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This archived information is dated to the 2010-11 academic year only and may no longer be current.

For currently applicable policies and information, see the current Stanford Bulletin.

African and African American Studies

In this section:

Bachelor of Arts in African and African American Studies

Minor in African and African American Studies

Overseas Studies Courses in African and African American Studies

Up one level:

School of Humanities and Sciences

Acting Director: Arnetha Ball

Associate Director: Cheryl Brown

Advisory Committee: James Campbell (History), Clayborne Carson (History), Linda Darling-Hammond (Education), Harry Elam (Drama), Michele Elam (English), Shelley Fisher Fishkin (English), Allyson Hobbs (History), Morris Graves (Associate Dean of Students), Arnold Rampersad (English), Elaine C. Ray (Director, Stanford University News Service), John R. Rickford (Linguistics), Joel Samoff (African Studies)

Affiliated Faculty: David Abernethy (Political Science, emeritus), Samy Alim (Education), R. Lanier Anderson (Philosophy), Anthony Antonio (Education), Richard Banks (Law), Lucius Barker (Political Science, emeritus), Don Barr (Sociology), Shasad Bashir (Religious Studies), Carl Bielefeldt (Religious Studies), Rashida Braggs (IHUM), Bryan Brown (Education), Albert Camarillo (History), James Campbell (History), Clayborne Carson (History), Prudence Carter (Education), Wanda Corn (Art and Art History, emerita), Linda Darling-Hammond (Education), David Degusta (Anthropology), Sally Dickson (Law), Sandra Drake (English, emerita), Jennifer Eberhardt (Psychology), Paulla Ebron (Anthropology), Harry Elam (Drama), Michele Elam (English), James Ferguson (Anthropology), Shelley Fisher Fishkin (English), Charlotte Fonrobert (Religious Studies), George Fredrickson (History, emeritus), James Gibbs Jr. (Political Science, emeritus), William B. Gould (Law, emeritus), Sean Hanretta (History), Aleta Hayes (Drama), Allyson Hobbs (History), Terry Karl (Political Science), Anthony Kramer (Drama), Teresa LaFromboise (Education), Brian Lowery (Graduate School of Business), Lisa Malkki (Anthropology), Hazel Markus (Psychology), Barbaro Martinez-Ruiz (Art and Art History), Monica McDermott (Sociology), Robert Moses (Drama), Paula Moya (English), Elisabeth Mudimbe-Boyi (French and Comparative Literature), Susan Olzak (Sociology), David Palumbo-Liu (Comparative Literature), Patricia Powell (African and African American Studies), Jack Rakove (History), Arnold Rampersad (English), Vaughn Rasberry (English), John R. Rickford (Linguistics), Richard Roberts (History), Sonia Rocha (Sociology), Michael Rosenfeld (Sociology), Ramón Saldívar (English), Joel Samoff (African Studies), Paul Sniderman (Political Science), Ewart Thomas (Psychology), Jeremy Weinstein (Political Science)

Program Offices: 450 Serra Mall, Building 360, Suite 362

Mail Code: 94305-2084

Phone: (650) 723-3782

Email: aaas@stanford.edu

Web Site: http://aaas.stanford.edu

Courses offered by the Program in African and African American Studies are listed under the subject code AFRICAAM on the Stanford Bulletin's ExploreCourses web site.

Undergraduate Program in African and African American Studies

The Program in African and African American Studies (AAAS), established in 1968, was the first ethnic studies program developed at Stanford University and the first African and African American Studies program at a private institution in the U.S. The AAAS program provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the study of peoples of African descent as a central component of American culture, offering a course of study that promotes research across disciplinary and departmental boundaries as well as providing research training and community service learning opportunities for undergraduates. It has developed an extensive network of Stanford scholars who work in race studies specific to AAAS and in concert with the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity.

AAAS encourages an interdisciplinary program of study drawn from fields including anthropology, art, art history, economics, languages, linguistics, literature, music, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology. The program emphasizes rigorous and creative scholarship and research, and fosters close academic advising with a faculty adviser, the AAAS Associate Director, and the Director.

AAAS is an interdisciplinary program (IDP) affiliated with the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE) and offers a major independent of it. CCSRE offers additional majors in Asian American Studies, Chicana/o Studies, Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, and Native American Studies.

Mission Statement for the Undergraduate Program in African and African American Studies

The mission of the undergraduate programs in African and African American Studies is to provide students with an interdisciplinary introduction to the study of the peoples of African descent as a central component of American culture. Courses in the major promote research across disciplinary and departmental boundaries as well as provide students with research training and community service learning opportunities. Courses of study are drawn from anthropology, art, art history, economics, languages, linguistics, literature, music, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology among others. The program provides an intellectual background for students considering graduate school or professional careers.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The department expects undergraduate majors in the program to be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes. These learning outcomes are used in evaluating students and the department's undergraduate program. Students are expected to demonstrate:

  1. interdisciplinary understanding of scholarship related to the African diaspora and Africa, drawing on interdisciplinary course work and each student's individualized concentration.
  2. ability to identify and critically assess different disciplinary, methodological, and interpretive approaches to the study of the African Americans, Africans, and/or people of the African diaspora.
  3. understanding of comparative approaches to race
  4. skills in disciplinary methods necessary for their study.
  5. ability to express their interpretive and analytical arguments in clear, effective prose.

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