Departments & Programs

African Studies

Certificate in African Studies
Purpose

The Certificate in African Studies provides a background for careers in foreign service, government, business, law, the academic world, and other areas.

Required Courses

The certificate requires completion of 18 credit hours of Africa-related course work, including

  1. AFRI-L 231 African Civilization or HIST-H 227, and AFRI- L 232 Contemporary Africa.
  2. Four elective courses (totaling at least 12 credit hours) from at least two different departments chosen from African Studies or cross-listed full or partial Africa-content courses. At least three of the four courses must be at the 300- or 400-level, and at least two of the courses must have 100 per cent Africa content. Also, at least one elective course must be taught inside the College of Arts and Sciences. Note: Language courses cannot be applied toward the elective requirement.
  3. Four semesters in a language other than English that is spoken on the African continent. This requirement may be fulfilled by taking African language courses through the Department of Linguistics, such as Akan/Twi, Bamana, Swahili, Wolof, and Zulu; Arabic offered through the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures; or another language approved by the Associate Director of African Studies. In most cases, European languages cannot be used to meet this requirement. Completion of the language proficiency requirement does not count toward the required 18 credit hours needed for the certificate.
A maximum of 6 credit hours in the student's major may be credited toward the certificate.