Africana Studies

The Africana Studies Department offers both a Bachelor of Arts degree and a minor. The discipline of Africana Studies provides students with the experiences of challenging traditional thoughts and practices, and also gives them an opportunity to explore new and alternative paradigms and theories. It not only prepares students to understand the world in which they live, but to see where the world is wanting and to have the ability and the desire to make it better.

In studying Africana Studies, students are able to learn about critique, and be inspired by the accomplishments of Africans and African Americans who shaped and are shaping the moral conscience, artistic genius, scientific and technical achievements, and political activism of their time.  Students use the Black community as a classroom where lessons can be learned and taught.

Degree Options

Core Requirements: 9 Core Course Units + 9 Elective Units = 18 Total Units for Africana Studies Minor

Select one course from each category A, B, and C. Additional courses completed in categories B and C count as electives. Electives may be chosen from any Africana studies course. Seek advising from faculty and/or department chair.

The Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies includes thirty units of core courses and nine units of elective courses from an areas of emphasis, for a total of 39 units.  

The University Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) is satisfied in the Africana Studies major with the ETHS 300 GW "Writing in Ethnic Studies - GWAR" course. Double majors must check with Department chairs and faculty advisors concerning GWAR requirement for degree completion. The writing requirement units are not included in total units for the major.

Ask your advising faculty and the department chair about any possibility of substitutions or the status of transferred courses. Remember that community colleges do not offer "upper-division" courses, or courses numbered 300 and above.