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African American Studies Major

African American Studies (AAS) at The College of New Jersey explores the complex life, culture, and history of persons of African descent in Africa and its Diaspora. Through the arts, humanities and social sciences, courses in AAS examine questions of racial and ethnic difference in ways that place persons of African descent at the center of the human story and scholarly discourse. AAS courses also reach beyond the shores of the US to give TCNJ students a global perspective on questions that are pertinent to their lives and frame national debate. AAS student-scholars learn theoretical and applied skills that are central to a liberal arts education. The department’s interdisciplinary and diasporic focus provides a comprehensive understanding of global Africana culture and history as well as US political, social, and cultural development. AAS students and faculty are committed to community outreach. To that end, the department and its curriculum have a long tradition of service to, and leadership in, “community-engaged learning” activities.

The major consists of the following coursework:

Required Core Courses (5 course units)

AAS 179 / HIS 179 – African-American History to 1865 (formerly AAS 205) 1 unit
African-American History to 1865 examines the history of African Americans from their ancestral home in Africa to the end of the United States Civil War.  The course encompasses introducing the cultures and civilizations of the African people prior to the opening up of the New World and exploring Black contributions to America up to 1865.
Meets College Core Categories: Civic Responsibility: Race/Ethnicity and Social Change in Historical Perspectives

AAS 180 / HIS 180 – African-American History 1865-Present (formerly AAS 206) 1 unit
African-American History 1865-Present examines the history of African Americans from the end of legal slavery in the United States to the civil rights revolution of the 1950s and 1960s.  The course is designed to explore the history of African Americans since the Reconstruction and their contributions to the civil rights revolution of the present era.
Meets College Core Categories: Civic Responsibility: Race/Ethnicity and Social Change in Historical Perspectives

AAS 378 / LIT 378 – African-American Literature 1920-1980 (formerly AAS 222 / LIT 282) 1 unit
A study of literature in the African American tradition, focusing on the realist, naturalist, and modernist writings of the 1940s, the prose, poetry, essays and speeches of the Black Arts Movement and contemporary African-American literature.  The course will also explore the canon o African-American Literature, its literary tradition, and the intersections with and diversions from the canon of American Letters.
Meets College Core Categories: Civic Responsibility: Race/Ethnicity and Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts

Co-Requisite in Methods/Statistics
Students must complete at least one (1) of the following courses (students should choose one that relates to their particular interests)

  • COM 390 – Methods of Communication Research Analysis [prereq. COM 103]
  • HIS 210 – Craft of History
  • LIT 201 – Approaches to Literature
  • CRI 306 – Research Methods [prereq. STA 115]
  • ECO 231 – Applied Economics and Business Statistics [prereq. STA 215 or equivalent]
  • NUR 328 – Research for the Health-Related and Social Sciences [prereq. STA 115]
  • PSY 121 – Methods and Tools
  • SOC 302 – Quantitative Research Methods [prereqs. STA 115 & SOC 101]
  • STA 215 – Inferential Statistics [prereq. MAT 125 or MAT 127]

Capstone Course
Students must complete the capstone course.

  • AAS 495 – Senior Capstone: Independent Research Study with an option of involving an internship

Major Electives (5 course units)

Five (5) courses chosen by student or advisement.  One (1) course must be on Africa and one (1) course must be in the Social Sciences.

  • AAS 170 – Topics in African-American Studies (occasionally)
  • AAS 179 / HIS 179 – African-American History to 1865
  • AAS 180 / HIS 180 – African-American History 1865-Present
  • AAS 201 / HON 220 – African and Diaspora Religious Traditions
  • AAS 207 / HIS 251 – Ancient and Medieval Africa (formerly AAS 351 / HIS 351)
  • AAS 208 / HIS 252 – Colonial and Modern Africa (formerly AAS 352 / HIS 352)
  • AAS 210 – Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in the English-Speaking Caribbean
  • AAS 211 – The Caribbean: A Socio-Historical Overview
  • AAS 235 / COM 235 – African-American Film
  • AAS 240 / MUS 245 – History of Jazz
  • AAS 251 – Harlem Renaissance When in Vogue
  • AAS 252 / WGS 252 – Gendering the Harlem Renaissance: Black Paris
  • AAS 270 – Topics in African American Studies
  • AAS 280 / WGS 260 – Women of African Descent in Global Perspective
  • AAS 281 / SOC 281 – The Sociology of Race in the U.S.
  • AAS 282 / HIS 190 – History of Race Relations in the U.S.
  • AAS 310 – Great Lives African-American History I
  • AAS 321 / JPW 321 – Topics: Race, Gender, and the News
  • AAS 335 / LIT 335 – Caribbean Women Writers
  • AAS 348 – African-American Music
  • AAS 353 / CRI 352 – Advanced Criminology: Race and Crime [prereq. CRI 205 or permission of instructor]
  • AAS 365 / INT 365 – African Cinema: Francophone African Experience Through Film
  • AAS 370 – Topics in African-American Studies (Cross-list: Varies)
  • AAS 375 / WGS 365 – Womanist Thought [prereqs. AAS 280, WGS 280 / Africana Women in Historical Perspective, or WGS 375 / Global Feminisms, or by permission of the instructor]
  • AAS 376 / HIS 365 / WGS 361 – Topics: African-American Women’s History
  • AAS 377 / LIT 377 – Early African-American Literature to 1920 (formerly AAS 221 / LIT 281)
  • AAS 378 / LIT 378 – African-American Literature 1920-1980 (formerly AAS 222 / LIT 282)
  • AAS 390 – Advanced Research in African Studies
  • AAS 391 – Independent Study
  • AAS 392 – Guided Study in Africana Studies
  • AAS 393 – Independent Research
  • AAS 477 – Honors in Africana Studies [prereqs. HON 220, HON 243, or by invitation]
  • AAS 495, 496 – Senior Thesis

Please be aware that nearly all AAS courses are cross-listed with courses in other departments. Students may enroll in either of the cross-listed courses to count towards the major.  The course does not have to have the AAS prefix as long as it is the cross-list of an AAS course.

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