College Life
College Life
Private Schools That Are Well Known for This Major
State Schools That Are Well Known for This Major
- University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
- University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill
- Rutgers University
- University of California—Los Angeles
- University of Maryland—College Park
Classes in the Major
African-American History. Wondering what African-Americans were up to during the American Revolution? The Civil War? Or our favorite era: Disco Fever? This class will outline it all. You'll also get a larger sense of how history is taught, and who really "writes" our countries' histories. ("The Man" has many names and faces.)
Geography of Africa. If there's one thing you know about Africa, it's that it's not in America. (Seriously. We checked.) But that's not going to cut it if you're majoring in African-American studies, buster. The people abducted from Africa and brought to America as slaves didn't instantly forget their homelands. There are tribal, cultural, and language differences between African peoples, and some of those differences echo in American culture today.
Duh. We think Southerners and "Yankees" are pretty different—we might have even had a war about it once. Africa is an even bigger continent with even more linguistic and cultural diversity.
American Civil Liberties. Sigh. We know you're hip to social justice issues these days, but not so long ago, people in America had to be convinced to give African-Americans any rights at all. We're talking about basic rights, like not being bought and sold, the right to vote, the right to own your own time, and to live where you want and marry who you want. You know, all that stuff that really should be taken for granted.
But you cannot now and couldn't then take "human rights" for granted. Assuming it's all good and we're all BFFLs now is precisely how some people end up free and others end up oppressed. The history and evolution of civil liberties in America is intimately tied to the African-American experience. Learn it, live it.
African-American Literature. You may have noticed that a lot of the classes in this major have "African-American" in the title. That's pretty useful when looking for them in the catalogue, so we're glad that you're highly observant. Maybe you don't need a college education after all.
Just kidding. In African-American literature courses, you'll be reading and analyzing African-American contributions to the literary canon. Most English classes, critics, publication houses, and so on have done a great job of promoting white authors. Here's your chance to explore books that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Philosophy of Race. What is race? Well, that's when two or more people run as fast as they can and whoever gets to a specific point quicker gets a shiny gold medal. No? Oh, you mean the other kind of race.
If, and how, race/ethnicity is biologically "real" is a hotly debated topic. We can, however, tackle the realities of race through philosophy, which is uniquely suited to answer such questions as: What does race mean? Why does race exist? Why does Plato always want to wrestle with the people he's debating?