Degree: Africana Studies, Minor - Chapman University

Sep 01, 2025

2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog

The Africana Studies minor is designed to examine the histories, cultures, societies, literatures, and arts of people of African descent, and their contributions to world civilization. The curriculum takes a transnational approach to the study of the Black experience and places it in a comparative context of Africa and the African Diaspora. The goal of the interdisciplinary curriculum is to provide a personalized education of distinction through a range of core and elective courses that allow students to determine areas of emphasis. With faculty advisement, students will select a tailored course of study that introduces them to the key themes, concepts, intellectual traditions, and political movements of Africana Studies, laying a strong foundation for practical application and social engagement through the critical interrogation of race, geography, and power.

For additional information please contact Dr. Stephanie Takaragawa (takaraga@chapman.edu).

Students pursuing a Minor in Africana Studies are required to:

Complete a minimum of 21 credits in the minor, 12 of which cannot be duplicated by coursework in the student’s major or any other minor(s).
Complete a minimum of 12 upper-division credits.
Complete a minimum of 6 upper-division credits in residence.

core requirements (9 credits)

AFST 101 - Introduction to Africana Studies 3 credits
one of the following (3 credits)
HIST 228 - African American Historical Experience 3 credits
HIST 250 - Why Africa Matters: African History 1800-Present 3 credits
AFST 320 - Black Feminisms 3 credits
one of the following (3 credits)
ANTH 301 - Ethnographic Fieldwork 3 credits
HUM 313 - Community Based Research Methods in Latinx Studies 3 credits

electives (12 credits)

four of the following, two of which must be upper division, no more than two courses from the same discipline

HIST 160 - African Voices: African History to 1800 3 credits
HIST 179 - Gender, Sexuality, and Power in 19th and 20th Century Africa 3 credits
REL 202 - Introduction to Islam 3 credits
HIST 222 - Apartheid and Resistance in South Africa 3 credits
SOC 225 - Social Inequality/Stratification 3 credits
HIST 228 - African American Historical Experience 3 credits (if not chosen for core requirement)
HON 242 - Beyoncé, Madonna, Nina Simone 3 credits
HIST 250 - Why Africa Matters: African History 1800-Present 3 credits (if not chosen for core requirement)
PCST 260 - Peace and Conflict in Fiction 3 credits
AFST 303 - ”Mixed Race” Identities 3 credits
AFST 305 - Afro-Latinx in the Americas 3 credits
SOC 306 - Social Movements 3 credits
AFST 315 - Racialized Punishment 3 credits
HUM 317 - Unsung Stories and New Expressions 3 credits (when topic approved)*
AFST 320 - Black Feminisms 3 credits (if not chosen for core requirement)
HIST 322 - Global History of U.S. Civil Rights Era and Decolonization 1940s-1980s 3 credits
POSC 326 - Politics of the Contemporary Middle East 3 credits
REL 330a - Women and Religion: Voodoo in Context 3 credits
HIST 332 - Slavery, Civil War and Reconstruction 3 credits
AFST 333 - Mapping the Black Pacific(s): Afro-Asian Encounters 3 credits
POSC 338 - African Politics 3 credits
AH 342 - Black Subjects in White Art History 3 credits
POSC 343 - Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Liberties 3 credits
ENG 347 - Topics in Literary and Cultural Studies 3 credits (when topic is Caribbean Literature)
SOC 347 - Topics in Literary and Cultural Studies 3 credits (when topic is Postcolonial Women Writers)
FREN 348 - Topics in Francophone Literatures of the World 3 credits (when topic approved) **
PCST 352 - Race and Change in South Africa and the United States 3 credits
OR
POSC 352 - Race and Change in South Africa and the United States 3 credits
PCST 354 - Non-Violent Social Change 3 credits
POSC 362 - Politics of Humanitarianism 3 credits
SOC 370 - Race and Ethnicity 3 credits
POSC 372 - Racial and Ethnic Politics in the U.S. 3 credits
HIST 379 - Queer Politics in Africa 3 credits
AFST 390 - Internship ½-3 credits
OR
AFST 491 - Student-Faculty Research/Creative Activity 1-6 credits
LEAD 384 - Ethnic Studies Activism: Theory and Practice 3 credits
AFST 399 - Individual Study 3-6 credits
FS 444A - Black Cinema 3 credits
WGST 450 - Postcolonial Women Writers 3 credits
LEAD 485 - Leadership in Times of Crisis: Case Studies in Disaster Response 4 credits

total credits 21

*HUM 317 may count toward the minor, when the topic of the course contains a substantial Africana Studies component and is subject to the advisor’s approval.

**FREN 348 may count toward the minor, when the topic of the course contains a substantial Africana Studies component and is subject to the advisor’s approval.