AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES

Professors: Ann duCille (English), Gayle Pemberton (English)(William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of the Humanities) (Chair), Janice D. Willis (Religion)

Associate Professors: Jerome H. Long (Religion), Ashraf Rushdy (English)

Assistant Professor: Jeff Kerr-Ritchie (History) (On leave 1995-96)

Visiting Assistant Professors: Cynthia Horan (Government), Becky Thompson (American Studies)

Visiting Lecturer: Doretha (Mickey) Davidson (Dance)

Visiting Writer: Kate Rushin (Director, Center for African American Studies)

Visiting Fellow: Ian Straker (Religion)

African American Studies is an interdisciplinary major that offers a broad knowledge of the life of blacks in the United States and in the Caribbean. The AFAM major is complemented by a concentration in a specific discipline.

Any student who completes the major will receive a degree in African American Studies with a concentration in a particular discipline. A double major is also an option.

African American Studies offers two categories of courses: Core courses provide a general introduction to areas of inquiry in African American Studies. Elective courses explore the black experience and expression from different perspectives and disciplines.

Major program. The following are required to be admitted to the major: Students must have taken AFAM 201 (Introduction to African American Studies) and received a grade of B- or better; students must maintain a satisfactory cumulative average in all AFAM courses during and upon completion of the AFAM major; and students must have a consultation with the AFAM Chair or Professor Rushdy in order to determine which courses are acceptable. Eleven (11) courses are required of AFAM majors: six (6) in AFAM studies and five (5) in a related field of concentration. All courses must be letter-graded and registered for as AFAM. One tutorial of CR/U is acceptable. No transfer credits are acceptable.

AFAM Studies Core Courses (3). AFAM 201 (Introduction to African American Studies), AFAM 203 or 204 (Introduction to African American History), and one (1) AFAM social science course. Elective Courses (3). Of the remaining three (3) courses, one (1) course each must be chosen from three of the following areas: American studies, anthropology, art, cinema studies, dance, English, government, history, music, psychology, religion, sociology, theater, or women's studies. Only one of these courses may be a tutorial. You must register for these courses as AFAM courses.

Field of concentration. The possible fields of concentration are: African studies, American studies, anthropology, art, cinema studies, economics, English, dance, government, history, Latin American studies, linguistics, music, philosophy, psychology, religion, Romance languages and literatures, sociology, theater, and women's studies.

The five (5) courses taken in the field of concentration must include those courses required of majors in that field of study. (AFAM studies majors should consult with the appropriate AFAM faculty member and the chairperson or appropriate faculty member of the department in which they choose to concentrate to determine which courses are required.) If any AFAM Studies major intends to concentrate in art, he/she must make that intention known to the Chair of the Art Department. Counseling with a member of the faculty of the Art Department is required as soon as the student expresses the intention of concentrating in art.

The five (5) courses taken in the field of concentration cannot be counted toward AFAM core courses or AFAM electives.

Majors are required to undertake at least one substantial research or artistic project under faculty supervision before graduation. Students may satisfy this requirement by presenting a senior thesis, a senior essay, a senior project, or by enrolling in an advanced seminar (a 300- or 400-level course that requires a substantial research paper) either in AFAM or in the department of concentration. If a student wishes to satisfy the requirement by writing an honors thesis, that student must choose in the AFAM Studies Program an area of concentration and present a letter of endorsement from the faculty member who will supervise the thesis, and readers. The student must also complete the AFAM research form.