Major

Overview

The AADS major consist of a minimum of 31 credits, equivalent to at least 10 full-semester courses. AADS majors can have a second major as long as the student stays in compliance with the University’s regulation that, in order to earn a major, a student must have at least 27 credits in the major program that are not used to fulfill requirements for another major or minor. In addition to taking AADS 1110 “Introduction to African Diaspora Studies” (3 credits) and AADS 6600 “Senior Seminar” (4 credits), students pursuing an AADS major need to take 8 additional elective courses, and only two of which can be a 1000-level course. Four of those elective courses must be Black Atlantic courses. Black Atlantic course are those that have a global framework that puts different geographical regions of the world in conversation with one another within the African Diaspora.

There are two tracks in which AADS majors can concentrate: 1) Intellectual Traditions and Cultural Production or 2) Politics and Social Inquiry. Students in the Intellectual Traditions and Cultural Production track examine Black intellectual traditions, expressive forms, and modes of cultural analysis and cultural criticism primarily (but not exclusively) based on textual analyses. In the Politics and Social Inquiry track students examine the development of institutions, measure inequality, and identify societal patterns utilizing primarily (but not exclusively) historical and social science techniques. While both tracks are rooted in the interdisciplinary study of the African Diaspora, the Intellectual Traditions and Cultural Production track will be for those students most interested in pursuing careers and graduate studies typically associated with the humanities; while the Politics and Social Inquiry track will attract students with more social science curiosities.

AADS majors must take six of their eight elective courses in one track and their remaining two in the other. Students’ elective courses may not fall exclusively in Social Science (Communication, History, Political Science, or Sociology) or Humanities (Art History, English, Music, Philosophy, Romance Languages and Literatures, or Theater) departments.

AADS Major Tracks and Black Atlantic Courses

View listing of courses that fall under the AADS Major Tracks: Intellectual Traditions and Cultural Productions (ITCP) and Politics and Social Inquiry (PSI); and Black Atlantic Courses.

Sample Schedule for Intellectual Traditions and Cultural Production

Sample Schedule for Politics and Social Inquiry