Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary/Africana Studies

About

Widen your horizons with the Bachelor of Art degree with a focus on Africana Studies. This program gives you an intellectual arena in which you’ll learn to critically examine, analyze and interpret the experiences, traditions, and dynamics of people of African descent. Proficiency in this field is conducive for graduate study in law, social work, political science, education, psychology, sociology, and anthropology as well as careers in social services, academia, criminal justice, all levels of education, administration, human resources, business, health care, and politics.


Dual Major Opportunity

Interested in double-majoring? The Interdisciplinary/Africana Studies is a great choice! You can earn a second major in Africana Studies with only 30 extra credits of Africana Studies upper-division courses.

Curriculum & Requirements

Interdisciplinary Studies - Africana Studies Major, Bachelor of Arts (BA)

This major serves to equip students via a comprehensive interdisciplinary curriculum to investigate, comprehend and appreciate the various aspirations, achievements, struggles and contributions of those individuals and groups within the African and African American communities based on a deeper understanding and application of Afrocentricity, black nationalism, liberation ideology and Critical Race Theory—all within a rich historical context domestically and abroad. Consult with your advisor to choose a minor.

Note: two years of a single high school foreign language or one year of a single college-level foreign language is required for this major.

​Note: this major requires the completion of a minor (15–16 credit) to reach a total of 60 credits.

Required Courses
AAST 214AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE AND EXPRESSIONS5
AAST 215EARLY AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY: ANCIENT AFRICA TO THE END OF THE RECONSTRUCTION 18775
or AAST 220 AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY: POST CIVIL WAR TO PRESENT
AAST/HIST 315AFRICAN HISTORY: ANCIENT AFRICA TO MANDELA5
AAST 318THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF BLACK STUDIES5
AAST 319BLACK PSYCHOLOGY5
or AAST 320 AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILY
or SOWK 320 AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILY
Required Electives–choose upper-division AAST from the following:15
HARLEM RENAISSANCE: RECONSTRUCTION TO 1930
AFRICAN AMERICAN POLITICAL AWARENESS
THE RISE OF MASS INCARCERATION
MEDICAL APARTHEID: EXPLORING MEDICAL EXPERIMENTATION, IMPLICIT BIAS, HEALTH DISPARITY
ECONOMICS OF POVERTY AND DISCRIMINATION
HISTORY AND DYNAMICS OF U.S. SLAVERY
AFRICAN AMERICAN CINEMA: THE CREATION, POWER, & MEANING OF BLACK INDEPENDENT FILM
CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE
THE 1000 MILE DEEP SOUTH CIVIL RIGHTS TOUR
AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN'S HISTORY
DR. KING AND MALCOLM X: A COMPARISON
Required Capstone4-5
INTERDISCIPLINARY SR CAPSTONE (or another capstone with your advisor's approval)
Note: for students who select AAST as a second major, the capstone requirement will be met by the completion of the primary major capstone.
Total Credits44-45

Catalog Listing

General Education

University Competencies and Proficiencies

English 
Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning
Placement and Clearance 
Prior Learning/Sources of Credit AP, CLEP, IB


General Education Requirements (GER)

  • Minimum Credits—180 cumulative credit hours 
    • 60 upper-division credits (300 level or above)
    • 45 credits in residence (attendance) at Eastern, with at least 15 upper-division credits in major in residence at Eastern
  • Minimum Cumulative GPA ≥2.0

Breadth Area Core Requirements (BACR)

Humanities and Arts 
Natural Sciences 
Social Sciences


University Graduation Requirements (UGR)

Diversity Course List
Foreign Language (for Bachelor of Arts)
Global Studies Course List
Minor or Certificate
Senior Capstone Course List


Application for Graduation (use EagleNET) must be made at least two terms in advance of the term you expect to graduate (undergraduate and post-baccalaureate).

Use the Catalog Archives to determine two important catalog years.

Degree Works calculates based on these two catalog years.

  1. The catalog in effect at the student's first term of current matriculation is used to determine BACR (Breadth Area Credit Requirements) and UGR (Undergraduate Graduation Requirements).
  2. The catalog in effect at the time the student declares a major or minor is used to determine the program requirements.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who earn a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies - Africana Studies from EWU should be able to do the following:

  • critique Eurocentric texts from an Afrocentric perspective; PLO-4
  • demonstrate knowledge of activism’s role in African-American history; PLO-2
  • demonstrate knowledge of key events in African-American history. PLO-1
  • summarize the psychological impact of racial oppression on African Americans, white Americans, and other racial minorities in the US; PLO-3
  • use critical race theory to analyze their own lived experience. PLO-5

Sample Courses

AAST 214. AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE AND EXPRESSIONS. 5 Credits.

Cross-listed: HUMN 214.
Satisfies: a university graduation requirement–diversity.
An interdisciplinary survey of African American culture beginning with ancient African history and traditions through contemporary issues in the African American experience. Attention given to basic principles of history, sociology, political science, economics and the arts in the study of the dynamics of the African American culture.

Catalog Listing

AAST 222. AFRICAN AMERICAN ECONOMICS. 5 Credits.

Focuses on the economic conditions of African Americans, presenting an analysis of economic problems confronting them, and institutional aspects of those problems.

Catalog Listing

AAST 301. HARLEM RENAISSANCE: RECONSTRUCTION TO 1930. 5 Credits.

A selective and objective study of the cultural, ideological, and political contributions of African Americans during the period 1918-1929.

Catalog Listing

AAST 375. AFRICAN AMERICAN CINEMA: THE CREATION, POWER, & MEANING OF BLACK INDEPENDENT FILM. 5 Credits.

Pre-requisites: AAST 214 or AAST 215 or AAST 220.
This course explores the history of African Americans in relation to mainstream films. The course not only examines the depictions of African Americans in Hollywood films from the silent period to the modern era, but discusses the importance of the emergence of independent black filmmaking and the role of filmmakers in providing a unique voice and alternative images to combat the negative stereotypes and depictions of Blacks in films and to express Black cultural themes.

Catalog Listing

Africana Studies Electives

For a full list of the Africana Studies elective courses offered, head over to the catalog.