Kansas African Studies Center at KU
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The University of Kansas African Studies Minor


Read the African Studies Minor Brochure for more detailed information, including a complete list of courses a student might take to complete the African Studies Minor. [.pdf format ]

The African Studies Minor offers the opportunity for students across the University, with majors in a variety of departments and schools, to gain basic competence in African Studies and to work with the best faculty advisers together with student peers.



The 18 hour Minor, taken over several years, will bring the subject matter of African Studies- - African languages, geography, literature, history, society, the arts, and religion- - into sharper focus for the undergraduate student. The African Studies Minor is designed for the student who, as a major in a disciplinary department in the College, or pursuing a degree in a professional school, wishes to acquire competence in a focused area of study relating to Africa . After taking a Foundation course, the student is invited to join a small group of peers and a recognized faculty expert in one of six African Studies thematic clusters

For more information about the Minor, please contact the Kansas African Studies Center at (785)864-3745 or kasc@ku.edu. The administrators of the Center may also be helpful. Garth Myers (Director) may be reached at gmyers@ku.edu, Khalid El-Hassan (Coordinator and Cluster Advisor) may be reached at elhassan@ku.edu.

The African Studies Minor: Basic Requirements
1. FOUNDATION-One required introductory course, 3 credits from:
Select one course:
  1. AAAS 103 Introduction to Africa: This course is designed to introduce the students to Africa and Africans from a range of topical and disciplinary perspectives, often represented by guest faculty from disciplines or perspectives highlighted. Text material includes Martin & O'Meara's Africa (Indiana) and the companion CD Five Windows into Africa.
  2. HIST 104 / AAAS 105 Introduction to African History: In this course, taught by Prof. Elizabeth MacGonagle, students are introduced to the diversity of the African historical experience.
2. THEMATIC CLUSTER - Three courses at the 300-level or above, 9 credits, from one of the following cluster options:
Select one cluster:
  1. Advanced African Language Study
  2. African Societies & Civilizations
  3. African Arts & Literature
  4. Political Economy of Health & Development in Africa
  5. People & Space in Africa
  6. Student Designed Cluster
3. SENIOR PROJECT - One capstone learning experience of 3 credits (with Africanist adviser)
Select one project:
  1. Senior Seminar and Research - such as AAAS 550
  2. Honors Project - such as AAAS 695
  3. Investigation and Conference - such as AAAS 690, or a disciplinary equivalent
  4. Field Experience - such as AAAS 496
  5. Africa-related Internship
  6. Study Abroad in Africa

The Senior Project
Like the AAAS major, the Cluster Initiative incorporates a senior level capstone exercise that is appropriate for each student. The capstone experience consists of one of the following options: one of the courses designated as a capstone course for each of the clusters, which includes a research paper; an honors project or thesis supervised by an Africanist faculty member; an independent study, also with an authorized faculty adviser; field experience with a supervisor; an internship; and a study abroad experience of at least one semester. The advanced language cluster capstone includes an advanced tutorial of one of the taught languages and participation in the course "Language and Society in Africa." This combination will also hold for those students who take a LCTL (Less Commonly Taught Language) online tutorial of a language not taught regularly at KU. A closing undergraduate symposium in the spring of each year, with poster sessions and workshops, will showcase the work that has been done in each of the cluster groups. Papers or other products of the capstone experience will be filed with the Center by students before they receive their certificates.