Starting Fall 2022!

The African American & Black Diaspora Studies major focuses on Black people within a global context, with particular but not exclusive focus on Black people in the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the circum-Atlantic world. It provides a broad interdisciplinary and comparative perspective to deepen understandings of Black life, culture, and history; the historical development and societal impact of racial thought; the place of Black people in modern society and political economy; genealogies of Black thought, political action, and expressive culture; and the imbrication of Black people within grids of racialization, gender, sexuality, social class, and nation, both historically and today. The major is designed to be flexible and easily tailored to each student’s interests and learning goals, whether these focus on a particular population or facet of Black experience or on broader transnational or diachronic issues.

Major Requirements

The Major in African American & Black Diaspora Studies is comprised of eleven courses; four required courses plus seven electives from a wide range of options,, completed with a grade of C or higher Use this planning sheet to keep track of your required coursework.

Required courses:

  • CAS AA 112 Black Power in the Classroom: The History of Black Studies
  • CAS AA 207 Sociology of Race/Ethnicity
  • CAS AA 371 African American History
  • CAS AA 591 Black Thought: Diaspora Cultural Criticism

Electives must meet the following requirements:

  • Two seminars and no more than three 100 level courses
  • At least one 19th century/slavery course
  • At least one cross cultural/global/comparative course (meaning outside of the geographic area of the United States)
  • At least one course must include gender/sexuality.

In addition, a student may double count four of their AA electives towards another major or minor.

View the current bulletin for a listing of courses.

Learning Outcomes

  • Demonstrate an understanding of African American studies within a global context, paying particular attention to peoples of African descent in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia.
  • Apply and integrate multiple scholarly approaches to the wide range of cultural products and social and historical experiences of Black peoples.
  • Demonstrate the conceptual, theoretical, and research skills that can enable them to become lifelong critical investigators of cross-cultural interactions.
  • Acquire a background for continued graduate study as well as for working in nonacademic fields, such as law, journalism, and activism/social work.
  • Demonstrate sharpened skills in Hub areas—specifically, Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Research and Information Literacy, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Teamwork/Collaboration, and The Individual in Community developed in the four required courses as well as other skills in elected coursework.

View the current bulletin for a listing of courses.

For more information on the major in African American & Black Diaspora Studies, please contact Derek Briand, Academic Advisor by email dbriand1@bu.edu.