major.