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Undergraduate Programs

Undergraduate Degree

B.A. in African American World Studies;
minor in African American Studies

Bachelor of Arts

Students may earn a Bachelor of Arts with a major in African American World Studies by following one of three programs of study: the African American Studies option (30 semester hours), the African American World Studies option (39 semester hours), or an African Studies option (33 semester hours). Transfer course work for application to the major is evaluated on an individual basis. The African American studies option focuses on Blacks in the United States and gives some attention to their culture and history in relation to the culture and history of Blacks elsewhere in the world. The African American world studies option places greater emphasis on interrelationships of Black history and cultures in various places in the world. The African studies option places emphasis on Africa. Students must earn a grade-point average of 2.00 or higher in all courses in their major program.

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African American Studies Option

Required Courses
129:060 Introduction to African American Society
129:061 Introduction to African American Culture

For majors in the program, 129:060-061 are prerequisite to 129:116-117 African American Literature I-II, 129:065 Introduction to African American History, 129:189 Themes in African American History, and 129:099 Senior Seminar.

129:065 Introduction to African American History
129:080 Critical Skills Seminar
129:099 Senior Seminar
129:116 African American Literature I
129:117 African American Literature II
129:189 Themes in African American History

Electives
Students must take 6 semester hours of electives in 129-prefix courses; they are encouraged to take at least 3 semester hours of these electives in courses focused on Africa or Blacks in the Caribbean.

Language Requirement
The language requirement for the African American studies option is the same as the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences General Education Program requirement in foreign language. See the College of Liberal Arts introductory section of the Catalog.

Core Courses
129:080 Critical Skills Seminar
129:163 Precolonial African History
129:164 African History Since 1880
141:007 Introduction to African Studies
141:180 Advanced Undergraduate Seminar in African Studies (usually taken during the senior year)

Language Requirement
African languages offered at The University of Iowa are Swahili and Yoruba. 129:015-016 Elementary Swahili I-II
and
29:017-018 Intermediate Swahili I-II
or
129:025-026 Elementary Yoruba I-II
and
129:027-028 Intermediate Yoruba I-II

Students also may fulfill the language requirement by demonstrating competence in another African language.

Humanities Electives
Two courses (6 semester hours) focused on Africa, chosen from the following art, history, and literature courses
141:030 Introduction to African Art
141:107 Art of West Africa
141:108 Art of Central Africa
141:111 The Art of Southern and Eastern Africa
141:112 The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Africa
141:202 Seminar: Problems in African Art
16W:119 African and Afro-American Interactions
141:123 Topics: Modern Africa
141:143 The History of South Africa
141:103 African Drama
141:119 African Literature
141:163 Francophone Literature of the African Diaspora
141:227 Three African Writers
141:240 Studies in African Francophone Literature

Social Science Electives
Two courses (6 semester hours) focused on Africa, chosen from the following
044:162 Geography of Underdevelopment
141:148 The Politics of Southern Africa
141:157 Peoples and Cultures of Africa
141:158 Myth, Magic, and Mind
141:159 Anthropology of African Art

African Content Elective
One course (3 semester hours) in African studies or having a significant African content, chosen from the following

01H:002 Art of Africa, Oceania, and Pre-Colombian America 01H:109 The Arts of the African Diaspora 030:150 The Political Economy of Developing Countries
044:094 International Development
044:157 Third World Development Support
044:162 Geography of Underdevelopment
044:194 Geographic Perspectives on Development
091:296 Law in Radically Different Cultures
113:134 Diaspora African Cultural and Political Movements
129:175 Black Action Theatre
141:110 African News Colloquium
141:115 Topics in African Studies

Diaspora Elective
One course (3 semester hours) focused on the experience of Blacks in the diaspora; the course should be chosen from these offered by the African American World Studies Program(see "African American World Studies" in this section of the Catalog).