Department of African American Studies

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign




Interdisciplinary Minor in African American Studies

Overview & Requirements

The Department of African American Studies offers a campus-wide interdisciplinary minor. African American Studies' minor is premised on the following principles: Interdisciplinary, the centrality of Black women and gender, the use of the Global Africa/African Diaspora as a contextualizing framework and an emphasis on black agency or the self-activity of African peoples. A minimum grade point average of 2.33 is required for completion of courses taken in the program. The Department of African-American Studies must approve a student's minor course plan.

Hours Requirements
  I. Core course requirements
3 AFRO 100–Intro to African American Studies
3 AFRO 490–Africana Theories or AFRO 220–Intro to Research Methods
3 AFRO 495–Senior Thesis Seminar
  II. Areas of Concentration
3-4 A. Comparative Race, Racialized Communities & Identities
Students must take at least one course in this area. Students may choose courses from a list in the African American Studies office.
3-4 B. Cultural Production & Cultural Movements
Students must take at least one course in this area. Students may choose courses from a list in the African American Studies office.
3-4 C. Political Economy, Public Policy & Contemporary Issues
Students must take at least one course in this area. Students may choose courses from a list in the African American Studies office.
3 Elective in any of the above areas
21 Total

Students must not take more than 6 hours of 100-level courses.  A minimum of 6 hours of 300- and 400-level courses is required.  At least one course in the minor must focus on Black Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies.

Courses

Comparative Race, Racialized Communities & Identities

AFRO 101        Black America, 1619-Present
AFRO 102        Researching the African American Experience
AFRO 103        Black Women in the Diaspora
AFRO 199        Undergraduate Open Seminar

AFRO 225        Race and Ethnicity
AFRO 275        African American History to 1877
AFRO 276        African American History Since 1877
AFRO 281        Constructing Race in America
AFRO 282        Displaced Peoples of Latin America
AFRO 287        African American Women
AFRO 290        African American Urban History Since 1917
AFRO 298        Special Topics in African American Studies

AFRO 372        Class Politics and the Black Community
AFRO 378        Race and Revolutions
AFRO 383        History of Black Women’s Activism
AFRO 398        Special Topics in African American Studies

AFRO 407        Slavery and Race in Latin America
AFRO 411        African American Psychology
AFRO 415        Africana Feminisms
AFRO 453        Plantation Societies in the Americas
AFRO 460        Slavery in the United States
AFRO 465        Race, Sex, and Deviance
AFRO 466        Race and Science
AFRO 474        Black Freedom Movements, 1955-Present
AFRO 476        The South in American History
AFRO 491        Methodology in African American Studies
AFRO 498        Special Topics in African American Studies

Cultural Production & Cultural Movements

AFRO 101        Black America, 1619-Present
AFRO 102        Researching the African American Experience
AFRO 103        Black Women in the Diaspora
AFRO 105        Black Literature in America
AFRO 199        Undergraduate Open Seminar

AFRO 211        Introduction to African American Film
AFRO 224        Humanist Perspectives of the African American Experience
AFRO 226        Black Women in Contemporary US Society
AFRO 231        Lang Differences and Disorders: American Persp
AFRO 259        African American Literature I
AFRO 260        African American Literature II
AFRO 261        Introduction to the African Diaspora
AFRO 298        Special Topics in African American Studies

AFRO 340        Dancing Black Popular Culture
AFRO 342        Black Men and Masculinities
AFRO 372        Class Politics and the Black Community
AFRO 373        African American Cultural Politics at mid-20th Century
AFRO 381        Black Women and Film
AFRO 383        History of Black Women’s Activism
AFRO 398        Special Topics in African American Studies

AFRO 400        African Diasporic Literature of the Americas
AFRO 415        Africana Feminisms
AFRO 435        Commodifying Difference
AFRO 491        Methodology in African American Studies
AFRO 498        Special Topics in African American Studies

Political Economy, Public Policy & Contemporary Issues

AFRO 101        Black America, 1619-Present
AFRO 102        Researching the African American Experience
AFRO 103        Black Women in the Diaspora
AFRO 199        Undergraduate Open Seminar

AFRO 201        US Racial and Ethnic Politics
AFRO 226        Black Women in Contemporary US Society
AFRO 243        Pan-Africanism
AFRO 290        African American Urban History Since 1917
AFRO 298        Special Topics in African American Studies

AFRO 310        Race and Cultural Diversity
AFRO 315        African American Politics
AFRO 342        Black Men and Masculinities
AFRO 372        Class Politics and the Black Community
AFRO 380        Black Women’s History and Cultures
AFRO 398        Special Topics in African American Studies

AFRO 410        Hate Crimes
AFRO 415        Africana Feminisms
AFRO 421        Racial and Ethnic Families
AFRO 465        Race, Sex, and Deviance
AFRO 491        Methodology in African American Studies
AFRO 498        Special Topics in African American Studies

Global Interconnections: Black Transnationalism & the African Diaspora

AFRO 103        Black Women in the Diaspora

AFRO 243        Pan-Africanism
AFRO 261        Introduction to the African Diaspora
AFRO 282        Displaced Peoples of Latin America

AFRO 400        African Diasporic Literature of the Americas
AFRO 407        Slavery and Race in Latin America
AFRO 415        Africana Feminisms
AFRO 453        Plantation Societies in the Americas

Black Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies

AFRO 103        Black Women in the Diaspora 

AFRO 226        Black Women in Contemporary US Society
AFRO 287        African American Women

AFRO 342        Black Men and Masculinities
AFRO 380        Black Women’s History and Culture
AFRO 381        Black Women and Film
AFRO 383        History of Black Women’s Activism

AFRO 415        Africana Feminisms
AFRO 435        Commodifying Difference
AFRO 465        Race, Sex, and Deviance