The Africana Studies Program offers a major and a minor:
Major
The total number of required courses for the major is 11, exclusive of the foreign language requirement.
I. Introductory Courses:
Two-semester sequence (preferably to be taken before the junior year)
AFRS BC 3004x Introduction to African Studies: An interdisciplinary and thematic approach to the study of Africa, moving from pre-colonial through colonial and post-colonial periods to contemporary Africa. Focus will be on its history, societal relations, politics and the arts. The objective is to provide a critical survey of the history as well as the continuing debates in African studies.
A.George 3 points.
AFRS BC 3006y Introduction to the African Diaspora: An interdisciplinary and thematic approach to the African diaspora in the Americas: its motivations, dimensions, consequences, and the importance and stakes of its study. Beginning with the contacts between Africans and the Portuguese in the 15th century, this class will open up diverse paths of inquiry as students attempt to answer questions, clear up misconceptions, and challenge assumptions about the presence of Africans in the New World.
K. Glover 3 points.
II. One semester Africana Colloquium in Africana Studies
2009-2010 Colloquium Offerings:
AFRS BC 3110x Africana Colloquium: Post Colonialism & Beyond: Introduces students to the origins and development of postcolonial theory, to the historical and political contexts in which postcolonial theory emerged, and to some of the central historical texts and debates in postcolonial studies. Among other topics, we will examine the Marxist analysis of imperialism; race and/in the negritude and the indigène movements; decolonization, nationalism, and gender; the critique of Orientalism; and feminism, the postcolonial state, and globalization.
- B. Abu-Manneh 4 points
III. Language:
Language: Each student must demonstrate proficiency in any of the languages of Africa or the diaspora (in addition to English) by completing at least the fourth semester of that language, or its equivalent. This requirement is not in addition to the general foreign language requirement. Languages may include Swahili, Hausa, Arabic, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese.
IV. Harlem:
Each student will take a course on Harlem, chosen from among the offerings at Barnard or Columbia.
V. Electives:
Each student will, with the approval of the program director, select five electives which focus on a central subject, theme or set of questions. Of these five, at least two must be on Africa and at least one must be on the African Diaspora. At least one course must be in the humanities, and one in the social sciences. These courses can overlap with the courses on Africa and the African Diaspora.
VI. Senior Thesis:
AFRS BC 3998x and AFRS BC 3999y Directed Research, a two-semester program of interdisciplinary research leading to the writing of the senior essay. In some cases, a senior seminar in one of the departments may be substituted for one semester of Directed Research. See our Frequently Asked Questions for more details on fulfilling the senior thesis requirement.
Minor
Although the college requires students to declare the minor formally after they have completed course work for the minor, the Africana Studies Program strongly encourages students to meet with the Africana Studies Director (or the minor advisor) to plan a course of study and fill out an "intent to minor" form.
The Africana minor consists of six courses to be distributed as follows:
1. AFRS BC 3004x Introduction to Africana Studies: Africa Past, Present and Future'
2. AFRS BC 3006y Introduction to Africana Studies: The African Diaspora
3. One course on Harlem to be chosen from electives offered at Barnard/Columbia
4-6. Three electives chosen by the students in consultation with the Director/minor advisor. NOTE: One of these electives must be a colloquium in Africana Studies or acceptable seminar
