African American Studies, BA

Department Chair:

Vlad Dima

Professor and Chair

Email: aas@syr.edu

315 443-4302

Faculty

Joan Bryant, Horace Campbell, Kishi Animashaun Ducre, Herbert Ruffin II, S.N. Sangmpam

This interdisciplinary department offers the opportunity for study, research, and community involvement in African American Studies and enables students to explore cultural, literary, historical, political, socioeconomic and other issues affecting African Americans, as well as links with continental Africa and the Caribbean. The department offers a minor and a major, leading to a B.A. degree, and enables students to explore the field through courses in the social sciences and the humanities. Students seeking a B.A. degree in African American Studies must successfully complete AAS 112 /ANT 112 before formal admission to the major.

For all Arts and Sciences|Maxwell students, successful completion of a bachelor’s degree in this major requires a minimum of 120 credits, 96 of which must be Arts and Sciences|Maxwell credits, completion of the Liberal Arts Core requirements, and the requirements for this major that are listed below.

Dual Enrollments:

Students dually enrolled in Newhouse* and Arts and Sciences|Maxwell will complete a minimum of 122 credits, with at least 90 credits in Arts and Sciences|Maxwell coursework and an Arts and Sciences|Maxwell major.

*Students dually enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences|Maxwell as first year students must complete the Liberal Arts Core. Students who transfer to the dual program after their first year as singly enrolled students in the Newhouse School will satisfy general requirements for the dual degree program by completing the Newhouse Core Requirements.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Explain major cultural figures, texts, expression, and movements in Black Studies

2. Explain knowledge of major social and political issues in Black Studies

3. Develop knowledge of major social, cultural, & political factors that have defined the Black experience across time and/or space (Diasporic orientation)

4. Learn how race, class, gender, and/or sexualities functions within the contours of the Black experience (intersectionality)

5. Develop critical thinking skills applicable to issues in Black Studies

6. Develop ability to conceive & execute independent inquiries in Black Studies

7. Develop effective written and oral communications

Prerequisite

Students must complete the prerequisite before admission to the major (3 credits)

AAS 112 - Introduction to African American Studies

Core Credits (15 Credits)

ONE course is required from each GROUP

GROUP A: LITERATURE (Choose One)

AAS 231 - African American Literature to 1900: An Introduction

AAS 232 - African American Literature: Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

GROUP B: ART, MUSIC, RELIGION (Choose One)

AAS 206 - Introduction to African American Music

AAS 345 - African American Religious History

AAS 361 - Art of the Black World

GROUP C: HISTORY (Choose One)

AAS 332 - African American History: Through the 19th Century

AAS 333 - African American History: After the 19th Century

GROUP D: POLITICAL SCIENCE & SOCIOLOGY (Choose One)

AAS 306 - African American Politics

AAS 309 - Race, Gender and Sexuality in the African Diaspora

AAS 341 - Politics of Africa

AAS 353 - Sociology of the African American Experience

GROUP E: MAJOR CAPSTONE
AAS 401 - Research in African American Studies

Electives (12 Credits)

Students must complete twelve elective credits of AAS courses for the major. Students who take two 200-level courses in the AAS Core may not count more than one 200-level elective course toward the AAS major.