Department of Africana Studies

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Africana studies is the study, research, interpretation, and dissemination of knowledge concerning African American, African, and Caribbean affairs and culture. Using the tools of the social sciences and humanities, Africana studies examines the structure, organization, problems, and perspectives of Blacks in Africa and the African Diaspora. Africana studies also stresses analytical interpretations and policy prescriptions for social change in African American communities and in various African and Caribbean nations. The term Africana incorporates the three-tier interdisciplinary thrust of the department: African, African American, and Caribbean social sciences and humanities.

Africana studies prepares social science majors for advanced graduate studies in international affairs, education, social work, social policy studies, and legal and professional training. In the humanities, preparation in the creative arts and literature gears students to practical development in such fields as communication, teaching, theater, and dance. Africana studies occupies a central role in understanding modern American life and African and Caribbean linkages. As an interdisciplinary major, Africana studies offers intellectual paradigms for the multicultural approach to historical, political, and economic reality. It is also critical and corrective of the inadequacies, omissions, and distortions of mainstream American education leading into the 21st century. Africana studies is committed to producing liberally educated women and men with a lifetime dedication to working on African American, African, and Caribbean affairs. For more information on the major and the Department of Africana Studies, see the department’s Web site at www.africanastudies.pitt.edu.

Programs

• Afro-Latin American and Afro-Latinx Studies Certificate

• Africana Studies - English, BA

• Africana Studies, BA

• Africana Studies Minor

Courses

• AFRCNA 0031 - INTRODUCTION TO AFRICANA STUDIES
• AFRCNA 0120 - AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE SPORTS
• AFRCNA 0127 - INTRODUCTION TO AFRICA
• AFRCNA 0150 - AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE
• AFRCNA 0212 - WEST AFRICAN DANCE
• AFRCNA 0220 - THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT IN THE U.S. AND BEYOND
• AFRCNA 0242 - AFRICANA URBAN WOMAN
• AFRCNA 0300 - RACIALIZED POLICE VIOLENCE IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
• AFRCNA 0311 - INTRODUCTION TO THE AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILY
• AFRCNA 0313 - THE BLACK CHURCH
• AFRCNA 0316 - INTRODUCTION AFRICAN AMERICAN THEATER
• AFRCNA 0318 - HISTORY OF AFRICA BEFORE 1800
• AFRCNA 0352 - AFRICAN AMERICAN DANCE
• AFRCNA 0385 - CARIBBEAN HISTORY
• AFRCNA 0400 - COVID-19, RACISM AND PUBLIC HEALTH
• AFRCNA 0400 - COVID-19, RACISM AND PUBLIC HEALTH
• AFRCNA 0434 - PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERIENCE AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE
• AFRCNA 0454 - MAN/WOMAN LITERATURE
• AFRCNA 0508 - SWAHILI LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IMMERSION
• AFRCNA 0517 - INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN AMERICAN POETRY
• AFRCNA 0522 - INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN LITERATURE
• AFRCNA 0523 - SWAHILI 1
• AFRCNA 0524 - SWAHILI 2
• AFRCNA 0525 - SWAHILI 3
• AFRCNA 0526 - SWAHILI 4
• AFRCNA 0536 - 20TH CENTURY AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN HISTORY
• AFRCNA 0586 - EARLY AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS
• AFRCNA 0628 - AFRO-LATIN AMERICA
• AFRCNA 0629 - AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY 1877
• AFRCNA 0630 - AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865
• AFRCNA 0639 - HISTORY OF JAZZ
• AFRCNA 0787 - BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS
• AFRCNA 0805 - BLACK PERFORMANCE AESTHETICS
• AFRCNA 1012 - EARLY 20TH CENTURY BLACK SOCIAL MOVEMENT
• AFRCNA 1021 - HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA
• AFRCNA 1024 - WEST AFRICAN CULTURES AND SOCIETY
• AFRCNA 1026 - AFRICAN PRESENCE IN LATIN AMERICAN LIT/CULTURE
• AFRCNA 1030 - INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS
• AFRCNA 1039 - HISTORY OF CARIBBEAN SLAVERY
• AFRCNA 1083 - SPECIAL TOPICS: BLACK LIFE ONSCREEN - AFRICAN AMERICAN CINEMA
• AFRCNA 1108 - AFRICAN AMERICAN FOLK CULTURE
• AFRCNA 1201 - GLOBAL DIASPORAS: CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AND CARIBBEAN MIGRATION
• AFRCNA 1240 - AFRICAN LITERATURE AND SOCIETY
• AFRCNA 1245 - STUDIO IN AFRICAN AMERICAN POETRY AND POETICS
• AFRCNA 1250 - BLACK EUROPE
• AFRCNA 1306 - WORLD LITERATURE IN ENGLISH
• AFRCNA 1309 - WOMEN OF AFRICAN AND AFRICAN DIASPORA
• AFRCNA 1310 - CULTURES OF AFRICA
• AFRCNA 1330 - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN AFRICANA CONTEXT
• AFRCNA 1331 - AFRICAN LIBERATION MOVEMENTS
• AFRCNA 1334 - MUSIC IN AFRICA
• AFRCNA 1335 - AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSIC IN THE UNITED STATES
• AFRCNA 1347 - FRANCOPHONE AFRICANA LITERATURE
• AFRCNA 1349 - CONTEMPORARY CARIBBEAN LITERATURE
• AFRCNA 1353 - COMPARATIVE DANCE EXPRESSION
• AFRCNA 1397 - MUSIC AND RACE
• AFRCNA 1397 - MUSIC AND RACE
• AFRCNA 1402 - LEARNING PARADIGMS AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILD DEVELOPMENT
• AFRCNA 1415 - RELIGION AND RACE
• AFRCNA 1418 - FROM VODOU TO SANTERIA: RELIGIONS OF THE WEST AFRICAN DIASPORA
• AFRCNA 1418 - FROM VODOU TO SANTERIA: RELIGIONS OF THE WEST AFRICAN DIASPORA
• AFRCNA 1420 - POWER AND PERFORMANCE IN AFRICA: FROM HIP-LIFE TO SOUKOUSS
• AFRCNA 1425 - CARIBBEAN IDENTITIES
• AFRCNA 1450 - AFRICANA CULTURAL MEMORY
• AFRCNA 1510 - HEALTH IN THE AFRICAN DIASPORA
• AFRCNA 1522 - SEX AND RACISM
• AFRCNA 1535 - DIMENSIONS OF RACISM
• AFRCNA 1537 - RACE AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
• AFRCNA 1537 - RACE AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
• AFRCNA 1538 - HISTORY OF BLACK PITTSBURGH
• AFRCNA 1555 - AFRO CARIBBEAN DANCE
• AFRCNA 1616 - AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN WRITERS
• AFRCNA 1628 - AFRO-LATINOS IN THE UNITED STATES
• AFRCNA 1655 - AFRICAN CINEMAS/SCREEN GRIOTS
• AFRCNA 1656 - HISTORY OF AFRICA SINCE 1800
• AFRCNA 1661 - POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AFRICA
• AFRCNA 1704 - AFRICANA WORLD LITERATURE
• AFRCNA 1710 - AFRICAN AMERICAN HEALTH ISSUES
• AFRCNA 1720 - WEST AFRICA IN THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
• AFRCNA 1725 - SOCIAL AND HEALTH ISSUES IN EAST AFRICA
• AFRCNA 1760 - AFRICANA THEORY & METHODOLOGY
• AFRCNA 1768 - AFRICANA SENIOR RESEARCH SEMINAR
• AFRCNA 1900 - INTERNSHIP
• AFRCNA 1901 - INDEPENDENT STUDY
• AFRCNA 1902 - DIRECTED READING
• AFRCNA 1903 - DIRECTED RESEARCH
• AFRCNA 1904 - REBELS AND REVOLUTION

Return to: Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences