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
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)