Africana Studies
The minor in Africana studies broadens students' world perspectives by enhancing their acquaintance with and understanding of the peoples, issues of identities and institutions of Africa as well as the African Diaspora. The Africana program engages cross disciplinary approaches to understand and to encounter Africa and the African Diaspora in a global context. The cross disciplinary character of the program is further enhanced by the fact that courses taken to fulfill program requirements are drawn from several departments. From these course offerings, students will examine and engage with some of Africana studies major contributing disciplines, concepts, methods and topics including the development of new identities.
The minor program in Africana studies is open to all undergraduate students at JMU. Courses taken to complete the Africana studies minor can also be used to satisfy the student's major, as well as General Education requirements.
The Africana studies minor requires:
- successful completion of 22 credit hours according to the requirements listed below.
- no more than 12 hours from a single discipline.
| Required Courses | Credit Hours |
| GAFST 200. Introduction to Africana Studies | 3 |
| AFST 489. Senior Research Experience 2 | 1 |
| Choose one from each of the following options: | 6 |
| Option I: Africa | |
| HIST 263. Introduction to African History | |
| ANTH 280. Peoples and Cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa | |
| Option II: African Descendants in the New World | |
| HIST 355. Afro-American History to 1865 | |
| HIST 356. Afro-American History Since 1865 | |
| ANTH/HIST 436. Afro-Latin America | |
| Choose four or more of the following courses, at least one of which must be at the 400-level. | 12 |
| ANTH 391. Study Abroad (must be in Africa or in Diaspora) 1, 3 | |
| ANTH 395. Special Topics 1, 3 | |
| ARTH 210/GHUM 252. African Experience | |
| ARTH 310. African Art: The Sahara and Northern Sahel | |
| ARTH 312. Sub-Saharan | |
| ARTH 418. Modern and Contemporary African Art | |
| ARTH 419. Topics in African Art | |
| ARTH 424. Arts of Ancient Egypt | |
| ARTH/AFST 488. African American Art | |
| ARTH 489. Topics in Art History | |
| ENG 358. Oral Literature 1, 3 | |
| ENG 361. African-American Fiction Writers | |
| ENG 362. African-American Poets | |
| ENG 412. Special Topics Seminar 1 | |
| ENG 431. Studies in Caribbean Literature | |
| ENG 432. Studies in African Literature | |
| GENG 260. Survey of African-American Literature | |
| GEOG 335. Geography of Africa | |
| GEOG 339. Geography of the Caribbean | |
| HUM 252. Cross-Cultural Perspective: African Culture in the Humanities 1, 3 | |
| HIST 263. Introduction to African History | |
| HIST 307. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade | |
| HIST 341. Selected Topics in World History (when appropriate) | |
| HIST 355. Afro-American History to 1865 | |
| HIST 356. Afro-American History Since 1865 | |
| HIST 361/HON 200J. Class and Ethnicity in Africa | |
| HIST 391. Study Abroad (must be in Africa or in Diaspora) 1, 3 | |
| HIST/ANTH 436. Afro-Latin America | |
| HIST 439. Selected Topics in American History 1, 3 | |
| HIST 470. Modern Africa | |
| HIST 489. Selected Topics in World History 2, 3 | |
| MUS 356. History of Jazz in America | |
| POSC 326. Civil Rights | |
| POSC 353. African Politics | |
| POSC 361. Contemporary Problems in International Affairs 1, 3 | |
| REL 330. African and African-American Religion | |
| SOCI 336. Race and Ethnic Relations | |
| SOCI 354. Social and Cultural Stratification | |
| SOCI 378. Introduction to Africa-Centered Critical Theory | |
| SOCI 379. Africentric Social Thought | |
| SOCI 391. Study Abroad (must be in Africa or in Diaspora) 1,3 | |
| SWA 102. Elementary Kiswahili | |
| 22 | |
1 Course topic and content must focus on Africa and be approved by the program director.
2 Research must have an African, African-American or Diaspora focus.
3 Course topic and content must focus on people of African descent and be approved by the program director(s).
In addition to taking these courses, students are encouraged to participate in travel or study programs to Africa, the Caribbean and other relevant areas. Students who want to earn credit hours through participation in an accredited travel/study program are encouraged to do so with the prior approval of the program director. Intermediate Swahili courses may count for credit in Africana Studies.
