Africana Studies - Historical and Political Development | Bachelor's degree | Humanities & Culture | On Campus | California State University, Dominguez Hills | USA

The Department of Africana Studies in the College of Arts and Humanities offers a major and a minor in Africana Studies. Africana Studies is primarily a discipline which investigates the social, cultural, political and aesthetic dimensions of Africana peoples' experiences. These experiences range from earliest human civilizations through the tragic era of enslavement, colonization and involuntary dispersal through forced migration and displacement of African peoples. The intellectual framework that sets Africana Studies apart from other disciplines is that it explores the subject area from the perspective of Africana peoples' interests, aspirations, possibilities, and envisioned destinies. The foundation of the discipline rests on an understanding and appreciation of African peoples' worldview and philosophy of life as the starting point for all Africana intellectual inquiry. The BA degree and minor program offered by the department emphasizes an examination of the theoretical and empirical characteristics of the African world experience from both a contemporary and historical perspective. The Department of Africana Studies participates in the University's M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies (Special Major) program. Interested candidates should contact the chair of Africana Studies or the Coordinator of the M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies program. This concentration focuses on examining African peoples, societies, and nations from the perspective of their historical and political experiences from antiquity to the present. The concentration covers ancient civilizations, institutional formation, political thought, political and economic systems; leadership, ethnicity, race, color and gender relationships; and local, national, regional and international politics in Africana societies and nations. Related seminar may be chosen from other disciplines with the approval of the advisor and the chair of Africana Studies.