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Academic Program

Requirements for the Major in Africana Studies*

The major is designed to ensure that students are thoroughly exposed to the broad range of research and scholarship in Africana Studies, and to give them concentrated knowledge in one area of their choosing.

Africana Studies majors must complete at least 11 courses from the following list, and produce and present a senior exercise (thesis, project, or comprehensive examination). While six of these courses are expected to be at the upper-division level, credit will be given, where appropriate, to courses numbered lower than 100. Students elect to focus on one of the following areas of concentration: Arts, Humanities, or Social Sciences.

  • AFRI/AS10A&B: Introduction to Africana Studies; two courses. This is a two-semester course that should be completed by the end of the student’s sophomore year.
  • LITERATURE (African, African American, or Caribbean); one course.
  • HISTORY (African, African American, or Caribbean); one course.
  • SOCIAL SCIENCE (e.g., Anthropology; Economics, Politics, Psychology, or Sociology); one course from the list of approved Africana Studies courses.
  • ART HISTORY, MUSIC, PHILOSOPHY or RELIGION: one course from the list of approved Africana Studies courses.
  • FOUR (4) courses that represent Africa and its Diaspora in the student’s area of concentration within the major, e.g. Arts, Humanities, or Social Sciences.
  • SENIOR SEMINAR: Required of all majors; and 191 (thesis), 192 (project), or 193 (comprehensive exam).

Upon prior approval by the department Chair, substitutions in the major requirements can be made to respond to an individual student’s interests and needs.

Students majoring in Africana Studies are strongly encouraged to spend a semester or a year abroad, preferably in countries in Africa and the Caribbean or other nations with significant Black populations and culture (such as Brazil). In addition, the department strongly recommends that students take 4 semesters of a language spoken in the African Diaspora: Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish, or an African language.

Africana Studies Abroad

Students majoring in Africana Studies are strongly encouraged to spend a semester or a year abroad, preferably in countries in Africa and the Caribbean or other nations with significant Black populations and culture (such as Brazil). In addition, the department strongly recommends that students take 4 semesters of a language spoken in the African Diaspora: Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish, or an African language.

Pomona College, Pitzer College, Claremont McKenna College, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College

Requirements for a Minor in Africana Studies*

For the Africana Studies Minor, students are required to complete seven courses in Africana Studies, two of which must be the two-semester AFRI 010A AF, AFRI 010B AF sequence and four other courses that represent at least three disciplines.


*Catalog information provided for reference, please visit your institution’s course catalog. Pomona College, Pitzer College, Claremont McKenna College, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College