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African and African-American Studies
Program Adviser: Ralph Austen, P 214, 702-8344
Program Coordinating Committee: Andrew Apter, Chairman, H 318,
702-7735; Ralph Austen, P 214, 702-8344; Edgar G. Epps, J 328,
702-1578; Kenneth Warren, Cochairman, G-B 429, 702-9761
Program Office: P 226, 702-0902
Program of Study
The Bachelor of Arts concentration in African and African-American Studies
provides a context in which College students might examine African and African-American
cultures and communities from a rigorous, interdisciplinary perspective.
Its intellectual justification lies in the direction taken by African and
African-American studies over the past few years, which has been characterized
by a growing insistence on the integrity and coherence of the links--historical,
sociocultural, and experiential--between Africa and its diasporas.
Program Requirements
The concentration requires a B.A. thesis and eleven courses distributed
according to the following guidelines:
1. Six basic courses dealing with African and African-American materials.
These must include the three-quarter African civilization sequence and a
combination of three courses in African or African-American subjects approved
by the Program Coordinating Committee. Since the African civilization sequence
will be used to fulfill a program requirement, students should take another
civilization sequence to satisfy their Common Core requirement. The remaining
three courses are to be selected from other offerings listed by the committee
in any year.
2. Three courses in the social sciences and/or the humanities relevant to
African and African-American studies. The courses require approval by the
Program Coordinating Committee and should contribute to the overall coherence
and integrity of a student's program of study. Courses in a language such
as Portuguese, Arabic, French, or Swahili may be used to satisfy this requirement.
Students may also learn an African language such as Zulu under the auspices
of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, through which the necessary
arrangements can be made. The Common Core language requirement must still
be satisfied.
3. Two reading courses, taken during the student's final year, to prepare
a B.A. thesis. Students will be required to write the B.A. thesis under
the supervision of a faculty member approved by the Program Coordinating
Committee. The committee must approve the proposed paper topic by the end
of the autumn quarter of the final year.
It is expected that the Common Core requirements in the social sciences
will be completed before a student enters the program. A student who has
not done so should complete them during the first year of the program.
Each student in the program will have an adviser who is a member of the
program faculty, listed below, or a lecturer appointed for his or her special
knowledge of African or African-American subjects.
Summary of Requirements
Concentration
3 SocSci 225-226-227 (Introduction to African Civilization I, II, III)
3 approved African or African-American courses
3 relevant courses in the social sciences and/or humanities
2 reading courses
- B.A. thesis
11
Honors. The B.A. with honors is awarded to all students who meet the
following requirements: a grade point average of at least 3.0 overall and
3.25 in the concentration, and a grade of A- or above on the thesis.
Faculty
ELIZABETH ALEXANDER, Assistant Professor, Department of English
ANDREW H. APTER, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology and the
College; Chairman, Committee on African & African-American Studies
RALPH A. AUSTEN, Professor, Department of History, Committee on African
& African-American Studies, and the College
LAUREN BERLANT, Associate Professor, Department of English
JAMES E. BOWMAN, M.D., Professor Emeritus, Departments of Pathology and
Medicine, Committees on Genetics and African & African-American Studies,
and the College
JEAN COMAROFF, Bernard E. and Ellen C. Sunny Distinguisihed Service Professor,
Department of Anthropology; Committee on Human Nutrition & Nutritional
Biology, Morris Fishbein Center for the History of Science & Medicine,
and the College; Committee on African & African-American Studies; Chairman,
Department of Anthropology
JOHN L. COMAROFF, Harold H. Swift Distinguished Service Professor, Departments
of Anthropology and Sociology and the College, Committee on African &
African-American Studies
MICHAEL DAWSON, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Committee
on African & African-American Studies, and the College
EDGAR G. EPPS, Marshall Field Professor, Department of Education; Cochairman,
Committee on African & African-American Studies
JOHN A. GOLDSMITH, Professor, Department of Linguistics
GENE B. GRAGG, Professor, Departments of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations
and Linguistics, Oriental Institute, and the College
WENDY GRISWOLD, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Committee
on the History of Culture, and the College
THOMAS HOLT, Professor, Department of History and the College
LOREN KRUGER, Associate Professor, Department of English Language &
Literature and the College
DAVID LAITIN, Professor, Department of Political Science and the College;
Director, Center for the Study of Politics, History, and Culture
DONALD N. LEVINE, Peter B. Ritzma Professor, Department of Sociology and
the College
INGRID MONSON, Assistant Professor, Department of Music
SALIKOKO S. MUFWENE, Professor, Department of Linguistics; Chairman, Department
of Linguistics
DOLORES G. NORTON, Professor, School of Social Service Administration
JULIE SAVILLE, Associate Professor, Department of History and the College
DAVID SCOTT, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology and the College
RONALD SINGER, Robert R. Bensley Professor, Departments of Organismal Biology
& Anatomy and Anthropology and Committees on Evolutionary Biology and
African & African-American Studies
RAYMOND T. SMITH, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology
KENNETH WARREN, Associate Professor, Department of English Language &
Literature and the College; Cochairman, Committee on African & African-American
Studies
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