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College of Arts & Sciences

African Studies

Minor Concentration in African Languages and Literatures
Minor Concentration in African Studies (0305)
Niamey, Niger
Dakar, Senegal

Director Tim Longman

Associate Director for Development James McCann

African Studies Center

The African Studies Center offers an interdisciplinary African studies minor, as well as courses in African languages that fulfill the College language requirement. It also coordinates graduate programs in the social sciences and humanities, and encourages research and teaching on Africa. The center’s offices, classrooms, and facilities for lectures and conferences are on the fifth and fourth floors of 232 Bay State Road. Films and symposia are sponsored throughout the year, as are lectures by distinguished visiting scholars, journalists, faculty, and policymakers. Workshops are held on various development-related topics and in the African humanities. The center publishes a historical journal, working papers, and volumes in its African Studies Series, and it contributes to the support of the extensive research collection of the African Studies Library, which occupies the sixth floor of Mugar Memorial Library. The center’s Outreach Program maintains a collection of slides, films, records, videos, and other materials for loan to Boston-area educators, and sponsors workshops for African curriculum development.

Minor Concentration in African Languages & Literatures

The African languages and literatures minor concentration combines language and linguistic study with the study of written literature and oral traditions in the African context. In-depth knowledge of an African language of the student’s choosing is applied in courses in cultural and linguistic anthropology, sociology of language, language in government and education, literature, and folklore and oral traditions. This minor concentration is made up of required and elective courses from the African Studies Center, as well as elective courses from other College of Arts & Sciences departments.

Required Courses  One year of 300-level study of an African language (two courses) is required together with the following two courses:

CAS LD 491, 492 Directed Study in African Languages and Linguistics

If either CAS LD 491 or LD 492 is not offered in a given year, an acceptable alternative may be selected in consultation with the student’s advisor.

Electives  Students are required to select two elective courses. The following are representative of those courses that may be selected in consultation with the student’s advisor.

CAS AN 351 Language, Culture, and Society

CAS AN 593, 594 Seminar: Topics in Cultural Anthropology

CAS LD 491, 492 Directed Study in African Languages and Linguistics

CAS LX 533 The Structure of Creole Languages

Students can pursue special interests in the format of the directed study course, within the scope of the minor concentration.

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Minor Concentration in African Studies (0305)


The African Studies minor concentration is open to all undergraduates who meet the following requirements:

  1. Six courses must be chosen from three or more disciplines to constitute a coherent program of study. These courses must be approved by an advisor from the African Studies faculty.

  2. Four of the six courses must be outside the discipline of the student’s concentration.

  3. CAS ID 116 Africa Today is required. Students with an unusually good preparation in African studies may petition to have this requirement waived.

  4. Three courses must be at the 300 level or above.

  5. A substantial research paper is required.

  6. A grade of C or better is required for courses to be accepted for the minor concentration.

Courses for the African Studies minor concentration may be selected from the following:

Interdisciplinary Studies

CAS ID 116 Africa Today: The Beat of Popular Culture

Core course in the African studies minor concentration. Provides a fresh view of African popular culture through the lens of contemporary literature, film, television, music, dance, and the visual arts. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

African American Studies

CAS AA 316 African Diaspora Arts in the Americas

CAS AA 385 Atlantic History

CAS AA 396 State and Commerce in Atlantic Africa, 1450–1850

CAS AA 489 The African Diaspora in the Americas

CAS AA 514 Comparative Slavery

CAS AA 588 Women, Power, and Culture in Africa

African Languages

Hausa

CAS LA 111 First-Semester Hausa

CAS LA 112 Second-Semester Hausa

CAS LA 211 Third-Semester Hausa

CAS LA 212 Fourth-Semester Hausa

Bambara

CAS LD 113 First-Semester Mandinka/Bambara

CAS LD 114 Second-Semester Mandinka/Bambara

CAS LD 213 Third-Semester Mandinka/Bambara

CAS LD 214 Fourth-Semester Mandinka/Bambara

Pulaar

CAS LU 111 First-Semester Pulaar

CAS LU 112 Second-Semester Pulaar

CAS LU 211 Third-Semester Pulaar

CAS LU 212 Fourth-Semester Pulaar

Wolof

CAS LW 111 First-Semester Wolof

CAS LW 112 Second-Semester Wolof

CAS LW 211 Third-Semester Wolof

CAS LW 212 Fourth-Semester Wolof

Swahili

CAS LE 111 First-Semester Swahili

CAS LE 112 Second-Semester Swahili

CAS LE 211 Third-Semester Swahili

CAS LE 212 Fourth-Semester Swahili

CAS LE 311 Fifth-Semester Swahili

CAS LE 312 Sixth-Semester Swahili

Setswana/Sesotho

CAS LD 117 First-Semester Setswana/Sesotho

CAS LD 118 Second-Semester Setswana/Sesotho

CAS LD 217 Third-Semester Setswana/Sesotho

CAS LD 218 Fourth-Semester Setswana/Sesotho

isiXhosa

CAS LM 111 First-Semester isiXhosa

CAS LM 112 Second-Semester isiXhosa

CAS LM 211 Third-Semester isiXhosa

CAS LM 212 Fourth-Semester isiXhosa

Yoruba

CAS LO 111 First-Semester Yoruba

CAS LO 112 Second-Semester Yoruba

CAS LO 211 Third-Semester Yoruba

CAS LO 212 Fourth-Semester Yoruba

isiZulu

CAS LD 115 First-Semester isiZulu

CAS LD 116 Second-Semester isiZulu

CAS LD 215 Third-Semester isiZulu

CAS LD 216 Fourth-Semester isiZulu

Other African Languages and Linguistics

CAS LD 111, 112 Introduction to the Study of an African Language

CAS LD 491, 492 Directed Study in African Languages and Linguistics

CAS LX 250 Introduction to Linguistics

CAS LX 501 Linguistic Field Methods

CAS LX 533 The Structure of Creole Languages

Anthropology

CAS AN 240 Legal Anthropology

CAS AN 285 Coping with Crisis in Contemporary Africa

CAS AN 312 Peoples and Cultures of Africa

CAS AN 351 Language, Culture, and Society

CAS AN 520 Nilotic Peoples: African Culture in Depth

CAS AN 585 Seminar: Advanced Readings in African Ethnography

CAS AN 593, 594 Seminar: Topics in Cultural Anthropology

Archaeology

CAS AR 232 Archaeology of Ancient Egypt

CAS AR 513 Studies in African Archaeology

Art History

CAS AH 215 Arts of Africa

CAS AH 315 African Architecture

CAS AH 316 African Diaspora Arts in the Americas

CAS AH 430 Seminar: African Art

Economics

CAS EC 387 Introduction to Health Economics

CAS EC 581 Health Economics I

Geography

CAS GE 356 Geography of Third World Development

CAS GE 394 Environmental History of Africa

History

CAS HI 291 Reconstructing the African Past

CAS HI 292 Colonialism in Africa: Impact and Aftermath

CAS HI 371 African American History

CAS HI 385 Atlantic History

CAS HI 394 Environmental History of Africa

CAS HI 396 State and Commerce in Atlantic Africa, 1450–1850

CAS HI 484 Revolutionary Change in North Africa and the Middle East

CAS HI 485 Selected Problems in the Modern Middle East

CAS HI 488 Life Histories of African Women

CAS HI 489 The African Diaspora in the Americas

CAS HI 584 Comparative Slavery

CAS HI 595 Morocco: History on the Cusp of Three Continents

International Relations

CAS IR 383 Understanding Modern North Africa

CAS IR 430 Africa and Globilization: Opportunities and Obstacles

CAS IR 507 The Muslim and Western Worlds—Prospects for a Clash of Civilizations

Literature and Film

CAS LF 456 The Postcolonial Novel

CAS LL 280 Introduction to the Literatures of Africa (in English translation)

CAS LL 285 Images from Africa: Introduction to African Cinema

Political Science

CAS PO 351 Politics of Race and Ethnicity

CAS PO 560 Politics and Society in North Africa and the Middle East

CAS PO 565 Government and Politics of Contemporary Africa

CAS PO 566 Political Systems of Southern Africa

Niamey, Niger

Students may take courses in Hausa to fulfill their language requirement and courses toward a minor concentration in African languages and literatures or as electives in the Boston University Study Abroad Program in Niger. Additional information on this program is available in the Study Abroad and Internship Programs section of this site.

Dakar, Senegal


Students may take courses through the six-week Senegalese Studies Program in Dakar, Senegal. Students may choose to study Wolof, one of the principal languages spoken in Senegal. Students live with Senegalese families. Upon successful completion of the program, students earn eight Boston University credits.

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16 October 2009
Boston University
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