Undergraduate Degree
The major in Afro-American Studies requires a minimum of 30 credits. Students majoring in Afro-American Studies are required to select one area of concentration. Students concentrating in Areas 1 or 3 are required to select one area of emphasis within the concentration.
Area 1: Afro-American Culture
- Emphasis A: Literature
- Emphasis B: The Arts
Area 2: Afro-American History & Society
Area 3: Black Women's Studies
Majors specialize in one of the Areas, but must take at least one course from each Area. A maximum of 40 credits will be counted toward fulfillment of degree requirements. Special Topics courses may be repeated as topics vary. At least 15 credits in upper-level courses numbered above 300 must be taken in residence at UW–Madison.
In selecting introductory courses, majors should consult with the Undergraduate Advisor (Prof. Christina Greene, cgreene2@wisc.edu 262-4085, Room 4119 HC White) so each student may select those courses which best complement his/her overall program of study.
Area 1 (Culture)
Emphasis A (Literature)
All Area 1 majors selecting Emphasis A are required to take the following:
- Two (2) courses selected from the following:
- 155: Race in American Literature
- 222: Introduction to Black Women Writers
- 227: Masterpieces of African American Literature
- 265: Black Autobiography
- One (1) course selected from the following:
- 156: Black Music and American Cultural History
- 225: Introduction to African American Dramatic Literature
- 241: Introduction to African Art and Architecture
- 242: Introduction to Afro-American Art
- 367: Art and Visual Culture: Women of the African Diaspora and Africa
- Three (3) courses selected from the following:
- 403: Black Music in American Literary Culture
- 525: Major Authors
- 602: The Harlem Renaissance
- 603: The Black Arts Movement
- 605: Critical and Theoretical Issues in Afro-American Literature
- 662: Selected Topics in Multicultural American Literature
- 672: Selected Topics in Afro-American Literature
- 677: Critical and Theoretical Perspectives in Black Women’s Writing
Emphasis B (The Arts)
All Area 1 majors selection Emphasis B are required to take the following:
- Two (2) courses selected from the following:
- 156: Black Music and American Literary Culture
- 225: Introduction to African American Dramatic Literature
- 241: Introduction to African Art and Architecture
- 242: Introduction to Afro-American Art
- 367: Art and Visual Culture: Women of the African Diaspora and Africa,
- One (1) course selected from the following:
- 155: Race in American Literature
- 222: Introduction to Black Women Writers
- 227: Masterpieces of African American Literature
- 265: Black Autobiography
- Three (3) courses selected from the following:
- 303: Blacks, Film and Society
- 316: African American Music in Historical Perspective
- 366: Artistic/Cultural Images of Black Women
- 403: Black Music and American Literary Culture
- 509: Seminar in Afro-American Music History and Criticism
- 540: The Art of Afro-American Women in the United States
- 602: The Harlem Renaissance
- 603: The Black Arts Movement
- 669: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Arts
- 674: Selected Topics on Afro-American Artists
- 675: Selected Topics in Afro-American Culture
- 676: Contemporary Black American Art: History and Criticism
- 678: Modern/Contemporary Art of Nigeria and the African Diaspora
- 679: Visual Culture, Gender and Critical Race Theory
Additional credits may be taken from any courses offered by Afro-American Studies.
Area 2 Afro-American History & Society
All Area 2 majors are required to take one (1) selected from the following courses:
151: Introduction to Contemporary Afro-American Society
- 231: Introduction to Afro-American History
- 272: Race and American Politics from the New Deal to the New Right
- 297: African and African-American Linkages
- 347: Introduction to the History of Caribbean Societies
In addition, all Area 2 majors are required to take:
- Two (2) courses selected from the following:
- 233: History of Racial Protest Movements in America
- 302: Undergraduate Studies in Afro-American History
- 303: Blacks, Film and Society
- 324: Black Women in America: Reconstruction to the Present
- 326: Race and Gender in Post-World War Ⅱ U.S. Society
- 330: African/Afro-American Historical Relationships
- 443: Mutual perceptions of Racial Minorities
- 467: Slavery in the United States
- 628: History of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States
- Three (3) courses selected from the following:
- 519: African American Political Theory
- 567: History of African American Education
- 577: Blacks in Cities
- 624: African American Women’s Activism
- 631: Colloquium on Afro-American History
- 632: Historiography of Afro-American Studies
- 635: Afro-American History to 1900
- 636: Afro-American History since 1900
- 650: Seminar on Racial/Ethnic Idenity
- 671: Selected Topics in Afro-American History
- 673: Selected Topics in Afro-American Society
Additional credits may be taken from any courses offered by Afro-American Studies.
Area 3 Black Women's Studies
All Area 3 majors selecting Emphasis A are required to take the following:
- 221: Introduction to Black Women’s Studies
- Two (2) courses selected from the following:
- 222: Introduction to Black Women Writers
- 323: Gender, Race and Class: Women in U.S. History
- 324: Black Women in America: Reconstruction to the Present
- 326: Race and Gender in Post-World War Ⅱ U.S. Society
- 367: Art and Visual Culture: Women of the African Diaspora and Africa
- Three (3) courses selected from the following:
- 366: Artistic/Cultural Images of Black Women
- 423: Black Feminisms
- 521: African American Families
- 540: The Art of African American Women in the United States
- 624: African American Women’s Activism 19th and 20th Centuries
- 625: Gender, Race and the Civil Rights Movement
- 677: Critical and Theoretical Perspectives in Black Women’s Writings
- 679: Visual Culture, Gender and Critical Race Theory</ul>
Additional credits may be taken from any courses offered by Afro-American Studies.
