This is an archived copy of the 2022-2023 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.valdosta.edu.

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

Africana 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 Africana 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 Africana 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 Africana Studies

AFAM 3000Introduction to Africana Studies3
AFAM 4700Africana Studies Seminar3
Select Elective courses from the following:12
Studies in African American Literature
Studies in African Literature
African American History to 1865
African American History Since 1865
Precolonial Africa
Modern Africa
Special Topics in Africana Studies
Africa: Inequalities Past and Present
Special Topics in Literature
Special Topics in Theatre
Studies in Major Writers
Special Topics in World History
Special Topics in European and World History
Special Topics in European, U.S., and World History
The Old South
The New South
Special Topics in Journalism
Private Voice
Special Topics in Philosophy
Alternative Dispute Resolution
African Politics
Special Topics in U.S. Government and Politics
Topics in Religious Studies
Race and Ethnic Relations
Total Hours18

Certificate in Africana Studies

The Certificate in Africana Studies will be awarded to undergraduates who complete 12 hours of Africana Studies coursework but do not complete the necessary 18 hours for the minor.