Curriculum

The Department offers a major, a minor in its general program as well as a multidisciplinary minor in Caribbean Studies. The major may be combined with various certification sequences for teaching certification in elementary education or a subject field.

The Department also provides various courses to satisfy the University's general education and non-Western requirements, as well as general education electives that are intended to enrich the liberal education of all students. In particular, the program seeks to integrate analyses of race, class and gender issues; and is oriented also to those interested in the sustainable development of local area communities and leadership opportunities for public service.

The Department offers a minor in Caribbean Studies. The goal of the minor is to provide an interdisciplinary coherent program of study that broadens knowledge and awareness of the historical, cultural, political, and economic characteristics of the Caribbean region. In this respect, upper level students are encouraged to pursue options of experimental learning about the Caribbean through field research and supervised study projects in the region.

All majors take 12 credits of required core courses, 12 credits in an area of concentration, of which at least two should be at the 300 level or above and 12 elective credits, three from each of five subject areas other than the selected area of concentration.

Required Core Courses: 12 Credits
Unless otherwise noted, all courses are 3 credits

Plus one of the following:

	Course Title	Level
AACS 480	Internship in African, African-American and Caribbean Studies	Senior Year
AACS 498	Seminar in African, African-American and Caribbean Studies	Senior Year

Electives: 12 Credits
Select 12 credit hours, from any four of the six subject areas with at least two of these at the 300 level.


Concentrations: 12 Credits
Each major chooses 12 credit hours in one specific area of concentration below to acquire in-depth knowledge in a substantive dimension of the African- American experience.

Major Concentration or Subject Areas

Historical Area of Concentration

	Course Title	Level
AACS 215	African History I	Sophomore Year
AACS 216	African History II	Sophomore Year
AACS 241	African-American History to 1865	Freshman Year
AACS 242	African-American History Since 1865	Freshman Year
AACS 304	African-Caribbean History	Junior Year
AACS 315	African-American Background for Teachers	Junior / Senior Year
AACS 321	Haiti: ITS History, People & Culture	Junior Year

Socio- Psychological Area of Concentration

	Course Title	Level
AACS 207	Racism and the Mass Media	Freshman Year
AACS 214	African-American Family Life	Freshman Year
AACS 261	African, African-American and Caribbean Religion	Sophomore Year
AACS 303	African Family Life	Junior Year
AACS 355	The Black Woman Experience	Junior Year
AACS 358	Psychology of African Americans	Junior / Senior Year
AACS 362	Caribbean Women: Their culture and society in the Caribbean	Junior Year
AACS 401	African-American Social Thought	Senior Year

Political Area of Concentration

	Course Title	Level
AACS 244	African-American Politics	Sophomore Year
AACS 310	Recent Interpretations in African-American Studies	Senior Year
AACS 338	African Politics	Junior Year
AACS 341	Contemporary Caribbean Societies	Junior / Senior Year
AACS 385	Gender, Ethnic and Racial Tensions	Junior / Senior Year
AACS 402	Pan-Africanism and the Black Experience	Senior Year

Socio-Cultural Area of Concentration

	Course Title	Level
AACS 208	African, African-American and African-Caribbean Dance	Freshman / Sophomore Year
AACS 209	Gospel Choir	Freshman / Sophomore Year
AACS 211	Blues to Rap and Hip Hop: Exploring African, African-American Cultural Art Forms	Sophomore / Junior Year
AACS 212	African-American Music	Freshman Year
AACS 213	African, African-American and Caribbean Theatre	Sophomore Year
AACS 217	African Music-I	Sophomore / Junior Year
AACS 218	African Music-II	Sophomore / Junior Year
AACS 233	Introduction to the Art of Africa	Freshman Year
AACS 400	The Black Experience in the Film Industry	Senior Year

Literature Area of Concentration

	Course Title	Level
AACS 151	Introduction to African World Literature	Sophomore / Junior Year
AACS 311	Studies in African-World Literature	Junior / Senior Year
AACS 312	Major Authors of African Descent	Junior / Senior Year
AACS 322	Caribbean Literary Experience I	Junior Year
AACS 323	Caribbean Literary Experience II	Junior / Senior Year
AACS324	African Communities and Cultures in the New World	Junior / Senior Year
AACS 328	The African-American Literary Experience I	Junior / Senior Year
AACS 329	The African-American Literary Experience II	Junior / Senior Year

Urban and Community Development Area of Concentration

	Course Title	Level
AACS 280	Minority Enterprises	Sophomore Year
AACS 298	Student Community Service	Sophomore Year
AACS 305	African-American Community Development	Junior Year
AACS 412	Fundamentals of Social Work	Junior Year
AACS 420	Economic Structure of the Black Community	Senior Year

Independent Studies (1 - 6 credits)

	Course Title	Level
AACS 499	Independent Study	Junior / Senior Year

Graduate Course Offerings

	Course Title	Level
AACS 506	Nation Building and Modernization in Africa	Also course offering for the M.Ed. in Social Studies Education
AACS 606	People and Cultures of Africa	Also course offering for the M.Ed. in Social Studies Education
AACS 618	Third World Social and Political Thought
AACS 621	History of Blacks in America	Also course offering for the M.Ed. in Social Studies Education
AACS 622	Contemporary Black America	Also course offering for the M.Ed. in Social Studies Education
AACS 624	Social Organization of Justice
AACS 599	Selected Topics
AACS 700	Independent Study

Minor Requirements: 18 Credits

Required Core Courses: 3 Credits
Unless otherwise noted, all courses are 3 credits

Electives: 15 Credits

Select 15 additional credits, three (3) from any five (5) of the six major areas.

Multidisciplinary Minor in Caribbean Studies: 18 Credits

Required Courses: 9 Credits
Unless otherwise noted, all courses are 3 credits

	Course Title
AACS 100	Introduction to AACS
AACS 304	African-Caribbean History
AACS 341	Contemporary Caribbean Societies
AACS 380	Research Methods on the African, African- American and Caribbean Experience

Electives: 9 Credits

Select three courses or 9 credit hours from at least two of the following disciplinary areas:

African, African- American and Caribbean Studies

	Course Title
AACS 101	African, African-American and Caribbean Dance
AACS 261	African, African-American and Caribbean Religions
AACS 262	Caribbean Women: Their Culture and Society in the Caribbean
AACS 321	Haiti: It's History, People and Culture
AACS 322	Caribbean Literary Experience I
AACS 323	Caribbean Literary Experience II
AACS 324	African Communities and Cultures in the New World
AACS 402	Pan-Africanism and the Black Experience
AACS 499	Independent Study and Research

Languages and Cultures

	Course Title
FR337	French Literature of Canada, the Antilles and Africa
SPAN 302	Caribbean Culture and Literature of the 20th Century

Political Science

	Course Title
POL 338	Caribbean Political Systems

History

	Course Title
HIST 382	Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Caribbean World

Communication

	Course Title
COMM 340	Interculural Communication