3130 African-American Studies

3130 African-American Studies

3130 African-American Studies

Programs Offered:

  • Master of Arts in African-American Studies
  • Concentration in Community Empowerment
  • Concentration in Culture and Aesthetics

Department of African-American Studies
962 One Park Place South
Georgia State University
P.O. Box 4109
Atlanta, Georgia 30302
404-413-5135
aas.gsu.edu

AkinyelaUmoja, Chair
Sarita Davis, Graduate Director

The Department of African-American Studies offers a vibrant and highly competitive graduate program. The department’s Master of Arts degree is designed to provide students with a rigorous interdisciplinary training in the scholarly investigation of people of African descent. The faculty and the courses of the graduate program are drawn from the department and other academic units throughout the university.

The Master of Arts degree in African-American Studies offers two areas of concentrations: the Community Empowerment track and the Culture and Aesthetics track. The Community Empowerment concentration focuses on the historical and contemporary strategies to empower people of African descent. This track exposes the student to the political, economic, and policy responses to the impediments of African/African-American community development. The Culture and Aesthetics concentration focuses on the understandings and the interpretations of the philosophical, literary, and artistic contributions of people of African descent.

Students are prepared to pursue a doctorate in African-American Studies or other related disciplines in the social-sciences or the humanities. The M.A. degree in African-American Studies also enhances a career in government, education, the professional fields, and the non-profit sector.

Students seeking admission to the graduate program are admitted once a year to begin in the fall semester. All application materials are due by March 15th. Applicants may obtain additional information about the Department of African-American Studies by contacting the Director of Graduate Studies at the addresses above.

Additional Admission Requirements

In addition to the general admission requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of African-American Studies has the following admission requirements:

  1. Although an undergraduate degree in African-American Studies is not required, applicants are expected to have taken extensive coursework in African-American Studies.
  2. Applicants must have a 3.0 cumulative undergraduate grade point average.
  3. Applicants must submit a career goals statement (2-3 pages).
  4. Applicants must submit a writing sample of their previous scholarly work (10-20 pages)
  5. Applicants must submit three letters of recommendation which assess the ability of the student to undertake graduate study.

Degree Requirements

In order to earn a Master of Arts degree in African-American Studies, a student must complete 36 credit hours of graduate coursework:

  1. Students must complete fifteen(15)hours of core requirements
  2. AAS 6000Proseminar in African-American Studies (3)
  3. AAS 6005Theories in African-American Studies (3)
  4. AAS 6007Black Feminist Thought (3)
  5. AAS 6010Research Methods in African-American Studies (3)
  6. AAS 6012Qualitative Research Methods (3)
  7. AAS 6052African Women and Social Political Changes (3)
  8. Students must complete three (3) hours of global competency by completing either
  9. AAS 6050African Social Movements (3), or
  10. AAS 6052African Women and Social Movements (3)
  11. Students must complete twelve (12) credit hours of coursework in one of two areas of concentrations: Community Empowerment or Culture and Aesthetics:
  12. Community Empowerment: (12 credit hours)
    Students who select the Community Empowerment concentration must complete at least twelve (12) credit hours of designated Community Empowerment coursework:
  13. AAS 6015Methods in African American Oral History (3)
  14. AAS 6016Critical Pedagogy and African American Education (3)
  15. AAS 6020African-American Social Movements (3)
  16. AAS 6022The New African American Urban History and the Intervention of the Black Southern Diaspora (3)
  17. AAS 6025Seminar in African-American History (4)
  18. AAS 6026Seminar in African-American Women’s History (4)
  19. AAS 6027Seminar in Southern Black Freedom Struggle (4)
  20. AAS 6029African-American Political Participation (3)
  21. AAS 6030Dynamics of the African American Family (3)
  22. AAS 6032African-American Masculinity (3)
  23. AAS 6034African-American Women in the U.S. (3)
  24. AAS 6040African-American Community Empowerment (3)
  25. AAS 6042Diversity and Aging (3)
  26. AAS 6044African-American Anthropology (3)
  27. AAS 6050African Social Movements (3)
  28. AAS 6052Africana Women and Social Political Change (3)
  29. AAS 6055African Politics (3)
  30. AAS 6056Geography of Africa (3)
  31. AAS 6095Race, Class and Gender in Contemporary South Africa (3)
  32. Culture and Aesthetics: (12 credit hours)
    Students who select the Culture and Aesthetics concentration must complete at least twelve (12) credit hours of designated Culture and Aesthetics coursework:
  33. AAS 6060African Art (3)
  34. AAS 6062Contemporary African Art (3)
  35. AAS 6063Art of Egypt, NubiaMaghrib (3)
  36. AAS 6070African-American Literary Theory (3)
  37. AAS 607319th Century African-American Literature (3)
  38. AAS 607520th Century African-American Literature (3)
  39. AAS 6079African American Language (3)
  40. AAS 6080The Black Arts Movements (3)
  41. AAS 6082African-American Art (3)
  42. AAS 6090African-American Religion (3)
  43. AAS 6065Black Visual Representation: The Iconography of the African Diaspora (3)
  44. Students non-designated African-American Studies coursework requires prior approval from the graduate director.
  45. Students must complete at least six (6) credit hours ofAAS 8999Thesis Research.
  46. Students will have the option of completing a thesis or non-thesis option.
  47. Students must submit an approved thesis or approved non-thesis capstone experience for a community service project or creative works.
  48. Students must satisfactorily pass an oral thesis defense.
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