African American Studies

Dr. M. Denise Lovett, Program Coordinator
1107 Nevins Hall

African American Studies (AFAM), an academic discipline, offers an intellectual approach to the study of African people both nationally and globally. It seeks to provide historically accurate assessments of the roles and contributions of people of African descent to America and to human history. An interdisciplinary program, this minor offers students the opportunity to communicate more effectively across cultural lines and to explore the social, political, and economic reality of the black experience in the United States. The minor encourages creative research, the acquisition of practical experiences, and the development of intellectual expertise in African American Studies. Several departments at Valdosta State University offer courses that support these goals.

Selected Educational Outcomes

1. AFAM minors will recognize the founding of the discipline of African American Studies and key figures, concepts, and theories in the intellectual genealogy and development of the field.
2. AFAM minors will describe and analyze the experiences of people of African descent in all parts of the world, especially African Diaspora in the Americas, the Caribbean, and Africa.
3. AFAM minors will identify and analyze forms and traditions of thought or expression in relation to the cultural, historical, political, and social context of people of African descent as, for example, dance, literature, music, film, and philosophical and religious traditions.
4. AFAM minors will collect, analyze, and synthesize qualitative and quantitative data using interdisciplinary techniques to explain the impact of societal, psychological, economic, historical, and political factors on people of African descent with particular focus on the impact of racial classification, class, and gender.
5. AFAM minors will engage in experiential learning activities and projects that demonstrate civic responsibility and cultivate community empowerment while upholding the values of collective work, responsibility, and self-determination.

Requirements for the Minor in African American Studies

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
AFAM 3000	Introduction to African American Studies	3
AFAM 4700	African American Studies Seminar	3
Select Elective courses from the following:		9
AFAM/ENGL 3220	Studies in African American Literature
AFAM/ENGL 3320	Studies in African Literature
AFAM/HIST 4231	African American History to 1865
AFAM/HIST 4232	African American History Since 1865
AFAM 4511	Precolonial Africa
AFAM 4512	Modern Africa
AFAM 3600	Special Topics in African American Studies
AFAM/ANTH 3090	Africa: Inequalities Past and Present
ENGL 4300	Special Topics in Literature
THEA 4030	Special Topics in Theatre
ENGL 4310	Studies in Major Writers
HIST 3050	Special Topics in History
HIST 3060	Special Topics in History
HIST 3070	Special Topics in History
HIST 4221	The Old South
HIST 4222	The New South
JOUR 3530	Special Topics in Journalism
MUSC 3440	Private Voice
PHIL 4800	Special Topics in Philosophy
POLS 4260	Alternative Dispute Resolution
POLS 4330	African Politics
POLS 4820	Special Topics in U.S. Government and Politics
REL 4700	Topics in Religious Studies
SOCI 3060	Race and Ethnic Relations
Total Hours		15