Why major in African American Studies?

  • As with fields such as history and English literature, African American Studies offers students the type of intellectual grounding that has long been at the center of a university education.
  • African American Studies is thoroughly interdisciplinary, emphasizing the connections between history, literature, the social sciences and the arts.
  • Concerned with the issues affecting people of African descent around the world, African American studies is inherently global in its orientation.
  • Committed to transforming theory into practice, African American Studies students are encouraged to connect the classroom experience with the wider world, and make a difference in their communities.
  • Students who major in African American Studies will be trained to think critically, analyze culture, and understand diversity in all its complexity.
  • An African American Studies degree is excellent preparation for graduate study and careers in a variety of professional fields, including: education, law, business, and social work.
  • African American Studies is an excellent double major with American Studies, History, Sociology, Women’s Studies, Communications, Sociology and Human Services

 

Notable African American Studies majors

As this list of notable African American Studies majorsOpens in new window  demonstrates, students who major or minor in African American Studies go on to have successful careers in a variety of professions.

To learn more about the field of African American Studies, explore these African American Studies professional associations: