Curriculum
Requirements | Courses | Coordinators

Africana Studies| African Studies

AFRICANA STUDIES
Africana studies is a developing synthetic field that brings a global frame of reference and a variety of disciplinary perspectives to the study of Africa and the African Diaspora. Drawing on anthropology, economics, history, linguistics and literature, music, philosophy, political science and sociology, the field reflects processes of emancipation, decolonization and development—against a background of international economic change—in Africa itself and in societies worldwide with populations of African origin.

REQUIREMENTS (Africana Studies)
Africana studies is a bi-college program, offered as a minor at Bryn Mawr or as an area of concentration at Haverford. Requirements for the program: (1) General Programs/General Studies 101a, “Introduction to African and Africana Studies”; (2) five more courses from the list reproduced in the college catalogs, or from a list of new courses periodically approved; (3) at least one of these courses must deal with the African Diaspora; (4) a senior thesis or seminar length essay in an area of Africana studies. Students are urged to include in their program courses beyond the introductory level that deal with continental Africa and the African Diaspora. Successful completion of the Africana studies minor/concentration is noted on student transcripts at graduation.

Students majoring in a department that requires a thesis satisfy the requirement by writing on a topic approved by his or her department and by the coordinator[s] of the Africana studies program. If the major department does not require a thesis, an equivalent written exercise that is a seminar-length essay is required. The essay may be written within the framework of a particular course or as an independent study project. The topic must be approved by the instructor in question and by the coordinator[s] of the Africana studies program.

In addition to meeting these common requirements, students concentrating in Africana studies at Haverford College must also satisfy a distribution requirement. Of the six courses they take, at least two, but no more than three, must be taken in their home department; the remaining three to four courses must be taken in at least two other departments.

General Programs/General Studies 101a, “Introduction to African and Africana Studies,” provides a foundation and a frame of reference for advanced work. Students are advised to enter the Africana studies program by taking this course as early as possible and to complete it by the end of the junior year.

AFRICAN STUDIES
Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, along with the University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore College, are members of the African Studies Consortium. The four institutions have established an Undergraduate Center for African Studies, headquartered at the University of Pennsylvania. The center is supported in part by the U.S. Department of Education. Consortium resources allow students on the four campuses to pursue a wide variety of interests in African studies.

REQUIREMENTS
General Programs/General Studies 101a, “Introduction to African and Africana Studies,” is the foundation course for African studies as well as for the Africana studies program at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges. The course is suitable for first-year students, utilizes on-site resources of the four campuses, and enrolls undergraduates from all four institutions. This course is co-taught each year by two instructors from different disciplines.

A full African studies program includes the introductory foundation course; study of an African language or languages; study abroad at an African university; and advanced course work on Africa at any of the four institutions.

African languages are regularly offered at the University of Pennsylvania (Yoruba, Hausa, Amharic, Wolof, Swahili) and Bryn Mawr College (Introductory Swahili).

Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges regularly sponsor public talks about African issues, featuring visiting African scholars from several disciplines.

Our program is part of a larger African Studies Consortium.