Description of the Program

The AACS Department at William Paterson University offers a rigorous academic program structured around a set of core courses, substantive areas of concentration and a number of multidisciplinary electives, with emphasis on academic competence, research and preparation for graduate school and the professions. The core sequence outlines the scope and technical aspects of the field as a serious academic and professional program; while the concentration areas enable the student to pursue a focused study of those historical, economic, socio-psychological and cultural forces that will continue to shape the community and national development of both Continental Africans and Africans in the Diaspora during the new millenium.

Challenging Programs

The Department offers a major, a minor in its general program as well as a multidisciplinary minor in Caribbbean 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 who are 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 experiential learning about the Caribbean through field research and supervised study projects in the region.

Special Programs and Opportunities

The Department is in the process of creating an Expressive Culture Unit (which will feature a Jazz Ensemble, a Dance Ensemble, poetry, art and drama) and an international refereed scholarly journal - The Literary Griot:International Journal of Black Expressive Culture Studies. The Department also organizes art exhibits, poetry recitals, faculty symposia, and a series of public lectures by noted scholars in the field. Several AACS courses carry a community service or internship component. AACS faculty are advisors to several social, academic and cultural Black Student Clubs.