African-American World Studies Program
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242-1408
Phone: 319-335-2632
Fax: 319-335-0319
e-mail:   afam-world-studies@uiowa.edu

Office Hours: 9-12, 1-3:30

Memo from Dean Maxson and the Report of the Advisory Committee on African American Studies

Please read the Dean's memo and the Report of the Advisory Committee before proceeding further, since both announce significant developments affecting the AAWS major and graduate program.

• Faculty
• Graduate Programs
• Undergraduate Programs
• Courses
• Co-curricular Activities

African American World Studies focuses on the study of people of the African diaspora, particularly in the United States. African American World Studies is interdisciplinary, drawing cooperating faculty from American studies, anthropology, art, education, English, French, geography, history, political science, Spanish and Portuguese, sociology, and women's studies.

Because a thorough understanding of African American and African cultures cannot be achieved through study restricted to the perspective of a single discipline, all students are required to pursue courses in both humanities and social sciences. African American world studies continually expands its perspectives by developing or cross-listing courses that fuse the knowledge drawn from many disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.

The department originated in 1969 through courses intended to foster awareness of African Americans' role in the development of the United States; those courses also were designed to promote understanding of the conditions and concerns of African Americans. Since then, the courses have been organized into a curriculum that includes a Bachelor of Arts in African American world studies, an undergraduate minor in African American studies, a Master of Arts in African American studies, and concentrations of African American studies in programs leading to a B.A., M.A., or Ph.D. in American studies. Students seeking the Ph.D. in English or history also can organize courses in African American literature or African American history into a special field or cognate area.

Although most of the students in the Ph.D. program are preparing to work as teachers and administrators in colleges and universities, the B.A. and M.A. programs provide valuable backgrounds for many other students seeking careers in community work, public school teaching, religion, government, political science, and law.