Program Overview
The minor in Africana studies provides students with a comprehensive, interdisciplinary academic program that focuses on 1) critical theories on race, 2) African and African diasporic history, culture and literature, and 3) the religious, political, and social dimensions of Black life. The program examines subject matter related to African contexts (both the historical study of such contexts and the study of current populations), as well as African diasporic cultures (including historic and contemporary migrations), with a focus on the African diasporic presence in the Americas. Thus, courses offered in the Africana studies minor address the experience of African Americans but also more broadly explore the global Black experience and its relationship to Black life in the Americas.
Undergraduate Policies
For undergraduate policies and procedures, please review the Undergraduate Academics section of the General Bulletin.
Program Faculty
Joy Bostic, PhD
(Union Theological Seminary)
Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies; Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, College of Arts and Sciences; Director, Africana Studies Program
Michele Tracy Berger, PhD
(University of Michigan)
Eric and Jane Nord Family Professor, Department of Religious Studies; Director, Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities
Heather E. Burton, PhD
(Cleveland State University)
Associate Vice President and Senior Director for Faculty and Institutional Diversity, the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Engagement
Gilbert Doho, PhD
(Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3)
Associate Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
Cassi Pittman-Claytor, PhD
(Harvard Unversity)
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
Noël M. Voltz, PhD
(The Ohio State University)
Assistant Professor, Department of History
Program Requirements
Course List | Code | Title | Credit Hours |
| Introduction to African-American Studies | |
| Introduction to Modern African History | |
| History of Black Women in the U.S. | |
| Advanced Readings in the History of Race | |
| History of Medicine | |
| Topics in African-American Literature | |
| The Francophone World | |
| History of Rock and Roll | |
| History of Jazz and American Popular Music | |
| Introducing Africana Religions | |
| The Lemonade Class: Religion, Race, Sex and Black Music | |
| Social Justice Issues in Latin America | |
| Race and Ethnic Minorities in The United States | |
| Capitalism, Cities, and Inequality | |
| Racial Inequality and Mass Imprisonment in the US | |
| a | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours | 15 |
Please note that no more than 6 credit hours may overlap between this minor and requirements for another minor.
