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Undergraduate Program

African, African-American and Caribbean thinkers have played a major role in defining the critical issues of our time, just as the culture of Africans and their descendants has transformed the cultures of the Americas and the world. A major or minor in African and Afro-American studies allows you to explore intellectual, cultural, economic, religious, social and historical issues related to Africans and people of African descent.

Courses are drawn from, and use the methods of, several disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. You will develop the analytical tools to read different kinds of texts, to write persuasively, and to participate knowledgeably in debates about developments in Africa, as well as the United States and the rest of the Americas.

Requirements for the Major

The major requires nine courses drawn from department and cross-listed offerings:

A) One of the nine courses must be AAAS 5a (Introduction to African and Afro-American Studies)

B) At least one course must be taken in each of the following areas: history, arts and social sciences.

C) At least four courses within one field of specialization listed below (the four courses towards a specialization may not be double counted with courses used to fulfill other requirements for the major).

1. History: AAAS 18b, AAAS 70a, AAAS 85a, AAAS 115a, AAAS 156a, AMST 40a, HIST 115a, HIST 116a, HIST 153b
2. Arts: AAAS 79b, AAAS 132b, AAAS 133b, AAAS 134b, COML 166b, COML 168a, ENG 16a, ENG 57b, ENG 87a, ENG 107a, ENG 127b, ENG 136a, ENG 138a, ENG 167b, ENG 197b, FREN 164a, FREN 165b, REL 121a
3. Social Sciences: AAAS 60a, AAAS 80a, AAAS 82a, AAAS 100b, AAAS 117a, AAAS 123a, AAAS 125b, AAAS 126b, AAAS 146a, AAAS 158a, AAAS 163b, AAAS 175a, ECON 69a, ED 170a, HS 120a, HS 515a, HSSP 114b, POL 124b, POL 140a
4. Africa: AAAS 18b, AAAS 85a, AAAS 100b, AAAS 115a, AAAS 117a, AAAS 122a, AAAS 146a, AAAS 163b, COML 166b, COML 168a, FREN 165b, HIST 115a, POL 140a
5. African-American or the Americas: AAAS 70a, AAAS 79b, AAAS 82a, AAAS 114b, AAAS 125b, AAAS 133b, AAAS 134b, AAAS 156a, AMST 40a, COML 166b, COML 168a, ECON 69a, ED 170a, ENG 16a, ENG 57b, ENG 87a, ENG 107a, ENG 127b, ENG 136a, ENG 138a, ENG 167b, ENG 197b, FREN 164a, HIST 115a, HIST 153b, HS 120a, HS 515a, HSSP 114b, POL 124a

D) One additional elective which may be taken from those listed in letter C or from the following: senior essay, senior thesis or independent study. 

E) Five of the nine required courses must be AAAS-designated. No course with a final grade below C can count toward the major. 

F) One approved study abroad course per semester may count as an elective. 

G) Candidates for departmental honors must satisfactorily complete AAAS 99d (Senior Research). 

Requirements for the Minor

The minor requires five courses:

A) AAAS 5a (Introduction to African and Afro-American Studies). 

B) AAAS 70a (Introduction to Afro-American History), AAAS 79b (Afro-American Literature of the Twentieth Century), AAAS 115a (Introduction to African History) or AAAS 133b (The Literature of the Caribbean).

C) Three other courses offered in the department.

Students are required to declare the minor in AAAS no later than the beginning of their senior year. Each student will be assigned a departmental adviser by the undergraduate advising head.

Learning Goals and Outcomes

The African and Afro-American Studies Department is multidisciplinary with some of its faculty holding joint appointments in other departments.  The department brings together scholars and scholarship from various disciplines to explore the cultures, histories and societies of African and African descended people.  The department's offerings range across the traditional fields of anthropology, economics, history, literature, music, politics, etc.

The field of African and Afro-American Studies is not only multidisciplinary, but also interdisciplinary, comparative and cross-cultural.  The disciplines are integrated by certain themes that underscore the uniqueness of the department.

First, the AAAS subject matter focuses on African peoples and their cultures and those peoples of the American, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa who are descendents of Africans.  Second, the AAAS department's courses offer a non-western comparative and a non-racial approach to the interpretations and understandings of the experiences of African peoples of the wider world social, economic, and political systems.  Third, the AAAS courses broadens the scope and range of traditional disciplines and offer general education courses in which the knowledge of the presence, roles, and cultural contributions and experiences of African peoples and their descendants have been omitted or neglected.

The AAAS variety of course offerings affirms the intellectual importance of research and scholarship of the contribution of peoples of African descent globally.  In sharing the University's commitment to academic excellence, the AAAS department provides students with the requisite tools to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate events and phenomena that structure the experiences and possibilities of Africans in the continent of Africa and its Diaspora

Knowledge:

Students completing a major in African and Afro-American Studies will come away with a strong understanding of:

1. History of the diversity of African peoples worldwide and their struggles for social, political, and economic empowerment.
2. Contributions of Africans in Africa and the diaspora in the development of the cultural, social political and global interdependence.
3. Think critically about arguments based on critical analysis and evaluation of evidence.
4. Major questions, concepts, theories, ethical and research methodologies used in interdisciplinary comparative, and cross-cultural studies

Skills:

A major in African and Afro-American Studies emphasizes core skills in data collection, critical thinking and communication.  AAAS majors will be trained and prepared to:

1. Conduct scholarly, professional and original research applying interdisciplinary, comparative and cross-cultural research methodologies.
2. Students will be able to synthesize, as well as articulate orally and in writing, a coherent narrative about the history, religions, cultures, and societies in the continent of Africa and the Africa diaspora.
3. Students will be able to situate texts, documents, traditions, ideas, artistic productions and relevant data in their contexts.
4. Evaluate information critically with particular attention to examining and analyzing new areas of research in Africa and the African diaspora.

Social Justice:

The African and Afro-American Studies curriculum provides students with knowledge and perspectives necessary to participate as informed citizens in the global community.  AAAS courses incorporate a multifaceted approach to social justices.  These courses strive to simultaneously promote human development and the common good through addressing challenges related to both individual and distribute justice.  This approach allows for the empowerment of individuals and groups as well as active confrontation of injustice and inequality in society, both as they impact clientele and in their systemic contexts.  The social justice courses include discussions of four critical principles that guide their work:  equity, access, participation, and harmony.

1. From this perspective, equity is the fair distribution of resources, rights and responsibilities to all members of society.
2. Access is key to a socially just world.  It includes notions of fairness for both the individual and the common good based on the ability of all people to access the resources, services, power, information, and understanding crucial to realizing a standard of living that allows for self-determination and human development.
3. Participation is also crucial to a socially just world.  This principle describes the right of every person in society to partake in and be consulted on decisions that impact their lives as well as the lives of other people in their contexts and systems.
4. The final element of social justice is harmony.  This is a principle of social adjustment wherein the actions revolving around the self-interests of any individual or group ultimately produces results that afford the best possible outcomes for the community as a whole.

The AAAS curriculum fosters an open climate for a consideration of a full range of discussion of injustice, economic inequities, social, political, and religious oppression in Africa and the African diaspora.  The courses address issues that deal with international political economy, poverty, alienation, oppression, exploitation, and economic and political empowerment of the marginalized throughout the world.

Career Opportunities

During their time here, some of our majors pursue study-abroad opportunities in Africa and the Caribbean. Some are involved in internships in the Boston area.  A Brandeis student with a major in African and Afro-American Studies will be prepared to

1. Pursue graduate study and a scholarly career in African and Afro-American Studies or in any of the disciplines represented in the department.
2. Pursue professional training in a variety of careers including healthcare, social work, government, international organizations, business, journalism, law, education, entertainment, and non-profit organizations in and outside the United States of America.

After they graduate, our majors go on to work in public policy, social activism, teaching (at all levels), law, administration, the arts and many other fields.