The Africana Studies Minor examines the experiences of people of African descent whether they live in Africa, the US, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, or Asia. The minor requirements offer an interdisciplinary approach for examining the rich cultures, arts, institutions, sciences, technologies, histories, political economies, and philosophies developed and practiced by people of African descent. The Africana Studies minor consists of two units of coursework.
Program Distribution Requirements for the Africana Studies Minor
Complete two units of coursework that meet the conditions below.
Africana Studies Core (Minimum 1/3 unit)
1/3 unit of Africana Studies Core courses
Africana Studies Core Courses
Africana Studies Electives (Minimum 4/3 units)
4/3 units of Africana Studies Electives courses. These may be selected from any of the courses below with at least one course at the 2000-level or higher. Balance between HUA and SSPS courses is encouraged.
Africana Studies Courses
Minor Capstone (Minimum 1/3 units)
A Minor Capstone is defined as one 3000- or 4000- level class or an equivalent Undergraduate Independent Study (ISU) that culminates the minor. This course or independent study must be the final course in the sequence. HU 3900 (Inquiry Seminar) cannot count as a minor capstone.
Notes
WPI policy requires that no more than one unit of course work can be double counted toward other degree requirements. Thus, students may count three courses for the minor taken to fulfill other degree requirements (such as the Humanities and Arts requirement or the two course requirement in Social Sciences). An HUA inquiry seminar (HU 3900) primarily focused on people of African Descent may be double counted as an Africana Studies Elective.
To be counted toward the minor, a course's content must be primarily focused on people of African descent to qualify. A student may petition the Program Directors for other appropriate course(s) to be included.
HUA also offers several HU 3900 capstone Inquiry Seminars that students pursuing the minor might consider as the culminating project of their HUA Requirement. Examples of seminars that can be double counted as one of the minor courses but not as the minor capstone:
- HU 3900 The Black 60s
- HU 3900 Writing, Rhetoric, and Social Justice
- HU 3900 Black Writers of Sci-Fi Horror, and Fantasy
- HU 3900 Hip Hop
- HU 3900 Riots and Rebellion in Am Cities
NOTE: If taking MU 2413 African Drumming Ensemble, please recognize that this is a 1/6 unit for a semester work as a music ensemble - for this to work as a 1/3 unit in the unit, a student will need to take a full year of the African Drumming to earn a 1/3 unit.