BA in Africana Studies
GW’s interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies explores global Black experiences, thought and expression. Students study major themes in Black Studies, such as Pan-Africanism, Black women’s internationalism and the African Diaspora. The major's two course core introduces students to the theoretical frameworks, research methods and scholarship of the discipline of Africana Studies. It also grounds majors in the Black Radical Tradition (BRT), which is an exciting intellectual paradigm that threads together Black resistances to slavery, colonialism and racial capitalism across the African Diaspora’s Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean worlds.
Students learn about the global intersections between race, gender, class and space by fulfilling African Diaspora and Women and Gender requirements. They also fulfill a culminating experience/capstone elective that will demonstrate their mastery of a key theme of Africana Studies. This can occur through a research paper, internship, independent study, study abroad or a project that engages the concepts and curricular goals of the major.
Electives
The program’s electives span two distinct but overlapping concentrations: Black Epistemologies and Black Ontologies.
Black Epistemologies is centered on Black ways of knowing through culture, identity and expression.
Black Ontologies refers to Black material experiences and highlights Black narratives, structures and politics.
Students explore both concentrations by choosing courses drawn from an extensive list of offerings taught by Africana faculty affiliates across departments and programs like History, Anthropology, American Studies, Art, Sociology, English, Music and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. This allows students to benefit from the expanding list of classes on the Black experience that GW has to offer.
Program Pillars
The Black Radical Tradition
How do we study the collective consciousness of global Black freedom struggles?
Black Epistemologies
How have Black communities perceived themselves and the world?
Black Ontologies
How do Black communities materially experience the world?
Course Requirements
Completion of 39 credits in courses for the major, with 9 credits taken at the 2000 level or above. These include major core, African Diaspora, women/gender, major concentration, and general elective requirements. Students must take three courses from each major concentration of Black epistemologies: culture, identity, and expression and Black ontologies: narratives, structures, and politics.
At least one Writing in the Discipline (WID) course and one University General Education/GPAC course that has an approved oral communication component must be taken as part of the major curriculum.
No course can be counted toward more than one requirement.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required for the major | ||
| Core courses | ||
| AFST 1001 | Introduction to Africana Studies | |
| AFST 2001 | The Black Radical Tradition | |
| African Diaspora requirements | ||
| A total of 9 credits, with one 3-credit course centered on the history, culture, and politics in each of three geographic areas of the Black world: Africa America; Africa; and Caribbean/Latin American/wider diasporas. | ||
| Africa America | ||
| One 3-credit course selected from the following: | ||
| AMST 2011 | Modern American Cultural History | |
| AMST 3950W | Special Topics | |
| AMST 4702W | Race, Medicine, and Public Health | |
| CMUS 2110 | History, Culture, and Aesthetics of Hip Hop Music | |
| CMUS 2123 | Musical Cultures of African Americans | |
| HIST 3360 | African American History to 1865 | |
| HIST 3361 | African American History Since 1865 | |
| HIST 3362W | African American Women’s History | |
| ENGL 2610W | Introduction to Black Literature of America I | |
| ENGL 2611W | Introduction to Black Literature of America II | |
| PSC 2221 | African American Politics (Africa) | |
| Africa | ||
| One 3-credit course selected from the following: | ||
| ANTH 3708 | Anthropology of Africa | |
| ANTH 3801W | African Roots from Australopithecus to Zimbabwe | |
| CAH 2001 | Special Topics | |
| CAH 4169 | Seminar in Contemporary Art | |
| GEOG 3154 | Geography of the Middle East and North Africa | |
| GEOG 3164 | The Geography of Africa | |
| IAFF 2190W | Special Topics (North Africa and the World) | |
| IAFF 3189 | Special Topics in African Studies | |
| IAFF 3904 | The Middle East Since 1945: A History of the Present | |
| PSC 2482 | African International Politics | |
| WGSS 3530W | Women in Africa | |
| Caribbean/Latin America/wider diaspora | ||
| One 3-credit course selected from the following: | ||
| AFST 2002 | Black Internationalism | |
| ANTH 2750W | Latinos in the United States | |
| ANTH 3702 | Anthropology of Latin America | |
| ANTH 3791 | Topics in Regional Anthropology (Anthropology of the Caribbean) | |
| ANTH 3891 | Special Topics in Archaeology (The Black Atlantic) | |
| ENGL 2711 | Postcolonialism and Migration in Global Anglophone Literature and Film | |
| ENGL 3570 | Nineteenth-Century Black Literature | |
| HIST 2520 | Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World | |
| IAFF 3210W | Migration, Gender, and International Development | |
| SPAN 3430 | Afro-Latin America in the Diaspora | |
| WGSS 3890W | Black Women in the Twenty-First Century | |
| Women and gender course requirement | ||
| One 3-credit course selected from the following: | ||
| AMST 1160 | Race, Gender, and Law | |
| ENGL 3940 | Topics in African American Literary Studies | |
| HIST 3362W | African American Women’s History | |
| IAFF 3210W | Migration, Gender, and International Development | |
| SOC 1000 | Dean's Seminar (Sociology of Race, Class, and Gender) | |
| SOC 2189 | Special Topics in Criminal Justice (Black Feminist Perspectives ) | |
| WGSS 3170 | Topics in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | |
| WGSS 3481 | Women in Islam | |
| WGSS 3890W | Black Women in the Twenty-First Century | |
| Major concentration electives | ||
| Black Epistemologies | ||
| 9 credits (3 courses) selected from the following: | ||
| ANTH 3702 | Anthropology of Latin America | |
| ANTH 3708 | Anthropology of Africa | |
| ANTH 3791 | Topics in Regional Anthropology (Anthropology of the Caribbean ) | |
| ANTH 3801W | African Roots from Australopithecus to Zimbabwe | |
| AMST 3950W | Special Topics (US Black Radicalism) | |
| CAH 2001 | Special Topics (Introduction to the Arts of Africa) | |
| CAH 4169 | Seminar in Contemporary Art (Restitution, African Art & Museum) | |
| CMUS 2110 | History, Culture, and Aesthetics of Hip Hop Music | |
| CMUS 2123 | Musical Cultures of African Americans | |
| CTAD 4592 | Special Topics in Theatre Studies (History of African American Theatre) | |
| ENGL 2610W | Introduction to Black Literature of America I | |
| ENGL 2611W | Introduction to Black Literature of America II | |
| ENGL 2711 | Postcolonialism and Migration in Global Anglophone Literature and Film | |
| ENGL 3570 | Nineteenth-Century Black Literature | |
| ENGL 3940 | Topics in African American Literary Studies | |
| ENGL 3950 | Cultural Theory and Black Studies | |
| FILM 2153 | History of World Cinema I | |
| FILM 2154 | History of World Cinema II | |
| FREN 3560 | Topics in Contemporary Francophone Literature and Cinema | |
| IAFF 2093 | Africa: Problems and Prospects | |
| IAFF 3188 | Special Topics in Middle East Studies (Anthropology of Islam) | |
| IAFF 3189 | Special Topics in African Studies | |
| SOC 1000 | Dean's Seminar (Sociology of Race, Class, and Gender) | |
| SOC 2152 | Media, Power, and Politics | |
| SOC 2173 | Social Movements | |
| SOC 2189 | Special Topics in Criminal Justice (Black Feminist Perspectives) | |
| WGSS 3170 | Topics in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | |
| WGSS 3481 | Women in Islam | |
| WGSS 3890W | Black Women in the Twenty-First Century | |
| Black ontologies | ||
| 9 credits (3 courses) selected from the following: | ||
| AFST 2002 | Black Internationalism | |
| ANTH 2750W | Latinos in the United States | |
| ANTH 3891 | Special Topics in Archaeology (The Black Atlantic) | |
| ANTH 3991 | Special Topics (Race and Policing) | |
| AMST 1000 | Dean's Seminar (Zombie Capitalism) | |
| AMST 1160 | Race, Gender, and Law | |
| AMST 2011 | Modern American Cultural History | |
| AMST 2020W | Washington, DC: History, Culture, and Politics | |
| AMST 4702W | Race, Medicine, and Public Health | |
| GEOG 3154 | Geography of the Middle East and North Africa | |
| GEOG 3161 | Geography of Latin America | |
| GEOG 3164 | The Geography of Africa | |
| HIST 3360 | African American History to 1865 | |
| HIST 3361 | African American History Since 1865 | |
| HIST 3362W | African American Women’s History | |
| HIST 3520 | Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World | |
| HIST 3710 | History of Latin America I | |
| HIST 3711 | History of Latin America II | |
| HSCI 2050 | Foundations of Health Equity | |
| IAFF 2190W | Special Topics (North Africa and the World) | |
| IAFF 3210W | Migration, Gender, and International Development | |
| IAFF 3904 | The Middle East Since 1945: A History of the Present | |
| PSC 2221 | African American Politics | |
| PSC 2482 | African International Politics | |
| SOC 2169 | Urban Sociology | |
| SOC 2170 | Class and Inequality in American Society | |
| SOC 2172 | Institutional Racism: Policies and Prescriptions | |
| SOC 2179 | Race and Minority Relations | |
| SPAN 3430 | Afro-Latin America in the Diaspora | |
| WGSS 3530W | Women in Africa | |
| Culminating experience/capstone | ||
| One course (3-credits) for a culminating experience/capstone: | ||
| AFST 3001 | Documenting Black Lives | |
| AFST 3002 | Capstone Project in Africana Studies | |
| AFST 4001 | Independent Study in Africana Studies | |
| CCAS 2154 | Elective Internship | |