The Minor in African American Studies

Course Requirements for the Minor: 24 units

The following courses, or their approved transfer equivalents, are required of all candidates for this minor.

Minor Core: 12 units

4 courses required:

SUBJ NUM	Title	Units	Semester Offered	Course Flags
AFAM 170	Introduction to African American Studies	3.0	FS	GE USD
Introduces the aims and objectives of African American Studies. A critical examination of the African American experience and its antecedents. This includes an assessment of how the dominant society impacts African Americans, including such factors as racism, poverty, and the current social/economic status of African Americans. Africa's contributions to the world are included. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved General Education course. This is an approved US Diversity course. (000136)
AFAM 231	African American History	3.0	FS	USD
This course is also offered as HIST 231. An examination of the origins of black people, their history, philosophies, ideas, religions, social values, and the way in which these aspects of culture are interrelated. Emphasis is on the critical analysis of eighteenth-, nineteenth-, twentieth-century events, personalities, and philosophies which resulted in the major economic, political, and social problems facing African Americans and other ethnic minorities today. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved US Diversity course. (000138)
AFAM 355	The Sociology of African Americans	3.0	INQ
Prerequisites: AFAM 170 or SOCI 100. This course is also offered as SOCI 355. This course examines the historical and social experiences that have shaped contemporary African American life, such as slavery, exploitation, oppression, and resistance (for example, the Civil Rights movement, the Black Power movement, and Hip Hop). Strategies for researching African American experiences are learned through anaylsis of Black popular culture, male/female relationships, urbanization, religion, and institutional racism. 3 hours lecture. (000140)
MCGS 155	Introduction to Multicultural and Gender Studies	3.0	FS	GE USD
An introduction to the concepts, terminology, and issues in multicultural and gender studies, including exploration of America's multicultural history, gender as an element of culture, and contemporary issues in the field. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved General Education course. This is an approved US Diversity course. (002602)

Breadth: 6 units

2 courses selected from:

SUBJ NUM	Title	Units	Semester Offered	Course Flags
AFAM 100	Introduction to African Studies	3.0	FS	GC
This course is also offered as AFRI 100. An interdisciplinary approach to modern and traditional aspects of African life in the fields of history, geography, politics, ethnography, and socio-economic development. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved Global Cultures course. (000134)
AFAM 206	Comparative Slavery	3.0	FS	USD
Comparative analysis of the institution of slavery which places slavery in the Western Hemisphere into a global and historical context beginning with labor oppression systems in Asia, the Roman Empire, and Mediterranean cultures. The significance and impact of Africans on the cultural, economic, and political life of North and South American nations will be examined in detail. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved US Diversity course. (000139)
AFAM 251	African American Literature	3.0	FA	USD
This course is also offered as ENGL 251. Introduction to African American literature, using a range of materials from past and present that may include slave and neo-slave narratives, oratory and sermons, poems, plays, and novels, songs and spirituals. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved US Diversity course. (000135)
AFAM 296	African American Music	3.0	FS	USD
This course is also offered as MUSC 296. A historical survey from the African heritage and Colonial times to the present. The types, forms, and styles of African American music are studied in relation to the African American experience. 3 hours discussion. This is an approved US Diversity course. (000141)
MCGS 451B	Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties	3.0	FS
This course is also offered as POLS 451B. Analysis of judicial cases and related materials illustrating historical and current interpretations of constitutional problems such as racial discrimination, criminal procedures, and freedom of speech and religion. 3 hours lecture. (005645)

Capstone: 6 units

1 course required:

SUBJ NUM	Title	Sustainable	Units	Semester Offered	Course Flags
MCGS 495	Senior Seminar in Multicultural and Gender Studies		3.0	SP	GW
Prerequisites: ENGL 130 or JOUR 130 (or equivalent) with a grade of C- or higher. Exploration of theory and extended research in the field of multicultural and gender studies leading to a public presentation. This course is designed as the capstone experience for multicultural and gender studies majors in the general option, and minors. 3 hours seminar. This is an approved Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement course; a grade of C- or higher certifies writing proficiency for majors. (002610)

1 course selected from:

SUBJ NUM	Title	Units	Semester Offered
MCGS 385	Community Activism and Service	3.0	INQ
Prerequisites: MCGS 155 and one of the following: AAST 152, AFAM 170, AIST 170, CHST 157, or WMST 170. This course provides students with a grounding before community service fieldwork. Included are background history of service-learning and activism, theory and current issues in a variety of service areas, experience assessing specific needs and challenges in service. 3 hours lecture. (005646)
MCGS 489	Internship in MCGS	1.0 -3.0	FS
A supervised experience in the area of multicultural and/or gender studies offered for 1.0-3.0 units. You must register directly with the Center director and be a major or minor. No more than 3 units may be counted toward the major or minor. 9 hours supervision. You may take this course more than once for a maximum of 15.0 units. (005647)

Note: Students must take at least 3 units of internship. This is a letter-graded internship.