Academic Program – B.A. in African American Studies
African American Studies majors choose one of the three specializations, and complete coursework according to the list below.
- African and African American History
- African and African American Political & Social Institutions
- African and African American Culture
African and African American History
I. Basic Core (both courses)
• African American Experience I
• African American Experience II
II. Area of Specialization (11 courses, with at least 4 upper-division courses in student’s emphasis area and 4 courses from one or both of the other emphasis areas)
• Introduction to African History
• Experiences of Black Mississippians
• African American History to 1865
• African American History since 1865
• Topics in AAS History
• African American Women’s History
• History of Mass Incarceration in the US
• Modern Africa
• History of Southern Africa
• The Rise and Fall of American Slavery
• History of African Americans in Sports
• The New Negro Era
• The Civil Rights Era
• African American Studies Directed Study
• African American Studies Seminar
• Historiography of African American History
III. African American Studies Senior Seminar (1 course)
African and African American Political & Social Institutions
I. Basic Core (both courses)
• African American Experience I
• African American Experience II
II. Areas of Specialization (11 courses, with at least 4 upper-division courses in student’s emphasis area and 4 courses from one or both of the other emphasis areas)
• Judicial System and the African American Experience
• Politics of Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
• Politics of Sub-Saharan Africa
• The African Diaspora
• African American Politics
• African American Feminist Thought
• Topics in AAS Pol & Social Institutions
• Race and Ethnicity
• Race, Place & Space
• Black Women’s Enterprise & Activism
• Research in African American Studies
III. African American Studies Senior Seminar (1 course)
African and African American Culture
I. Basic Core (both courses)
• African American Experience I
• African American Experience II
II. Area of Specialization (11 courses, with at least 4 upper-division courses in student’s emphasis area and 4 courses from one or both of the other emphasis areas)
• Introduction to Field Work Techniques
• Anthropology of Blues Culture
• African American Literary Tradition I
• African American Literary Tradition II
• African American Science Fiction Lit
• Topics in AAS Culture
• Topics in African American Studies Abroad
• African Literature
• Caribbean Literature
• African and African American Arts
• Survey of Black American Art
• Studies in Black Popular Culture
• Major African American Writers
• Readings in U.S. Black Feminism
• Prison and the Literary Imagination
• Comparative Black Literatures
• African American Musical Tradition
• History of Jazz
• African American Literature
III. African American Studies Senior Seminar (1 course)