Africana Studies (AFST)

Africana Studies is the study of the interrelated histories, politics, and cultural products of Africa and the African Diaspora in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, and elsewhere. As a field of inquiry, Africana Studies critically examines the intellectual traditions and experiences of Africans and diasporic communities from intra- and interdisciplinary perspectives. As such, Africana Studies includes African American, Caribbean, and African Studies. 

Africana Studies offers majors a multidisciplinary curriculum that examines the histories, narratives, intellectual traditions, music, art, politics, cultures, literatures, economies, social institutions, and identities of Africans and their descendants from the liberal arts perspective. It provides students with critical engagement with contemporary and historical concerns and self-expressions of African and African descended people. It also examines these experiences within the context of social relations with European, Euro-American, and other non-African communities. Africana Studies is a rich inter- and intradisciplinary major.

Africana Studies majors will become competent writers through their engagement with the wide array of writing tasks required in our courses. Public speaking instruction will occur as a facet of the oral presentation assignments in many of our courses, but specifically required in our two core classes. Through the research skills acquired in our foundational classes, the classes that constitute the major, students will gain information literacy and will be required to demonstrate that literacy through completion of a thesis in their senior year.   

Africana Studies majors must complete nine courses from the following categories, including an independent study, the object of which is to complete a thesis, which will fulfill the Culminating Experience. Courses must be selected in consultation with a departmental adviser. 

Africana Studies Major Requirements  (9 courses)

Courses in area specialties are distributed both divisionally and geographically. Students must take the following number of courses out of the approved list of Africana divisional courses: two in social sciences, two in humanities, and one in the arts. These courses must include the following geographic groupings: one course on Africa, one course on African America, and one course on either the Caribbean or Afro-Latin communities. Courses may count simultaneously for the division and region/spatial community requirements. (As such, a single course may fulfill both a humanities and an Africa requirement.)

Students will fulfill the Culminating Experience by completion of a thesis in an area of Africana Studies. Students will register for an independent study in the fall of their senior year with their faculty adviser. The thesis topic must be confirmed in writing in consultation with the faculty adviser by the end of each student’s junior year. [See Honors Council website for consideration as an honors thesis; however, theses do not have to be submitted to the Honors Council to count as the Culminating Experience major requirement for Africana Studies.] For particular information about the process for pursuing an honors thesis, please see https://my.bucknell.edu/x56270.html. Faculty advisers will determine successful completion of the thesis/Culminating Experience requirement by submission of the grade for the independent study.

Africana Studies majors will become competent writers through their engagement with the wide array of writing tasks required in our courses. Public speaking instruction will occur as a facet of the oral presentation assignments in many of our courses, but specifically required in our two core classes. Through the research skills acquired in our foundational classes (the classes that constitute the major), students will gain information literacy and will be required to demonstrate that literacy through completion of a thesis in their senior year. 

**For a current list of courses that contribute to the Africana Studies Program, please visit the Africana Studies webpage at www.bucknell.edu/arts-and-sciences-college-of/academic-departments-and-programs/africana-studies/course-descriptions.html

The Africana Studies major enjoys a relationship with Bucknell’s Griot Institute for Africana Studies. The activities, programs, and projects of the Institute coalesce and interface with the objectives and goals of the major. Africana Studies majors and minors are encouraged to engage with the opportunities presented by the Institute’s programming. 

Students majoring in Africana Studies are strongly encouraged to spend a semester or a summer abroad, preferably in Africa or the Caribbean. Bucknell en France (when appropriate), Bucknell in Barbados, Bucknell in Ghana, Bucknell in the Caribbean, and Bucknell in South Africa programs are particularly encouraged. In addition, the department strongly recommends that students take four semesters of a language spoken in the African Diaspora, e.g. Arabic, French, Spanish, or an African language.

African-American Studies Minor

The African-American experience is directly and inextricably embedded in the history and culture of the United States. As an interdisciplinary field, African-American Studies is concerned with the systematic investigation of the history, culture, political economy, literature, art, and languages of people of African descent in the United States and their contributions to the United States and to the world. The African-American Studies minor is a way of educating all students about black experiences and developing in them an understanding and appreciation of the life and history of peoples of African ancestry in the United States, and thus move toward a more comprehensive view of life and history in the United States generally.

By offering students opportunities to gain knowledge of this history and experience, an African-American Studies minor affirms black identity and heritage, fosters understanding, respect, and appreciation of diversity, and better prepares students for life in a multicultural society.

The interdisciplinary structure of the African-American Studies minor offers students directed toward the professions and graduate schools an opportunity to satisfy the increasingly rigorous expectations of admissions committees and prospective employers for a broad liberal arts perspective that complements specialized knowledge. African-American Studies provides a background for those considering careers in education, journalism, law, business management, public service, psychology, social work, and literature.

The interdepartmental minor in African-American Studies consists of five courses that must be taken in three different disciplines. A minimum of four courses must be selected from the following list. In consultation with the coordinators of the minor, students may count one course from either the African Studies or Caribbean Studies list.

African Studies Minor

The interdepartmental African Studies minor gives an understanding of Africa’s rich heritage, diversity and role in the world today, and contributes an international focus to a liberal arts education. It consists of five courses chosen from the list below. Students must take at least three core courses, and they may choose any two other courses from the list below. If possible, at least one course should be related to the student’s major. In consultation with the coordinators of the minor, students may include an Africa-related course from the African-American or Caribbean Studies list. In general, there are no prerequisites for the courses on the African Studies minor list.

Core Courses:

Other African Studies Courses:

Courses taken in summer or in semester-long or year-long programs in Africa may count toward the minor.

Caribbean Studies Minor

The Caribbean Studies minor is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the Caribbean region that moves beyond stereotypes and exoticism. In the various courses offered, students are able to explore the complexities of the region’s economy and various economic organizations, its cultures, societies, histories, geo-political significance, and literatures.

The minor serves as an important supplement for those students who are studying international relations, sociology, anthropology, economics, literature, and politics, among other disciplines. Combining Caribbean Studies with a major in one of the aforementioned areas contributes not only to the broadening of the horizon of the student but provides a strong basis for pursuing graduate opportunities in such areas as development planning, development economics, international relations, sociology, anthropology, postcolonial literature, cultural studies, gender studies, and area studies. Other students may find that a background in Caribbean Studies is useful in seeking employment in the foreign service, AID agencies, in many international organizations, and in non-governmental organizations.

The interdepartmental minor in Caribbean Studies consists of five courses selected from the following list. No more than two courses may be taken in any one department.

1. To encourage students to explore and cross-pollinate the undeveloped and unimagined intersections between Africana Studies and the arts, humanities, social sciences, and other disciplines;
2. To provide innovative and unique opportunities for Bucknell’s students to engage with and to experience the intellectual and artistic endeavors and cultural products of the Africana world.

Faculty

Associate Professor: P. Khalil Saucier (Director)

Assistant Professor: Jaye Austin Williams

Affiliated Faculty: Marcellus Andrews (Economics), Nina E. Banks (Economics), Raphael Dalleo (English), Michael Drexler (English), Katherine M. Faull (Languages, Cultures & Linguistics-German, Comparative Humanities), Cymone Fourshey (History, International Relations), Carmen Gillespie (English), Renée K. Gosson (Languages, Cultures & Linguistics-French), Mai-Linh Hong (English), Michael R. James (Political Science), Michelle C. Johnson (Anthropology), Nicholas Jones (Spanish), Angèle M. Kingué (Languages, Cultures & Linguistics-French), Barry Long (Music), Elena Machado Sáez (English), Dustyn Martincich (Theatre & Dance), Shara McCallum (English), Meenakshi Ponnuswami (English), Geoffrey E. Schneider (Economics), Anthony F. Stewart (English), Atiya Stokes-Brown (Political Science), T. Joel Wade (Psychology), Carol Wayne White (Religious Studies), Thelathia Nikotris Young (Women's and Gender Studies)