African American Studies, B.A.
African American Studies is an interdisciplinary program which offers undergraduate students an opportunity to study those societies and cultures established by the people of the African diaspora. The Department’s curriculum encourages students to investigate the African American experience from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and theoretical approaches. Among the topics explored in the course offerings are the process of colonization and the forced migration of African people, the positionality of African people in the racialized symbolic and social orders of the western hemisphere, the rhetoric produced by and about African people, and the cultural and aesthetic values associated with “blackness” and “Africanness.”
Requirements for the B.A. in African American Studies
All students must meet the University Requirements.
All students must meet the School Requirements.
Requirements for the Major
| A. Complete the following African American Studies introductory series: | |
| AFAM 40A | African American Studies I |
| AFAM 40B | African American Studies II |
| AFAM 40C | African American Studies III |
| B. Select three courses, with one from three of the following five rubrics: | |
| Humanities (AFAM 110–119) | |
| Gender/Sexuality (AFAM 120–129) | |
| History (AFAM 130–139) | |
| Fine Arts (AFAM 140–149) | |
| Social Sciences (AFAM 150–159) | |
| C. Select five additional upper-division electives from AFAM 110–159, 163. | |
| D. Complete: | |
| AFAM 162W | The Black Protest Tradition |
Residence Requirement for the Major: A minimum of five upper-division courses required for the major must be completed successfully at UCI.
UCI graduates with a B.A. in African American Studies enhance their chances of success in the job market and in the highly competitive arena of graduate and professional school admissions, especially in the fields of medicine and other health professions, law, and business. Employers and admissions officers understand that many of their employees and graduates will one day work in communities with significant African American populations, and for this reason they give due consideration to applicants who have in-depth knowledge of African American culture.