Best Africana Studies Majors and Programs at Small Liberal Arts Schools TKG

Best Africana Studies Majors and Programs at Small Liberal Arts Schools Africana Studies began as an academic discipline on college campuses during the Civil Rights and Anti-Vietnam War movements of the 1960s. In 1969, students from the Cornell Afro-American Society occupied the Willard Straight Hall building at Cornell for 36 hours in protest of racial tensions on campus and the university’s lack of support for a black studies program.   The night before the protest, a burning cross was found outside a residential co-op for black women. The university then established its Africana Studies program shortly thereafter. In the next few years, hundreds of schools would follow suit. Since its emergence, schools have called Africana Studies many things, from African American Studies to Black Studies, but the hallmark of this major and subject is that largely focuses upon African people, politics, identity, history, and culture, as well as such for those in the African Diaspora, and inherently, struggles for freedom throughout history.  Williams This academi c year marks 50 years of African studies at Williams. In recent history, the university has listed dozens of course offerings that range from learning of art (jazz theory, African dance) to dialogues on literary criticism, to political discourse (anti-black racism and the Obama Administration). Williams’ Africana studies curriculum also focuses on issues such as race and sexuality, as well as the history of slavery in the American south. The school additionally emphasizes discussion around the intersections of race, environment, and justice. VassarVassar’s Africana Studies program was also founded in 1969 out of student protest.  In addition to the major, Vassar offers what it calls “correlate sequences” in the many disciplines, a series of six courses outside of a student’s major that they wish to focus on. Within Vassar’s Africana Studies program, students can opt for a correlate sequence incorporating prison studies and Arabic language, among others, or choose from a variety of courses, including The Black Power Movement, Policing the Planet, Black Paris, Race and Gender, and classes in queer studies. BarnardBarnard’s Africana Studies program is unique for its focus on the school’s setting.   Harlem is virtually in Barnard’s backyard and is a focal point of the program, with a Harlem Semester offering that includes lectures from Barnard faculty and leaders of Harlem-based institutions. Africana Studies at Barnard focuses on the politics, culture, economics, history, and community activism of one of New York’s cornerstone neighborhoods. In addition, the curriculum includes courses in slave resistance in the U.S., African American women in music, and an array of others. Wellesley Wellesley offers myriad courses, including one that focuses on the works of W.E.B Dubois, the Black Church and Caribbean Culture. This program is also interesting for its focus on Swahili. Wellesley doesn’t only offer classes in Swahili, but there is also a Swa hili club affiliated with the school’s Africana Studies program, as well as a winter session abroad offering in East Africa.   Mount Holyoke  Part of the Five College Consortium, Mount Holyoke allows women to take classes in Africana Studies at five different schools. But students could presumably fulfill most of their requirements and then some at the school itself, which offers a vast array of classes, from development to the Black Metropolis, to Rastafari, and numerous courses in other departments that satisfy the major requirements. Moho as it’s affectionately called by its students additionally offers nine study abroad programs in Africa, the Caribbean, Asia and South America. Smith Africana studies majors at Smith are “strongly encouraged to study abroad.” The school also places a particular emphasis on Latin American culture, in addition to the African American experience. While the department itself offers a slew of courses to help majors satisfy their requirements, students can also choose from multiple related classes in other departments, including an anthropology course called Africa and the Environment and a psychology course on the black experience, among many others.  Hamilton  Hamilton College’s Africana Studies program offers concentrations in Africa, the Caribbean, the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. The course selection is robust and includes everything historical and contemporary, from Principles of Geoscience: Geology and Human Events in North Africa and the Middle East to a course on protest. There is also a focus on arts and literature: There’s a class called History of Jazz in the 1950s, and one called the History of Jazz Since the 1950s for good measure. The school encourages majors to spend a semester abroad and also engage in summer research.  Amherst  Amherst College has a program called Black Studies that shares some of the same educational goals as Africana Studies programs at other schools. The program focuses on history, culture, and literature of African, African American, Caribbean, and Latin American themes, as well as racism globally. Courses include Black Existentialism, Apartheid, and one on how African writers incorporate or utilize digital technology and the internet.  Colby Colby College admittedly does not have an Africana Studies program, but it does have an African American Studies program that explores connections between contemporary culture in the Americas and the African continent. The department’s aim is to focus on literary analysis, history, and culture of the African American and Caribbean experience. Courses include Black Radical Imaginations, Africa in New England/New England in Africa, and Anthropology of Creativity. Students are encouraged to study abroad or do off-campus study at historically black institutions in the U.S.   Bucknell Bucknell’s African Studies program emphasizes small classes and offers study abroad programs in South Africa, Ghana, and the Car ibbean. All students who major in African Studies at Bucknell are required to complete a thesis, along with eight other courses, including classes in Humanities, Arts, or Social Sciences.  Have other questions about finding the perfect Africana-focused degree? We’re experts at helping students find the best programs for them.    Call or email us.