College of Arts and Sciences

Departmental E-mail: aaads [at] indiana [dot] edu

Departmental URL: https://aaads.indiana.edu/index.html

(Please note that when conferring University Graduate School degrees, minors, certificates, and sub-plans, The University Graduate School’s staff use those requirements contained only in The University Graduate School Bulletin.)

Curriculum

Curriculum
Courses
Faculty

Program Information

The multidisciplinary Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies (AAADS) seeks to:

1. create and share with academic and nonacademic com­munities scholarship of the highest quality dealing with the broad range of the African American and African Diaspora experience;
2. promote the study and understanding of the historical and contemporary connections among Africans, African Ameri­cans, and other New World black communities; and
3. affirm the democratic tradition of equal opportunity for all by combating all forms of discrimination based on ethnic­ity, gender, class, and religious differences. The department assumes the ongoing responsibility of creating materials and conducting seminal research that aids in the develop­ment and shaping of African American and African Diaspora Studies as a discipline.

Master of Arts Degree in African American and African Diaspora Studies

The Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Indiana University is committed to being one of the world's leading multi- and interdisciplinary graduate studies programs focused on peoples of African descent in the United States in comparison to African-descent peoples in other glo­balized contexts. With an emphasis on diverse epistemologies, theories, methodologies, ethical considerations, and innovative teaching pedagogies, our goals are:

1. to offer students an intense program in the examination of African American and Diasporic African descent issues in and outside the United States including their transna­tional continuities and discontinuities;
2. to encourage students to develop and/or fine-tune excel­lent skills in areas such as creative research, writing, oral communication, technology intercultural competence and collaborative research;
3. to provide students with invaluable intellectual training by bridging curriculum content and practical experience gained from course content in oral history, survey, and ethnographic field work, museums and library archives, and internship opportunities with a range of agencies, organizations, and institutions;
4. to sustain a learning environment in which students create and refine critical questions, develop problem solving skills, and synthesize intellectual bridges between the arts, humanities, and social sciences with emphasis on interpretations of African American experiences in the United States and abroad;
5. to give students excellent research foundations in the humanities, the social sciences, and other interdisciplinary fields;
6. to prepare students for a broad spectrum of career opportunities in areas such as academia, creative and performing arts, nonprofit management, public policy, urban studies, conflict resolution, and social services.

The purposes of the M.A. degree are:

1. to offer students an intense program in the analysis of Afri­can American issues;
2. to expose students to both historical and current method­ological approaches;
3. to expose students to issues throughout the African Diaspora;
4. to refine critical and problem-solving skills in both the hu­manities and social sciences;
5. to extend a sound basis for those going into a doctoral program; and
6. to prepare students for administrative, teaching, communi­cation, and social service careers.

In sum, the program provides a theoretical base of knowledge, methods of research, and a context for analyzing African Ameri­can and Diaspora experiences that can be invaluable either in further graduate studies or in a specific job or career choice.

Admission Requirements

The program is open to any eligible student with a bachelor's degree from an accredited college. Applicants must have a minimum grade point average (G.P.A.) of 3.0. Letters of recommendation, a brief personal essay, a high quality writing sample, and G.R.E. scores are the main sources of information upon which decisions will be made.

Course Requirements

All students will complete a minimum of thirty-two (32) credit hours with a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average. The degree offers graduate students two different tracks or specializations to focus their course work—“Power, Citizenship, and the State” and “Race, Representation, and Knowledge Systems”— which reflect the current state of the field and take advantage of the traditional strengths of the department, its adjunct faculty, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Bloomington campus.

Core Curriculum for the M.A. in African American and African Diaspora Studies:

Students will also complete six (6) required courses (for a 23 cr. total) composed of the following:

• A500 Intro to AAADS (3 cr.)
• A556 Race and Culture (4 cr.) orA557 Race and Politics (4 cr.)
• A605 Race and the Global City I (4 cr.) or 606 Race and the Global City II (4cr.)
• A696 Interdisciplinary Methods (4 cr.)
• A690 Core Readings (4 cr.)
• A698 Field Study (4 cr.)

 Students will choose topically appropriate electives offered in AAADS or by other faculty (9 credits). Students may choose from the following courses in AAADS for their electives.

• A691 ProSeminar on Historical and Cultural Studies (3 cr.)
• A692 ProSeminar on Writings and Literature (3 cr.)
• A693 ProSeminar on Social and Behavioral Sciences (3 cr.)
• A694 ProSeminar on Performing, Visual and Material Arts (3 cr.)

Choices of electives outside the department can be taken per discussion with the graduate advisor. Please note all departmental electives must be subject relevant, especially if they are offered outside the College of Arts and Sciences.

Foreign Language

The College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate Division, requires students to satisfy the foreign language requirement by showing satisfactory completion of coursework or passing a language proficiency exam in the foreign language of their choice. Students should consult with their advisor regarding an appropriate language for the field. Proficiency in a foreign language may be demonstrated by passing a proficiency exam administered by one of Indiana University’s foreign language departments, or earning a grade of “B” or better in a graduate reading course offered by a foreign language department. Students eligible to use English as a second language to fulfill the graduate language requirement should contact the Center for English Language Training (C.E.L.T.) for details. See the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) regarding any additional information, which may include the following stipulation:

If a graduate student enrolls in a literature or civilization course numbered 300 or higher, the reading for the course is done in the foreign language (Catalan, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, or Spanish), and if the student completes the course with a grade of ‘B’ or better, the University Graduate School will accept the individual readings courses or correspondence courses for this purpose.

Students are required to enroll in 6 hours of any foreign language certified by the graduate school. M.A. candidates may satisfy the foreign language requirement by showing satisfactory completion of course work or passing a language proficiency exam.

Each student must complete a thesis, a creative project, an examination (written and including an oral defense), or two publishable seminar papers. If the student chooses to write a thesis, an oral defense of their thesis must be convened prior to the granting of the degree. In the case of a creative project, a public presentation is required in addition to the oral defense and analytical or creative written component. Students who choose to write publishable papers are also required to give an oral presentation.

M.A. Examination and Publishable Paper Requirements

Examination procedures

The M.A. exam is evaluated by an Examining Committee.  Students will file the Application for the M.A. Examination with the Graduate Secretary one month prior to the examination.                                       

The results of the exam will be graded pass, distinction or fail.  Passing the exam requires that each of the four examination answers has been passed by the examiners.  A pass “with distinction” requires that all four examination answers have been graded as “distinction” by the examiners. If two or more of the examination answers are graded as fails by the examiners, the student is required to retake the failed portions of the exam.  

All exams with fewer than three passed questions will be reviewed by the Graduate Studies Committee, in consultation with the Examining Committee, to determine whether a new assessment is warranted. 

Following the student’s completion of the written portion of the examination (which should be scheduled for a date either in January or May), the Examining Committee must report the results of the written exam to the Director of Graduate Studies within three weeks. The oral exam must be scheduled within 7 days following the reporting of the written results. The oral will cover topics related to the written questions, as well as areas of general knowledge that may evolve in the course of the oral examination. Passing the oral requires students to demonstrate a keen knowledge and understanding of information in the field of Africana Studies equal to or beyond the written portion of the exam.  

Examination results will be reported to the student by the Director of Graduate Studies.  In the instance of a failing exam, the Director of Graduate Studies will hold a face-to-face- meeting with the student and will provide a written evaluation of the exam. 

Students who fail the M.A. Exam in whole will be notified and then placed on academic probation.  Such students will have the opportunity to retake the exam questions that they failed during a subsequent regularly scheduled examination period.  Any student who fails the examination a second time will be formally dismissed from the program.  

The above policy regarding dismissal from the program also applies to students who fail the oral twice. Retake of the oral exam will be based upon the original written exam that the student will have taken and passed. Students must reschedule the oral that they failed within one month after the first oral examination period.                      

Publishable Papers Option

In consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies, students may form a committee of three AAADS faculty tasked with helping him/her with the creation of two publishable papers, which may grow out of a seminar class in AAADS.   The papers may, for example: (a) develop a compelling idea about black culture combined with a new cultural and social understanding of issues and concepts exemplified by scholarly literature in the field of Africana Studies; (b) critique a defining historical moment in the life and culture of black people. For example, a student may demonstrate how, particularly after the civil rights period, DuBois’s notion of “double consciousness” has been trumped by a post-racial society; (c)  examine  a  phenomenon that refocuses attention  on how black Americans adapt to their sociocultural world.  For example, how does the content of black culture help address fundamental questions of human existence?

Prior to the presentation of the two publishable papers to the AAADS faculty, the student must have submitted one of the papers to a refereed journal for review. Letters or e-mails from editors will constitute evidence of submission and/or acceptance of the student’s essay for publication in a refereed journal. The two-hour presentation of the two publishable papers will involve critical questions from the student’s essay/paper examining committee, plus the AAADS faculty, adjuncts and graduate students. Within three weeks following the two presentations, the student’s Essay/Paper Examining Committee will meet and determine whether the student has successfully created and defended the ideas inherent in the publishable papers.

Dual M.A./M.F.A. in African American and African Diaspora Studies (Master of Arts) and the Creative Writing Program (C.W.) (Master of Fine Arts) 

Requirements (26 credit hours minimum)

• Required courses in AAADS (10-12)
• Electives (12 credits minimum): Students should take courses organized around a topical concentration, regional or comparative. These courses are to be selected from the range of AAADS and those cross-listed A.A.A.D.S. in the College and several professional schools with the approval of the student’s major advisors in C.W. and AAADS.
• A698 Field Study Seminar (4-8): research and preparation of thesis essay. Students can take two semesters of A698 at four hours per semester. (one semester in thesis research and one semester for thesis writing).
• Language requirement (two semesters – 6 hours)

MFA Requirements (At least 60 credit hours--48 in residence)

• 16 hours of workshops (poetry or fiction)
• Four courses (12-16 hours) in AAADS literature, culture, and history, at least two of which must be at the 600 level or above
• W554 Teaching Creative Writing
• W664 Topics in Current Literature or W680 Theory and Craft of Writing
• 10 elective graduate hours
• Maximum of 12 hours for thesis credit
• Thesis
• Please see director of creative writing for course approval or AAADS director of graduate studies for courses outside the College of Arts and Sciences.

 Foreign Language Requirements (two semesters)

• MA/MFA students may satisfy the foreign language requirement by showing satisfactory completion of course work or passing a language proficiency exam. Language requirements should be met as soon as possible, beginning immediately after matriculation at I.U. A student is expected to be working on fulfilling the language requirements every semester until they are completed.

Dual M.A./M.L.S. in African American and African Diaspora Studies (Master of Arts) and the Department of Information and Library Science (Master of Library Science)

The dual M.A./M.L.S. program requires completion of a minimum of 58 credit hours of graduate course work. (The degrees if completed separately would require 68 credit hours.) Students must apply for admission to the master's programs of both African American and African Diaspora Studies and the Department of Information and Library Science and meet the admis­sions criteria established for each. The two degrees must be awarded at the same time.

M.A. in African American and African Diaspora Studies

Requirements (28 credit hours minimum)

General Requirement (12 cr.)

• A500 Introduction to African American and African Diaspora Studies, (3 cr.)
• A690 Core Readings in African American and African Diaspora Studies (4 cr.)

Proposed Graduate Internship

A686 Graduate Internship in African American and African Diaspora Studies (4 cr.)

Specialization (12 cr. minimum):
Students should take a minimum of 9 graduate hours in one of the two tracks in African American and African Diaspora Studies. An additional 3 graduate hours should be taken in an elective.

• A. Thesis A698 Field Study Seminar (4 cr.)
• Master of Library Science Requirements (30 credit hours)
• Completion of the M.L.S. Foundation courses (18 cr.)
• Either Information and Library Science Z623 Information in the Humanities or
• Information and Library Science Z625 Information in the Social Sciences (3 cr.)
• Information and Library Science elective courses (9 cr.)

Dual M.A./M.P.A. in African American and African Diaspora Studies (Master of Arts) and School of Public and Environmental Affairs (Master of Public Affairs)

Students must apply separately to and be accepted into both the African American and African Diaspora Studies Master of Arts degree program and the O’Neill School of Public and Environmen­tal Affairs (SPEA) Master of Public Affairs (MPA) degree program. Students must indicate on both application forms that they are applying for the AAADS/O’Neill dual degree.

M.A. in African American and African Diaspora Studies Requirements (28 credit hours minimum)

General Requirement (12 cr.):

• A500 Introduction to African American and African Diaspora Studies, (3 cr.) 
• A690 Core Readings in African American and African Diaspora Studies (4 cr.)

Proposed Graduate Internship

A686 Graduate Internship in African American and African Diaspora Studies (4 cr.)

Specialization (12 cr. minimum):

Students should take a minimum of 9 graduate hours in one of the two tracks in African American and African Diaspora Studies. An additional 3 graduate hours should be taken in an elective.

• Thesis A698 Field Study Seminar (4 cr.)

M.P.A. of Public Affairs Requirements (36 cr. minimum)

M.P.A. Core (24cr.)

• SPEA-F 560 Public Finance and Budgeting (3 cr.)
• V506 Statistical Analysis for Effective Decision Making (3 cr.)
• SPEA-V 512 Public Policy Process or V538 Comparative and International Policy Process (3 cr.)
• V532 Social Equity and Justice in Public Affairs (1.5 cr.)
• V535 Managing and Leading in Public Affairs (3 cr.)
• V536 Rights and Responsibilities: How Law Shapes Public Affairs (1.5 cr.)
• V537 Designing and Managing Complex Projects (1.5 cr)
• V548 Evidence-Based Decision Making (1.5) cr.
• V600 Capstone in Public and Environmental Affairs (3 cr.)

Specialized Concentration (18 cr.)

Students are required to develop specialized concentrations comprised of courses approved by SPEA faculty advisors.

Doctor of Philosophy Degree

The interdisciplinary doctoral degree in African American and African Diaspora Studies (AAADS) focuses on the experiences of people of African descent in the United States, in the African Diaspora, and in the world. These shared experiences—among them, slavery, emancipation, imperialism, decolonization, and racism—warrant close attention, and mark this field (Black Studies/Africana Studies) as a discrete unit of study that bears directly and powerfully on world history, literature, and politics. The doctoral degree offers graduate students two different tracks or specializations to focus their course work—“Power, Citizenship, and the State” and “Race, Representation, and Knowledge Systems,” which reflect the current state of the field and take advantage of the traditional strengths of the department, its adjunct faculty, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Bloomington campus. Within each of these tracks, the degree emphasizes the importance of transnational, global, and comparative perspectives, with an emphasis on the interdisciplinary analysis of race in the world. To provide meaningful support and guidance, this degree program offers supportive mentoring, a reflection of the department’s 40-year commitment to quality teaching.

Admission Requirements

The AAADS Graduate Studies Committee, in consultation with the chair of the department and faculty, will be responsible for the admission of graduate students into the doctoral program. That committee will consider Graduate Record Examination scores, a personal statement, a writing sample of no more than 30 pages, and at least three letters of reference from instruc­tors who have sufficient evidence to write candidly about the student’s intellectual abilities and potential for success in this endeavor. Prospective graduate students who hold a master’s degree must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale in their prior program(s). Incoming graduate students who have recently completed their undergraduate studies must have at least a 3.3 grade point average for their last two years of undergraduate studies.

Course Requirements

All students must complete a minimum of 90 hours with a cu­mulative grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale in their prior program(s). Incoming graduate students who have recently completed their undergraduate studies must have at least a 3.3 grade point average for their last two years of undergraduate studies.

90 hours total, including:

• 16 core credit hours, taken through 4 core courses: A500, A556 or A557, A605 or A606, and A696
• 29 elective hours, including 3 credits in an overseas studies/study abroad class, with graduate content, approved by the DGS; 6 hours in disciplinary methods courses offered outside the department and chosen in consultation with the DGS; and 20 additional hours in related course work
• 6 hours of a foreign language of the African diaspora (or the passing of the language proficiency exam)
• Successful completion of an outside minor
• 24 hours of dissertation research
• Pre-candidacy qualifying examination (The M.A. is automatically granted to students passing the qualifying exam.)
• Dissertation
• Final examination (defense of the dissertation)

Tracks

• Race, Representation, and Knowledge Systems
• Power, Citizenship, and the State

Core curriculum

• A500 Introduction to African American and African Diaspora Studies I
• A556 Race and Culture in the African Diaspora or A557 Race and Politics in the African Diaspora
• A605 Race and the Global City I or A606 Race and the Global City II
• A696 Interdisciplinary Research Methods

Qualifying Examination 

Will consist of 3 parts: a field, subfield, and a track specialization exam. The questions for each area of the examination will consist of multiple parts. Six months prior to the qualifying examination, a student should consult his/her advisor/committee about the nature of the examination. Qualifying Examinations will not occur during holiday breaks and summer breaks when faculty is away from campus

Research Proposal

After passing his or her qualifying examinations, the student will submit an approximately 20-page dissertation proposal to her or his dissertation committee, as well as the director of graduate studies. The proposal defines the themes and purpose of the dissertation, discusses the available source material, and relates the topic of the dissertation to the existing literature in the field. It should also be accompanied by a significant bibliography. When the director of the research committee has approved the dissertation proposal, the student will formally present it in a meeting with the research committee for comment and approval. Once the proposal has been approved, the student will begin to research and then to write the dissertation.

Final Examination 

Public oral defense of dissertation. 

Ph.D. Minor in African American and African Diaspora Studies

The department offers the Ph.D. minor in African American and African Diaspora Studies for students enrolled in any doctoral program at Indiana University. The minor requires 15 credit hours: A500, Introduction to African American and African Diaspora Studies, and 12 credit hours of a concentration in one of the department's two tracks: "Power, Citizenship, and the State" and "Race, Representation, and Knowledge Systems."

Admission

Doctoral students in good standing are admitted to the African American and African Diaspora Studies minor through inter­view or correspondence with the graduate advisor. At the time of admission, each student and the graduate advisor together plan an individualized program of study, including the selection of a major concentration area.

Grades

A cumulative grade point average of 3.4 is required for the Ph.D. minor.

Examination

A comprehensive examination usually is not required for the Ph.D. minor; however, the decision to waive the examination rests with AAADS and the Director of Graduate Studies.