{"id":109,"date":"2009-10-07T12:38:45","date_gmt":"2009-10-07T16:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/afam\/graduate-study\/masters-requirements\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T15:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T20:05:20","slug":"masters-requirements","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/afam\/academics\/graduate\/masters-requirements\/","title":{"rendered":"Requirements for Master’s Degree"},"content":{"rendered":"

M.A. in African American and Black Diaspora Studies<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Master of Arts degree program is focused on building conceptual and research skills that will allow students to become lifelong critical investigators of cross-cultural interactions. While our focus is on the African American experience, our program approaches that experience in the context of global processes and in terms of its relationship to other groups such as Latinos, Asians, European Americans, Africans, and Native Americans. Priority a<\/strong>pplications are due on February 15, 2026. The final deadline is March 15, 2026. <\/span><\/strong>Click here<\/a> to view application deadlines, and c<\/span>lick\u00a0<\/span>here<\/a> to view admission requirements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Admissions Tests and Prerequisites<\/h4>\n

Candidates for the Master of Arts in African American and Black Diaspora Studies must hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution. Because of the broad focus of this program, there are no specific undergraduate concentration requirements except that the student must have completed some study in both the humanities and the social sciences. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Tests are required of all applicants.<\/p>\n

Course Requirements<\/h4>\n

The course requirements for the master’s degree in African American Studies consist of GRS AA 871 African American History,<\/em> GRS AA808 Seminar: Ethnic, Race, and Minority Relations<\/em><\/em>,\u00a0 and CAS AA 591 Black Thought<\/em> plus five additional courses in African American Studies, for a total of eight courses or 32 credit hours:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2022 CAS AA 500: Topics in African American Studies
\n<\/em>\u2022 CAS AA 501: Topics in African American Literature
\n<\/em>\u2022 CAS AA 502: Topics in African American Literature
\n<\/em>\u2022 CAS AA 507: Literature of the Harlem Renaissance
\n<\/em>\u2022 CAS AA 514: Labor, Sexuality, and Resistance in the Afro-Atlantic World
\n<\/em>\u2022 CAS AA 517: Urban Politics and Policy
\n<\/em>\u2022 CAS AA 519: Inequality and American Politics
\n<\/em>\u2022 CAS AA 523: Race, Ethnicity and the History of Childhood in the U.S.
\n<\/em>\u2022 CAS AA 538: Studies in West Indian Literature: Caribbean Poetry
\n<\/em>\u2022 CAS AA 580: The History of Racial Thought
\n<\/em>\u2022 CAS AA 588: Women, Power, and Culture in Africa
\n<\/em>\u2022 CAS AA 590: The World and the West
\n<\/em>\u2022 CAS AA 591: Black Thought: Literary and Cultural Criticism in the African Diaspora
\n\u2022 CAS AA 620: African American and Asian American Women Writers
\n<\/em>\u2022 GRS AA 656: Religion in the Digital Age
\n<\/em>\u2022 CAS AA 677: Critical Studies: Diaspora
\n<\/em>\u2022 GRS AA 683: African Diaspora Religions
\n<\/em>\u2022 GRS AA 716: African Diaspora Arts in the Americas
\n<\/em>\u2022 GRS AA 740: Science, Technology, Media: Race and Contemporary Criticism
\n<\/em>\u2022 GRS AA 804: Seminar: The Family
\n<\/em>\u2022 GRS AA 808: Seminar: Ethnic, Race, and Minority Relations
\n<\/em>\u2022 GRS AA 871: African American History
\n<\/em>\u2022 GRS AA 882: History of Religion in Pre-Colonial Africa
\n<\/em>\u2022 GRS AA 885: Atlantic History<\/em><\/p>\n

Unlisted professional courses may be selected, in consultation with the director, for graduate credit as part of the African American Studies Program.<\/em><\/p>\n

Students are also expected to produce two major research papers, one of which must be orally defended during the last semester in residence. The two papers should not be undertaken during the same semester. Each paper should be completed as part of the requirements of a graduate course, with the consent of the professor.<\/p>\n

Language Requirement for the M.A.<\/h4>\n

All students must demonstrate proficiency in one foreign language. This can be done by having completed at least two years of study in a foreign language at the undergraduate level, by passing a language examination administered by the program on the first Friday of the first semester, or by successfully completing a language reading course numbered 621 offered through the Graduate School.<\/p>\n

Doctoral Work in African American Studies<\/h4>\n

Although Boston University does not currently offer a PhD major in African American and Black Studies, it is possible to pursue a concentration within a related PhD program, such as History or American & New England Studies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

M.A. in African American and Black Diaspora Studies The Master of Arts degree program is focused on building conceptual and research skills that will allow students to become lifelong critical investigators of cross-cultural interactions. While our focus is on the African American experience, our program approaches that experience in the context of global processes and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2159,"featured_media":0,"parent":103,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/afam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/afam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/afam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/afam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/afam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/afam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14195,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/afam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109\/revisions\/14195"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/afam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/afam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}