Africana Studies

The program in Africana Studies provides a cross-culturally and historically comparative framework to study the rich connections and exchanges among African people, their descendants, and the various “new worlds” in which they have made and are making their lives. A particular strength of Carleton’s Africana Studies program is the opportunity to explore these issues on the African continent as well as in numerous African diasporas–of varying historical depth–in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Africana Studies combines area studies and ethnic studies foci on the cultural, literary, political, social, and intellectual responses to slavery, colonialism, missionization, and racialization throughout Africa and its many diasporas.

Students can pursue their intellectual interests in Africa and its diasporas through on-campus courses and off-campus studies programs (including programs offered through Carleton’s departments of History and Environmental Studies), and through a rich variety of courses in nearly all curricular exploration divisions. Through multidisciplinary training, students are encouraged to develop their analytic, research, and literary skills; they acquire the intellectual tools to critique and correct the distortions and silences about Africans and their descendants in both academic canons and public discourse.

The Africana Studies major thus prepares students for lifetime engagement in scholarship as well as in fields such as law, public policy, education, public health, social work, and the arts. Toward this end, and in addition to coursework, students are encouraged to take advantage of the rich array of speakers, exhibits, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities related to Africans and their diasporas.

Students majoring in Africana Studies create their own program of study by choosing courses in a structured and reflective manner from a variety of disciplinary departments, complementing some core Africana Studies courses. In developing their program, students should talk to the department about courses that have particularly high African, African Diaspora, and/or African American Studies content. They are particularly encouraged to choose these courses from among the list of relevant courses. Courses tagged AFST Pertinent can complement the major, but do not count toward the required nine courses plus comprehensive exercise without special permission of the Program Director. Because of the complexities of creating a meaningful program from a wide array of departmental offerings, students interested in majoring should draw up a program of study that has breadth and depth in consultation with the Director of Africana Studies before declaring their major.

Major Requirements – 63 Total Credits

Courses cannot double count for two requirements.

Interdisciplinary Course – Required 6 credits

Each student must complete one interdisciplinary 6-credit course which, in part, specifically discusses Africana Studies as an interdisciplinary field:

• AFST 100.01: Ethics and Human Rights in Africa (25/FA)
• AFST 102: Sports and the Black Experience
• AFST 113: Introduction to Africana Studies
• AFST 120: Blackness and Whiteness Outside the United States (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 210: Blackness and Whiteness Outside the United States
• AFST 213: Race, Racism, and the Beloved Community in the US (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 220: Color, Class, and Status in Black America (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 225: Black Music, Resistance, and Liberation
• AFST 260: The Black Radical Tradition (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 289: Global Blackness and Social Movements (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 300: Race, Racism, and the Beloved Community in the US (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 325: Slavery in the Africana Imagination (not offered 2025-26)

Survey Courses – Required 18 credits

Each student must take three of the following 6-credit courses.

• AFST 102: Sports and the Black Experience
• AFST 113: Introduction to Africana Studies
• AFST 120: Blackness and Whiteness Outside the United States (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 210: Blackness and Whiteness Outside the United States
• AFST 215: Contemporary Theory in Black Studies
• AFST 345: Afro-descendant Identities in Cuba and Brazil Program: Afro-Latin America in Comparative Perspective
• ARTH 140: African Art and Culture (not offered 2025-26)
• ENGL 238: African Literature in English (not offered 2025-26)
• HIST 126: Black Freedom: Reconstruction to #BlackLivesMatter
• HIST 220: From Blackface to Blaxploitation: Black History and/in Film (not offered 2025-26)
• RELG 251: African American Religious History

Distribution Courses – Required 30 credits

Each student should take 30 credits of distribution that are essential to Africana Studies. Among these distribution courses, students must choose at least one 6-credit course each from among the three disciplinary groups: Humanistic Inquiry, Social Inquiry, and Literary and Artistic Analysis; at least four of the distribution courses must be at the 200-level or above and at least one at the 300-level. The 300-level course should be completed in one of the two disciplines in which the student writes his/her comprehensive exercise; in this course the student must produce a substantial paper or project in Africana Studies. In addition, majors are highly encouraged to take the AMST 345: Theory and Practice of American Studies junior methods course, GWSS 200: Gender, Sexuality & the Pursuit of Knowledge (not offered 2025-26), or a methods course in one of the academic disciplines that contribute to Africana Studies. Courses cannot double count for two requirements.

Senior Seminar and Integrative Exercise (Required 9 credits)

• AFST 398: Africana Studies Capstone (3 credits)

• AFST 400: Integrative Exercise (6 credits)
  

The Africana Studies minor is designed to complement a student’s disciplinary major through an interdisciplinary specialization on the contexts and experiences of Africans and their many diasporas. Combining area studies and ethnic studies foci, the Africana Studies minor provides students the opportunity to explore the rich connections and exchanges among African people, their descendants, and the global locales–in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East–in which they have made and are making their lives. Students can do this through both on-campus courses and off-campus studies programs. In their senior year Africana Studies minors draw connections among these courses through an interdisciplinary reflective capstone experience.

Fostering interdisciplinary critical thinking, the Africana Studies minor prepares students for lifetime engagement in scholarship as well as in fields such as law, public policy, education, public health, social work, and the arts. Toward this end, and in addition to coursework, students are encouraged to take advantage of the rich array of speakers, exhibits, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities related to Africans and their diasporas.

Minor Requirements – 39 Total Credits

Courses cannot double count for two requirements.

Interdisciplinary Course – Required 6 credits

One core interdisciplinary (6-credit) course which, in part, specifically discusses Africana Studies as a coherent field of study:

• AFST 100.01: Ethics and Human Rights in Africa (25/FA)
• AFST 102: Sports and the Black Experience
• AFST 113: Introduction to Africana Studies
• AFST 120: Blackness and Whiteness Outside the United States (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 210: Blackness and Whiteness Outside the United States
• AFST 213: Race, Racism, and the Beloved Community in the US (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 220: Color, Class, and Status in Black America (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 225: Black Music, Resistance, and Liberation
• AFST 260: The Black Radical Tradition (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 289: Global Blackness and Social Movements (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 300: Race, Racism, and the Beloved Community in the US (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 325: Slavery in the Africana Imagination (not offered 2025-26)

Survey Courses – Required 12 credits

Two survey courses (12 credits) that introduce the “state of the field” of African and/or African Diaspora studies within specific disciplines:

• AFST 102: Sports and the Black Experience
• AFST 113: Introduction to Africana Studies
• AFST 120: Blackness and Whiteness Outside the United States (not offered 2025-26)
• AFST 210: Blackness and Whiteness Outside the United States
• AFST 215: Contemporary Theory in Black Studies
• AFST 345: Afro-descendant Identities in Cuba and Brazil Program: Afro-Latin America in Comparative Perspective
• ARTH 140: African Art and Culture (not offered 2025-26)
• ENGL 238: African Literature in English (not offered 2025-26)
• HIST 126: Black Freedom: Reconstruction to #BlackLivesMatter
• HIST 220: From Blackface to Blaxploitation: Black History and/in Film (not offered 2025-26)
• RELG 251: African American Religious History

Distribution Courses – Required 18 credits

Three distribution courses (18 credits) that combine depth and breadth in the field. Each student should take 18 credits chosen from at least two of the following disciplinary groups: Literary and Artistic Analysis, Humanistic Inquiry and Social Inquiry. Two of the three distributional courses must be at the 200-level or above. At least one of the distribution courses should be a 300-level course in which the student produces a substantial paper or project in Africana Studies encompassing African, African American and African Diaspora Studies. In rare cases, a student can petition to write a substantial paper in a 200-level course (i.e., be released from the 300-level course requirement), if that course is highly relevant to their own focus.

Senior Seminar – Required 3 credits

• AFST 398: Africana Studies Capstone

Additional Departmental Notes

• Minors are highly encouraged to take the AMST 345: Theory and Practice of American Studies junior methods course.

• AFST 100.01 Ethics and Human Rights in Africa

  Human rights in Africa, as in many parts of the world, are often very contentious. No one denies the need for human rights. What people contest is the form these rights take. This course will discuss human rights in Africa as ethical issues. It is important to engage human rights through the prism of ethics because we ought to think about how we relate to other humans and respect their dignity and the right to be who they are. The class will read insightful texts and engage in animated discussions of issues as they relate to Africa.

  • Offered: Fall 2025
  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: AI/WR1, Argument & Inquiry/WR1 IS, International Studies
  • Prerequisites:

    Student is a member of the First Year First Term class level cohort. Students are only allowed to register for one A&I course at a time. If a student wishes to change the A&I course they are enrolled in they must DROP the enrolled course and then ADD the new course. Please see our Workday guides Drop or 'Late' Drop a Course and Register or Waitlist for a Course Directly from the Course Listing for more information.

  • Tags: ACE Theoretical CL: 100 level AFST Core
  • Faculty: Chielo Eze 🏫 👤

• AFST 101 Ecology and Anthropology Tanzania Program: Elementary Swahili

  Elementary Swahili introduces students to the communicative use of Swahili, emphasizing communicative competence in real contexts. Ninety percent of instruction is conducted in the target language. Vocabulary and grammar are taught in context. Instruction pays attention to the cultural information in relevant contexts of communication. The main learning/teaching styles used include role plays, prepared presentations, interactive lectures, classroom conversations, and dramatization. In addition to the class textbook, authentic source materials are used, such as pictures, songs, short stories, poems and essays. Student assessment is continuous, and includes classroom participation, homework, written exams and oral exams.

  • Offered: Fall 2025
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: No Exploration
  • Prerequisites:

    Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Ecology and Anthropology in Tanzania program.

  • Tags: CL: 100 level
  • Faculty: Anna Estes 🏫 👤

• AFST 102 Sports and the Black Experience

  With an emphasis on critical reading and writing in an academic context, this course will examine the role of sports in American politics and social organizations. The course pays attention to the African American experience, noting especially the confluence of race and sports. What can sports tell us about freedom, equality, and the pursuit of happiness? How has the Black community contributed to our appreciation of these American virtues? We will read short texts and biographies, and we will watch movies such as King Richard and The Blind Side. Students will produce short writing exercises aimed at developing their critical thinking and clear writing.

  • Offered: Winter 2026
  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Prerequisites:

    Not open to students who have taken AFST 100 Sports and the Black Experience and the American Dream.

  • Tags: AFST Core AFST Humanistic Inquiry AFST Survey Course CL: 100 level
  • Faculty: Chielo Eze 🏫 👤

• AFST 113 Introduction to Africana Studies

  This course is designed for first and second-year students who are interested in learning about the experiences, movements, and perspectives of various African-descendant peoples. In addition, we will cover the history of how Black Studies entered the contemporary university, and how the university responded to its arrival. We will explore topics in Black history; Black expressive cultures; Black religion & spirituality; Black social thought (like Black feminism and critical race theory); Black economic & labor history; Black political theory; and critical university studies. No prior knowledge is assumed nor required.

  • Offered: Winter 2026
  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Tags: AFST Core AFST Survey Course CL: 100 level
  • Faculty: Jorge Banuelos 🏫 👤

• AFST 120 Blackness and Whiteness Outside the United States

  This course examines blackness and whiteness as constructs outside the U.S. Racial categories and their meanings will be considered through a range of topics: skin color stratification, nationalism, migration and citizenship, education, popular culture and media, spatial segregation and others. Central to the course will be considering how racism and anti-blackness vary across societies, as well as the transnational and global flows of racial ideas and categories. Examples will be drawn from the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.  

  Not offered in 2025-26

  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Prerequisites:

    Not open to students who have taken AFST 100 Blackness and Whiteness Outside of the United States or AFST 120.

  • Tags: AFST Core AFST Survey Course CL: 100 level SOAN Elective Eligible AFST Social Inquiry

• AFST 200 Frederick Douglass: The Politics and Philosophy of Citizenship

  This course provides a critical study of Frederick Douglass, a man who rose from slavery to establish himself as one of the most important thinkers of his time. Through a political philosophical reading of his works, the course will trace the evolution of his views on freedom, equality, citizenship, political and moral responsibility, among others. Questions that will guide our discussions include: what does it mean to be free? What are the responsibilities of citizens in a liberal democracy? What lessons can the black experience teach us about these? In addition to Douglass’ primary texts, the class will read secondary texts that celebrate his political philosophical legacy

  Not offered in 2025-26

  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies
  • Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): One course that applies toward the Humanistic Inquiry requirement with a grade of C- or better.

  • Tags: AFST Humanistic Inquiry CL: 200 level PHIL Interdisciplinary 1 PHIL Pertinent PHIL Social and Political Theory 2

• AFST 201 Comedy, Controversies, and Conversations

  Why does comedy matter—and why have Black comedians been some of the sharpest observers of the tensions that shape identity, power, and everyday life in America? In this course, we watch and analyze stand-up from comedians such as Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Wanda Sykes, Trevor Noah, Tiffany Haddish, and others to explore how humor tells hard truths, challenges authority, and reflects what it means to live in the United States today. Expect laughter, lively discussion, thoughtful readings, and conversations that connect comedy to the social issues shaping our shared world.

  Not offered in 2025-26

  • Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Tags: AFST Humanistic Inquiry CL: 200 level

• AFST 205 Black Lives Inspire: Reading of African American Memoirs

  This course studies African American memoir as moral testimony and philosophical reflection. Through autobiographical writings by major Black authors, students examine identity, freedom, dignity, and community, exploring how personal narratives illuminate historical struggle and inspire ethical engagement with American democratic life.

  Not offered in 2025-26

  • Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Tags: AFST Humanistic Inquiry CL: 200 level

• AFST 210 Blackness and Whiteness Outside the United States

  This course examines blackness and whiteness as constructs outside the U.S. Racial categories and their meanings will be considered through a range of topics: skin color stratification, nationalism, migration and citizenship, education, popular culture and media, spatial segregation and others. Central to the course will be considering how racism and anti-blackness vary across societies, as well as the transnational and global flows of racial ideas and categories. Examples will be drawn from the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.  

  • Offered: Winter 2026
  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Prerequisites:

    Not open to students who have taken AFST 100 Blackness and Whiteness Outside of the United States or AFST 120.

  • Tags: AFST Core AFST Social Inquiry AFST Survey Course CL: 100 level SOAN Elective Eligible
  • Faculty: Daniel Williams 🏫 👤

• AFST 213 Race, Racism, and the Beloved Community in the US

  Race and racism played a significant role in the construction of the United States of America. But so did the quest for a more perfect union and the beloved community. This course introduces students to the complexity of racial ideology and the ways it privileges one group of people while placing others at a disadvantage. We shall examine the experiences of all racialized groups (Blacks, Asians, American Indians, Latinos) and how they resisted the injustice against them. Most importantly, we shall analyze how their quest for liberation brought America closer to its foundational ideal that all humans are created equal and are endowed with unalienable rights. Offered at both the 200 and 300 levels; coursework will be adjusted accordingly. Students who have previously taken any AFST course should register for AFST 300; students who have not should register for AFST 213.

  Not offered in 2025-26

  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Tags: ACE Theoretical AFST Core AFST Humanistic Inquiry AMST Democracy Activism CL: 200 level AMST Race Ethnicity Indigeneity

• AFST 215 Contemporary Theory in Black Studies

  This course examines the major theories of the Africana intellectual tradition. It introduces students to major concepts and socio-political thoughts that set the stage for Africana Studies as a discipline. With the knowledge of the historical contexts of the Black intellectual struggle and the accompanying cultural movements, students will examine the genealogy, debates and the future directions of Black Studies. Students are invited to take a dedicated dive into primary scholarship by focusing on foundational thinkers to be studied such as Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, Frantz Fanon, Steve Biko, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and bell hooks, among others.

  • Offered: Fall 2025
  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Tags: AFST Survey Course CL: 200 level GWSS Elective PHIL Interdisciplinary 2 PHIL Social and Political Theory 1
  • Faculty: Chielo Eze 🏫 👤

• AFST 220 Color, Class, and Status in Black America

  As a racial category and identity, “Black” is often treated in a homogenous, monolithic way, obscuring the internal diversity and inequality within the black population in the U.S. In this course, we consider the inequalities within black communities and the black population living in the U.S., historically and through to the present. “Colorism,” or skin tone stratification, represents one status linked to class and ranking in society; but does colorism matter more than other statuses to class? Class differences are in fact profound within black communities, and they are correlated to multiple social statuses–skin tone, immigrant status, national origin, and even political orientation. We will examine how these status, color, and class interact, and how they shape class relations and tensions, lived experience, and notions of authenticity (“blackness”) in everday life and popular culture. Course topics include the Black middle class; education; neighborhood segregation; gender and sexuality; and media representations and popular culture.

  Not offered in 2025-26

  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies SI, Social Inquiry
  • Tags: AFST Core AFST Social Inquiry AMST Democracy Activism CL: 200 level SOAN Elective Eligible

• AFST 225 Black Music, Resistance, and Liberation

  For every defining moment in black history, there is a song. Every genre of black music makes a statement not only about the specific historical epoch it was created but also about the people’s dreams. For black people, songs are a means of resistance to oppression and an expression of the will to live. Through the analysis of black music, this course will expose students to black people’s struggles, hopes, and aspirations, and also American history, race relations, and much more. The class will read insightful texts, listen to songs, watch films, and engage in animated discussions.

  • Offered: Spring 2026
  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): One course that applies toward the Humanistic Inquiry requirement with a grade of C- or better.

  • Tags: AFST Core AFST Humanistic Inquiry CL: 200 level MUSC Elective MUSC Ethnomusicology or Pop
  • Faculty: Chielo Eze 🏫 👤

• AFST 230 Black Europe

  This course examines the history and experiences of people of African descent and black cultures in Europe. Beginning with early contacts between Africa and Europe, we examine the migration and settlement of African people and culture, and the politics and meaning of their identities and presence in Europe. Adopting a comparative perspective, we consider how blackness has been constructed in various countries through popular culture, nationalism, immigration policy, and other social institutions. We further consider how religious, gender, and immigrant identities inform notions of blackness. We conclude by examining contemporary Black European social movements. Offered at both the 200 and 300 levels; coursework will be adjusted accordingly.

  • Offered: Spring 2026
  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Tags: AFST Social Inquiry CL: 200 level EUST Transnational Support SOAN Elective Eligible
  • Faculty: Daniel Williams 🏫 👤

• AFST 260 The Black Radical Tradition

  Since Cedric Robinson's seminal text Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Traditions, scholars have adopted the phrase "The Black Radical Tradition" to collectively name the radical theories and praxes of African-descendant people in the modern world. This course explores several traditions of Black radicalism as well as the historical experiences (slavery, colonialism, apartheid, genocide, racial capitalism, etc.) that have incited radical political action. We will explore markers of social difference that profoundly shape how people live, such as race, gender, class, and sexuality. We will also explore the novel insights that Black radicalism has produced about the nature of coloniality, identity, inequality, power, and oppression in modern society.

  Not offered in 2025-26

  • Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IS, International Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Tags: AFST Core AFST Humanistic Inquiry CL: 200 level

• AFST 289 Global Blackness and Social Movements

  This course considers Black social movements from around the globe, with an emphasis on non-U.S. contexts.  Examining multiple movements both past and present, it takes a comparative approach to understanding the unique and variable ways that Black communities have articulated the Black condition, and mobilized and resisted oppression.  Central to the course is the question of Blackness as a global and transnational identity; as well as the extent to which movements themselves form ties and mutually inform each other across national boundaries. 

  Not offered in 2025-26

  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Tags: AFST Core AFST Social Inquiry CL: 200 level SOAN Elective Eligible

• AFST 300 Race, Racism, and the Beloved Community in the US

  Race and racism played a significant role in the construction of the United States of America. But so did the quest for a more perfect union and the beloved community. This course introduces students to the complexity of racial ideology and the ways it privileges one group of people while placing others at a disadvantage. We shall examine the experiences of all racialized groups (Blacks, Asians, American Indians, Latinos) and how they resisted the injustice against them. Most importantly, we shall analyze how their quest for liberation brought America closer to its foundational ideal that all humans are created equal and are endowed with unalienable rights. Offered at both the 200 and 300 levels; coursework will be adjusted accordingly. Students who have previously taken any AFST course should register for AFST 300; students who have not should register for AFST 213.

  Not offered in 2025-26

  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): One course that applies toward the Humanistic Inquiry requirement with a grade of C- or better.

  • Tags: ACE Theoretical AFST Core AFST Humanistic Inquiry CL: 300 level AMST Democracy Activism AMST Race Ethnicity Indigeneity

• AFST 325 Slavery in the Africana Imagination

  Through the lens of former slaves and their descendants in America, this course explores ways in which the slave and neo-slave narratives attend to the larger existential question of what it means to be free. The corollary notions of race, gender, identity, solidarity, among others, will also be considered. In addition, this class will investigate the ways in which the re-inscription of slavery, in contemporary literature, has impacted the development of the Africana literary tradition in terms of content, genre, and form. This course adopts an interdisciplinary approach to slavery that utilizes philosophy, literature, and media studies.

  Not offered in 2025-26

  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Tags: AFST Core AFST Humanistic Inquiry CL: 300 level ENGL Tradition 2

• AFST 330 Black Europe

  This course examines the history and experiences of people of African descent and black cultures in Europe. Beginning with early contacts between Africa and Europe, we examine the migration and settlement of African people and culture, and the politics and meaning of their identities and presence in Europe. Adopting a comparative perspective, we consider how blackness has been constructed in various countries through popular culture, nationalism, immigration policy, and other social institutions. We further consider how religious, gender, and immigrant identities inform notions of blackness. We conclude by examining contemporary Black European social movements. Offered at both the 200 and 300 levels; coursework will be adjusted accordingly.

  • Offered: Spring 2026
  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2
  • Tags: AFST Social Inquiry CL: 300 level EUST Transnational Support SOAN Elective Eligible
  • Faculty: Daniel Williams 🏫 👤

• AFST 345 Afro-descendant Identities in Cuba and Brazil Program: Afro-Latin America in Comparative Perspective

  This course will focus on overarching themes and theoretical perspectives on contemporary Afro-Latin America. Topics include: political and social change in contemporary Cuba and Brazil and their impact on Afrodescendant communities; theories of Black diasporic identity and cultural expression; theories of race, nation, and ethnicity; gender and class; social inequality.

  • Offered: Fall 2025
  • Credits: 6
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: SI, Social Inquiry CX, Cultural/Literature
  • Prerequisites:

    Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Afro-descendant Identities in Cuba and Brazil Program.

  • Tags: AFST Survey Course CL: 300 level SOAN Elective Eligible
  • Faculty: Daniel Williams 🏫 👤

• AFST 398 Africana Studies Capstone

  This three-credit course gives Africana Studies majors and minors the opportunity to reflect on their learning in Africana Studies and to prepare to apply this knowledge to future endeavors. In this capstone course, the student creates a portfolio of their work in Africana Studies and writes a five-ten page reflective essay tying these papers together. This course gives students an opportunity to seriously reflect about the courses they have taken and the work they have produced within and related to their AFST major/minor, and to draw connections among them.

  • Offered: Fall 2025, Spring 2026
  • Credits: 3
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: No Exploration
  • Prerequisites:

    Open to students who have declared either Africana Studies Major or Africana Studies Minor.

  • Tags: AFST Capstone Seminar CL: 300 level
  • Faculty: Chielo Eze 🏫 👤

• AFST 400 Integrative Exercise

  The comprehensive exercise is a substantial (approximately 34-40 page) research paper on a topic within African, African American, and/or African Diaspora studies. The student should have completed a 300-level AFST course, or a 300-level course that counts toward the AFST major. The comps process begins with a Comps Topic Development Worksheet during spring term of the junior year, a comps topic intention form followed by a proposal in fall term of the senior year, and ends with a final written thesis and oral presentation early in spring term.

  • Offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026
  • Grading: S/NC
  • Liberal Arts Requirements: No Exploration
  • Prerequisites:

    Student has the Africana Studies (AFST) Program of Study AND Senior Priority.

  • Faculty: Chielo Eze 🏫 👤

These courses are related to Africana Studies, but are not required to meet a specific academic requirement for Africana Studies.

• ARTH 160: American Art to 1940 (not offered 2025-26)
• ECON 240: Microeconomics of Development
• EDUC 340: Race, Immigration, and Schools (not offered 2025-26)
• MUSC 136: History of Rock (not offered 2025-26)
• POSC 122: Politics in America: Liberty and Equality
• POSC 241: Ethnic Conflict (not offered 2025-26)
• RELG 122: Introduction to Islam