Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of General Studies in African and African-American Studies
Program Overview
The Department of African & African-American Studies offers a BA and BGS in African and African-American Studies, exploring the relationships and connections between people of African descent. The program emphasizes critical thinking, problem-solving, and understanding citizenship in a diverse global society. It draws strength from the Kansas African Studies Center, The Langston Hughes Center, and the Institute for Haitian Studies, and encourages study abroad opportunities in Africa or the Caribbean.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
The Department of African & African-American Studies (AAAS) offers a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and a Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) in African and African-American Studies. The program provides a unique center for studying the relationships among and between all people of African descent. It investigates the connections between US and global histories, culture, and social and economic systems. The department's mission is to transform higher education by addressing the lack of faculty and staff diversity, altering traditional curricula limited by Eurocentric paradigms, linking academic teachings and scholarship with social and civic engagement, and raising critical questions about the overall missions of higher education. The department's area of emphasis includes art and culture, religion and rhetoric, families, gender and sexuality, and political economy. The department promotes critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and expands our understanding of citizenship in a rapidly changing, multiracial, global society.
Other:
The Department of African & African-American Studies draws strength and vitality from three other units: the Kansas African Studies Center, The Langston Hughes Center, and the Institute for Haitian Studies. The department encourages majors in the African studies and Arabic and Islamic studies concentrations to spend a semester or an academic year in Africa. Similarly, majors in the African-American studies concentration may spend a semester or an academic year in the Caribbean.
