Dr. Tom Williams, Dean, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, McCastlain Hall, Suite 110, (501) 450-3293
Dr. Wendy Lucas, Chair, Department of History, Irby 105B, (501) 450-5624
Dr. Crystal Harris, Co-Director, Africana Studies, Irby 428, (501) 450-5100
Dr. Juan Maefield, Co-Director, Africana Studies, Irby 417, (248) 808-7833
[1] Purpose
The Africana Studies program aims to nurture in students an understanding of the diversity that makes for human culture, an understanding that will foster respect for difference. This program is housed in the History Department and is comprised of courses taught across the UCA campus in art, communication, history, literature, music, philosophy and religion, political science, sociology, world languages, and writing. Thus, it gives students an interdisciplinary understanding of the history and cultures of Africa, the effects of colonialism and slavery on those cultures and on the United States and Caribbean nations, including the contributions of Africans to the culture of America. Giving students the ability to look at an issue from the perspectives of different disciplines is, of course, one of the most important goals of a liberal arts education, and this program accomplishes that goal while enabling students to deal with some of the questions that are most central to our development as a nation and culture. It will prepare students to work successfully in fields that require an understanding of diversity and an ability to relate to people from different cultures, two increasingly important qualifications in today’s world, and qualities that are especially needed in Arkansas.
[2] Requirements (15 hours)
Fifteen hours of interdisciplinary courses, from the following categories:
Introduction (3 hours) This is required for all minors.
HIST 1330 Introduction to African and African American History
ENGL 1345 Introduction to Literature and Social Responsibilities: Bodies Worth Justice
History and Literature (9 hours)
ENGL 2313 American Literature II *
ENGL 2370 Introduction to Fiction *
ENGL 3345 Literature and Responsible Living *
ENGL 4361 Literature for Adolescents
ENGL 4362 Southern Literature and Folklore [UD UCA Core: D]
ENGL 4380 Africa and African-American Literature [UD UCA Core: D]
ENGL 4381 Major African and African American Writers [UD UCA Core: D]
ENGL 4382 Race in American Literature [UD UCA Core: D]
HIST 3353 African-American History before 1868 [UD UCA Core: I]
HIST 3354 African-American History, 1868 to present [UD UCA Core: I]
HIST 3360 Pre-Colonial African History [UD UCA Core: D]
HIST 3365 Modern African History [UD UCA Core: D]
HIST 4324 Special Topics in U.S. History *
HIST 4344 Special Topics in World History *
HIST 4355 The Role of Arkansas in the Nation
HIST 4359 Civil Rights Movement [UD UCA Core: C, I]
HIST 4306 Atlantic Slave Trade [UD UCA Core: D]
HIST 4372 Pan-Africanism, Anti-Colonialism, African Unity [UD UCA Core: C, R]
AFAM 4300 Special Topics in African/African American Studies (when cross-listed with ENGL or HIST)
* When the course relates to the Africana Studies topic
Critical Analyses of Race and Society (3 hours)
COMM 4305 African American Rhetoric
FREN 3315 Issues of Cultural Identity in the Francophone World
FREN 4396 Topics in Francophone Cultures (when taught as Africana Literature & Culture)
LING 3325 Sociolinguistics [UD UCA Core: D]
PHIL 2360 Gender, Race, and Class Issues [UD UCA Core: D, R]
PHIL 3340 Critical Theories of Race [UD UCA Core: D, R]
PSCI 3355 Race and U.S. Politics [UD UCA Core: D]
PSCI 4301 Civil Liberties
PSCI 4345 The Governments and Politics of Africa
MUS 4301 Jazz History I: An American Art Form
MUS 4302 Jazz History II
RELG 3345 African American Religious Thought [UD UCA Core: D]
SOC 3310 Racial and Ethnic Relations [UD UCA Core: D, R]
WLAN 2325 Issues of Cultural Identify in African Diaspora [UD UCA Core: D]
AFAM 4300 Special Topics in African and African American Studies (when cross-listed with ART, COMM, LING, MUS, PHIL, PSCI, RELG, SOC, or WLAN/FREN)
[3] Course Links
Follow this link for AFAM course description: course link.
Follow this link for ART course description: course link.
Follow this link for COMM course descriptions: course link.
Follow this link for ENGL course descriptions: course link.
Follow this link for HIST course descriptions: course link.
Follow this link for LING course descriptions: course link.
Follow this link for MUS course descriptions: course link.
Follow this link for PHIL course descriptions: course link.
Follow this link for PSCI course descriptions: course link.
Follow this link for RELG course descriptions: course link.
Follow this link for SOC course descriptions: course link.
Follow this link for WLAN course descriptions: course link.