The Department of African & African-American Studies (AAAS) will provide you with a unique center for studying the relationships among and between all people of African descent. In order to fulfill the mission of the AAAS department, you will investigate the connections between US and global histories, culture, and social and economic systems.  Black Studies, or Africana Studies more broadly, is an interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary approach to studying the experiences of African people, and African-descended people across the Diaspora.  It grew most directly out of campus demands made by black students, and their allies and supporters, during the mass protest movement of the late 1960's and early 1970's. 

From the outset, the goal of Africana Studies was to transform higher education, chiefly by addressing the lack of faculty and staff diversity; altering traditional curricula limited by Eurocentic paradigms; linking academic teachings and scholarship with social and civic engagement; and raising critical questions about the overall missions of higher education. 

The department area of of emphasis include art and culture, religion and rhetoric, families, gender and sexuality, and political economy.  Through scholarship, teaching, campus and community service, and public programming, the department promotes not only critical thinking and creative problem-solving, but also expands our understanding of citizenship in a rapidly changing, multiracial, global society. 

The Department also draws strength and vitality from three other units: the Kansas African Studies Center, The Langston Hughes Center and the Institute for Haitian Studies. 

Graduation requirements and regulations for every academic program are provided in this catalog. Degree requirements and course descriptions are subject to change. In most cases, you will use the catalog of the year you entered KU (see your advisor for details). Other years’ catalogs»

African & African-American Studies Major Requirements

Sample 4-year plans for the BA degree in African and African-American Studies here or by using the left-side navigation.

Sample 4-year plans for the BGS degree in African and African-American Studies can be found here or by using the left-side navigation.

At the completion of this program, students will be able to: 

• Grasp breadth of knowledge in Africa and its diaspora in the Americas and integrate acquired knowledge to analyze ideas and events through an interdisciplinary approach.
• Demonstrate knowledge of theories, methodologies and practices in the discipline in articulate written, oral or visual form, with appropriate emphasis on interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches and the ability to integrate disparate knowledges.
• Civic engagement has been a longstanding learning goal in AAAS. Students learn to demonstrate a sense of civic responsibility in African and African-American related public issues.
• Engage with communities of the African diaspora through research, service learning, community action, or a dialogue on a relevant topic in the field.

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. Consult the department and the Office of Study Abroad.