Skip to Content Find it Fast

This browser does not support Cascading Style Sheets.

Undergraduate Course Catalog 2012-2013

College of Liberal Arts

» http://www.unh.edu/liberal-arts/

Africana and African American Studies Minor

http://www.unh.edu/afamstudies/

The Africana and African American studies minor provides students with an interdisciplinary approach to central issues in African, African Diaspora, Caribbean, and African American history, literature, and culture. The minor permits students to concentrate in one of these areas or to combine courses from among the many offerings to create a distinctive program.

The Africana and African American studies minor encompasses the multidisciplinary and comparative study of African history and culture, and the study of the African Diaspora throughout the world, from Europe to Asia as well as to North and South America. The program recognizes the global and transnational dimensions of contemporary African Diasporic experiences in the United States, the Caribbean, and in Latin American nations. It thus offers a wide variety of courses that are taught across several disciplines in the University. Students are strongly encouraged to select courses reflecting the breadth of offerings in the minor across the University of New Hampshire’s undergraduate curriculum.

The program presents strong offerings in Africana studies because an understanding of Africa is central to the study of the African Diaspora. The program also features many courses in African American Studies because many aspects of African American history and culture have been central to the development of the United States, highlighting both the nation’s problems and its promise, and affecting virtually all areas of academic study through the years, from the humanities and social sciences to the physical sciences. Students are encouraged to take courses from a variety of departments and disciplines. The minor therefore is designed to serve the needs of all students, regardless of their ethnic or cultural background, complementing their work in their major fields of study while serving also as a focused corrective to traditionally marginalized approaches to Africana, African Diasporic, Caribbean, and African American experiences.

Africana and African American studies consists of five 4-credit courses, including one course from a list of introductory courses related to the student’s choice of concentration and four other approved offerings. Students must take at least one course at the 600 or 700 level. The required introductory course provides students with a general understanding of the broad and diverse spectrum of Africana and African American subjects. Electives enable students to develop their understanding in more focused courses (listed below) in various fields of study. There is an opportunity to earn credits towards the minor through a study abroad experience in Ghana, in West Africa (contact the Center for the Humanities for details). There is also an independent study option under the AFAM 795 designation, which allows students to work closely with a faculty member on a research project and/or internship relevant to any aspect of Africana and African American Studies. Students must earn a C- or better in each course, and maintain a 2.0 grade-point average in courses taken for the minor. Electives may include special topics courses, as approved by the program, a senior seminar, internship, or study abroad credits.

Students interested in minoring in Africana and African American studies should contact the Center for the Humanities, 305 Huddleston Hall, (603) 862-4356, e-mail mj.alibrio@unh.edu .

Introductory Courses (one of the following)
ANTH 500D, Peoples and Cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa
ENGL 517/AMST 502, Introduction to African American Literature and Culture
ENGL 609, Ethnicity in America: The African American Experience in the 20th Century
INCO 450, Introduction to Race, Culture, and Power
HIST 505 or 506, African American History
HIST 531, Introduction to Latin America and the Caribbean
HIST 587/588, History of Africa
HIST 444D, Slavery and Society in Pre-Colonial Africa

Elective Courses
Electives are approved for the minor and announced each semester in the Time and Room Schedule and on the Africana and African American studies Web site, www.unh.edu/afamstudies. Courses that are partly devoted to the concerns of Africana and African American studies may count for the minor, if the instructor will allow the students to focus a significant amount of coursework on this field of study. Approval by both the minor coordinator and the course instructor is required for such courses.

Pre-approved Electives
ANTH 500B, Peoples and Cultures of South America
ANTH 500D, Peoples and Cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa
ANTH 627, Urbanization in Africa
ANTH 686, Gender, Sexuality, and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa
ANTH 760, Race in Global Perspectives
ARTS 671, Egypt and Nubia: Art, Architecture, and Rediscovery
CMN 632, Communication Theory
EDUC 797/ANTH 790, Seminar: Teaching Race
ENGL 581/581H, Introduction to Post-Colonial Literature in English
ENGL 609, Ethnicity in America: The African American Experience in the 20th Century
ENGL 681, Introduction to African Literatures in English
FREN 526, Introduction to Francophone Cultures
FREN 676, Topics in Francophone Cultures
FS 757/851, Race, Class, Gender, and Families
HIST 444D, Slavery and Society in Pre-Colonial Africa
HIST 497, The Civil Rights Movement
HIST 531, Introduction to Latin America and the Caribbean
HIST 587/588, History of Africa
HIST 589, Islam in Africa
HIST 600.02, Race, Gender, Science, and African-American Experience
HIST 611, History of the Civil War Era
HIST 625, Southern History and Literature Since the Civil War
HIST 684, History of Southern Africa Since 1652
HIST 688, African Religions
HUMA 609, Ethnicity in America: The Black Experience in the 20th Century
MUSI 460, Jazz Band
PHIL 540, Philosophy of Race and Racism
POLT 519, Civil Rights and Liberties
PSYC 791A02, Psychology of Race
SOC 530/530W, Race and Ethnic Relations
SOC 745, Race, Ethnicity, and Inequality
WS 401.06, Intro to Women’s Studies
WS 595, Black Women in America