Majoring in the Program in African & African American Studies (AAAS)

The major consists of minimum of 60 units of approved courses.

All courses must be taken for a letter grade

Core Requirements (all courses must be taken for a letter grade)

Required Courses
5 units

Choose one of two required courses:

  • Introduction to Themes in Black Studies I or II
AAAS Social Science Courses
5 units

Choose from: 

  • AFRICAAM4 - The Sociology of Music
  • AFRICAAM41 - Genes and Identity
  • AFRICAAM106 - Race, Ethnicity, and Linguistic Diversity in Classrooms: Sociocultural Theory and Practices
  • AFRICAAM112 - Urban Education
  • AFRICAAM130 - Community-based Research As Tool for Social Change:Discourses of Equity in Communities & Classrooms
  • AFRICAAM146A - African Politics
  • AFRICAAM165 - Identity and Academic Achievement
  • AFRICAAM195 - Independent Study
  • AFRICAAM245 - Understanding Racial and Ethnic Identity Development
  • AFRICAST111 - Education for All? The Global and Local in Public Policy Making in Africa
  • AFRICAST112 - AIDS, Literacy, and Land: Foreign Aid and Development in Africa
  • AFRICAST135 - Designing Research-Based Interventions to Solve Global Health Problems
  • AFRICAST142 - Challenging the Status Quo: Social Entrepreneurs Advancing Democracy, Development and Justice
  • AFRICAST195 - Shifting Frames
  • AFRICAST199 - Independent Study or Directed Reading
  • AFRICAST211 - Education for All? The Global and Local in Public Policy Making in Africa
  • AFRICAST212 - AIDS, Literacy, and Land: Foreign Aid and Development in Africa
  • AFRICAST235 - Designing Research-Based Interventions to Solve Global Health Problems
  • AFRICAST299 - Independent Study or Directed Reading
  • AMSTUD121Z - Political Power in American Cities
  • AMSTUD201 - History of Education in the United States
  • ANTHRO27N - Ethnicity and Violence: Anthropological Perspectives
  • ANTHRO32 - Theories in Race and Ethnicity: A Comparative Perspective
  • ANTHRO138 - Medical Ethics in a Global World: Examining Race, Difference and Power in the Research Enterprise
  • HUMBIO121E - Ethnicity and Medicine
  • LINGUIST152 - Sociolinguistics and Pidgin Creole Studies
  • LINGUIST156 - Language, Gender, & Sexuality
  • LINGUIST252 - Sociolinguistics and Pidgin Creole Studies
  • MUSIC147J - Studies in Music, Media, and Popular Culture: The Soul Tradition in African American Music
  • POLISCI146A - African Politics
  • SOC135 - Poverty, Inequality, and Social Policy in the United States
AAAS Humanities Courses
5 units

Choose from: 

  • AFRICAAM18A - Jazz History: Ragtime to Bebop, 1900-1940
  • AFRICAAM18B - Jazz History: Bebop to Present, 1940-Present
  • AFRICAAM19 - Studies in Music, Media, and Popular Culture: The Soul Tradition in African American Music
  • AFRICAAM20A - Jazz Theory
  • AFRICAAM30 - The Egyptians
  • AFRICAAM31 - RealTalk: Intimate Discussions about the African Diaspora
  • AFRICAAM43 - Introduction to English III: Introduction to African American Literature
  • AFRICAAM45 - Dance Improvisation from Freestyle to Hip Hop
  • AFRICAAM47 - History of South Africa
  • AFRICAAM50B - Nineteenth Century America
  • AFRICAAM105 - Intro to Black Studies/Intro to African American Studies II
  • AFRICAAM133 - Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean
  • AFRICAAM145B - Introduction to African Studies I: Africa in the 20th Century
  • AFRICAAM147 - History of South Africa
  • AFRICAAM150B - Nineteenth Century America
  • AFRICAAM156 - Performing History: Race, Politics, and Staging the Plays of August Wilson
  • AFRICAAM195 - Independent Study
  • AFRICAAM199 - Honors Project
  • AFRICAST199 - Independent Study or Directed Reading
  • AFRICAST299 - Independent Study or Directed Reading
  • AMSTUD51Q - Comparative Fictions of Ethnicity
  • AMSTUD150B - Nineteenth Century America
  • COMPLIT51Q - Comparative Fictions of Ethnicity
  • COMPLIT149 - The Laboring of Diaspora & Border Literary Cultures
  • DANCE30 - Contemporary Choreography: Chocolate Heads 'Garden After Dark' Performance Project
  • DANCE45 - Dance Improvisation from Freestyle to Hip Hop
  • DANCE58 - Hip Hop I: Introduction to Hip Hop
  • DANCE108 - Hip Hop Choreography: Hip Hop Meets Broadway
  • HISTORY50C - The United States in the Twentieth Century
  • HISTORY106A - Global Human Geography: Asia and Africa
  • HISTORY150C - The United States in the Twentieth Century
Coursework focused on the African continent via African Studies or AAAS
5 units

Choose at least one of the following: 

  • AFRICAAM30 - The Egyptians
  • AFRICAAM47 - History of South Africa
  • AFRICAAM48Q - South Africa: Contested Transitions
  • AFRICAAM111 - AIDS, Literacy, and Land: Foreign Aid and Development in Africa
  • AFRICAAM133 - Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean
  • AFRICAAM145B - Introduction to African Studies I: Africa in the 20th Century
  • AFRICAAM146A - African Politics
  • AFRICAAM147 - History of South Africa
  • AFRICAST112 - AIDS, Literacy, and Land: Foreign Aid and Development in Africa
  • AFRICAST211 - Education for All? The Global and Local in Public Policy Making in Africa
  • AFRICAST212 - AIDS, Literacy, and Land: Foreign Aid and Development in Africa
  • HISTORY45B - Introduction to African Studies I: Africa in the 20th Century
  • HISTORY47 - History of South Africa
  • HISTORY48Q - South Africa: Contested Transitions
  • HISTORY145B - Introduction to African Studies I: Africa in the 20th Century
  • HISTORY147 - History of South Africa
  • POLISCI146A - African Politics
Writing in the Major (WIM)
5 units

Complete at least 1 of the following Courses:

  • AFRICAAM154G - Black Magic: Ethnicity, Race, and Identity in Performance Cultures
  • AFRICAAM200X - Honors Thesis and Senior Thesis Seminar

Note: AFRICAAM200X also satisfies Capstone/Senior Seminar

Other AAAS courses
35 units

 Earn at least 35 credits from the following:

  • AFRICAAM18A - Jazz History: Ragtime to Bebop, 1900-1940
  • AFRICAAM18B - Jazz History: Bebop to Present, 1940-Present
  • AFRICAAM127 - Health Impact of Sexual Assault and Relationship Abuse across the Lifecourse
  • AFRICAAM37 - Contemporary Choreography: Chocolate Heads 'Garden After Dark' Performance Project
  • AFRICAAM41 - Genes and Identity
  • AFRICAAM45 - Dance Improvisation from Freestyle to Hip Hop
  • AFRICAAM52N - Mixed-Race Politics and Culture
  • AFRICAAM106 - Race, Ethnicity, and Linguistic Diversity in Classrooms: Sociocultural Theory and Practices
  • AFRICAAM111 - AIDS, Literacy, and Land: Foreign Aid and Development in Africa
  • AFRICAAM112 - Urban Education
  • AFRICAAM130 - Community-based Research As Tool for Social Change:Discourses of Equity in Communities & Classrooms
  • AFRICAAM132 - Social Class, Race, Ethnicity, and Health
  • AFRICAAM133 - Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean
  • AFRICAAM145B - Introduction to African Studies I: Africa in the 20th Century
  • AFRICAAM146A - African Politics
  • AFRICAAM150B - Nineteenth Century America
  • AFRICAAM157P - Solidarity and Racial Justice
  • AFRICAAM159 - James Baldwin & Twentieth Century Literature
  • AFRICAAM165 - Identity and Academic Achievement
  • AFRICAAM192 - History of Sexual Violence in America
  • AFRICAAM194 - Topics in Writing & Rhetoric: Contemporary Black Rhetorics: Black Twitter and Black Digital Cultures
Capstone Experience
  • AFRICAAM200X - Honors Thesis and Senior Thesis Seminar

Note: AFRICAAM200X also satisfies WIM

Optional Thematic Emphases

Thematic emphases are optional course guides to help students focus their studies. They do not require specific coursework, but rather guide the topical focus for each student through their undergraduate career. 

After deciding upon a thematic emphasis, students are advised to make an appointment with the faculty liaison for their respective emphasis to develop a relationship, get advice on coursework, seek out future research opportunities, and potentially advise or direct them to other advisors for honors/capstone research projects.

people gathered outside of a building. three people are sitting on the steps, and one is holding a sign that reads, "the biggest thread to America is black unity."

Politics & the Law

Faculty Director(s): Lauren Davenport and Rick Banks

This emphasis exposes students to inquiry and major topics in disciplines like public policy, government, and international relations.

Sample Courses: 

  • AFRICAAM 58Q American Landscapes of Segregation
  • AFRICAAM 241 Race, Justice, & Integration
  • AMSTUD 108 Race and the Law: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
  • AMSTUD 106 Spectacular Trials: Sex, Race, and Violence in Modern American Culture
  • CSRE 229 Racial Justice through Law

Historical Inquiry

Faculty Director(s): Allyson Hobbs, Clayborne Carson, Jim Campbell

This emphasis exposes students to historical and historiographical views of the black experience in US and transnational contexts.  

Sample Courses: 

  • AFRICAAM 252C The Old South: Culture Society, and Slavery
  • AFRICAAM 18C Sugar, Slavery, Race & Revolution: The Caribbean, 1450-1888
  • AFRICAAM 68D Martin Luther King Jr.: The Inner Life & Global Vision
  • AFRICAAM 45S The Cold War & the Shaping of Modern Africa
  • AFRICAAM 51 Hamilton: An American Musical

Identity & Intersectionality

Faculty Director(s): Jennifer Brody, Allyson Hobbs, Stephen Shigematsu

This multi-disciplinary thematic emphasis exposes students to fields that attend to questions of identity and analysis drawn from gender and sexuality studies, critical ethnic studies, religious studies, etc.

Sample Courses: 

Art & Cultural Expression

Faculty Director(s): Michele Elam, Vaughn Rasberry, Jonathan Calm

This thematic emphasis focuses on disciplines that engage literature, performance studies, art and visual culture, cultural theory, etc.

Sample Courses: 

person wearing a VR headset

Media, Science, & Technology

Faculty Director(s): Adam Banks

This thematic emphasis focuses on disciplines that engage journalism and communications, digital studies, environmental studies, biotechnology, and science, technology, and society, etc.

Sample Courses: 

woman sitting with her laptop on a patch of grass. she is surrounded by books

@WOCInTech from nappy.co

Education, Policy, & Reform

Faculty Director(s): Arnetha Ball, Bryan Brown

This thematic emphasis focuses on issues related to education and education policy, linguistics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc.

Sample Courses: 

Social Impact & Entrepreneurship

Faculty Director(s): TBD

This thematic emphasis focuses on practice and the study of justice ideologies, social movements, social entrepreneurship, and community-based research, etc.

Sample Courses:

Back to Top