Academic Programs Catalog

The Bachelor of Arts degree in African American and African Studies offers students the opportunity to engage and explore the lives, worlds, and cultural practices of Black peoples. Students are encouraged to study and appreciate the complexity of Black communities as well as the particularities of Blackness as it is lived, imagined, and created. Students are also directed to the promise and possibilities of collaborative, interdisciplinary work and research.

Multiple elements define the course of study for the major, including interconnected, required courses exploring Black Feminisms, Genders, and Sexualities Studies, as well as encouragement of diverse understandings and approaches to knowledge production with and about Black peoples. The degree program offers three concentrations: Communities in Action, Creative Expression, Culture and Performance, and Black Institutions, Sustainability, and Statecraft.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Degree in African American and African Studies

1. The University requirements for bachelor's degrees as described in the Undergraduate Education section of the catalog; 120 credits, including general elective credits, are required for the Bachelor of Arts degree in African American and African Studies.
   
   The University's Tier II writing requirement for the African American and African Studies major is met by completing African American and African Studies 495.  That course is referenced in item 3. below.
2. The requirements of the College of Arts and Letters for the Bachelor of Arts degree.
3. The following requirements for the major:

   a.	All of the following courses (12 credits):
   	AAAS	100	Pathways in AAAS						3
   	AAAS	200	Black Feminisms: Past, Present and Futures						3
   	AAAS	201	Black Sexualities Studies: Past, Present and Futures						3
   	AAAS	202	Black Genders Studies: Past, Present and Futures						3
   b.	Complete 3 courses from one of the following concentrations (9 credits):
   	Communities in Action
   	AAAS	300	Communities in Action						3
   	AAAS	303	Black Girlhood Studies						3
   	AAAS	306	Black Language and Literacy						3
   	AAAS	401	Social Media and New Journalism						3
   	AAAS	404	Black Ecologies and Environmental Justice						3
   	Creative Expression, Culture, and Performance
   	AAAS	301	Creative Expression, Culture, and Performance						3
   	AAAS	304	Afrofuturism						3
   	AAAS	307	Creative Expression as Craft						3
   	AAAS	402	Producing Culture						3
   	AAAS	405	Black Entrepreneurship and Hustle						3
   	Black Institutions, Sustainability, and Statecraft
   	AAAS	302	Black Institutions, Sustainability, and Statecraft						3
   	AAAS	305	Black People and Land						3
   	AAAS	308	Black Spirituality and Religion						3
   	AAAS	403	Institutions and Oppression						3
   	AAAS	406	Pedagogies of Protests						3
   c.	Complete 4 elective courses in 300-400 level AAAS courses as approved by the undergraduate advisor (12 credits).
   d.	The following course (3 credits):
   	AAAS	495	Writing for Our Lives (W)						3

The Minor in African American and African Studies, administered by the Department of African American and African Studies offers students the opportunity to engage in an introductory exploration and critical examination of the lives, worlds, and cultural practices of Black peoples. Students are encouraged to explore the complexity of Black communities as well as the particularities of Blackness as it is lived, imagined and created. Students also gain an appreciation of the promise and possibilities of collaborative, interdisciplinary engagement.

The minor is available to students who are enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs at Michigan State University other than the Bachelor of Arts degree in African American and African Studies. The minor is divided into two tracks – the Social Science Track and the Humanities Track. The program includes interconnected, required courses exploring Black Feminisms, Genders, and Sexualities Studies; encouragement of diverse understandings and approaches to knowledge production with and about Black peoples.

Requirements for the Minor in African American and African Studies