Department of African American Studies, Princeton University

The Department of African American Studies at Princeton University provides an exciting and innovative model for teaching and research about African-descended people, with a central focus on their experiences in the United States. We embody this mission in a curriculum that reflects the complex interplay between the political, economic, and cultural forces that shape our understanding of the historic achievements and struggles of African-descended people in this country and around the world. We offer both an Undergraduate Concentration and an Undergraduate Certificate that expand and deepen a student’s understanding of race in the United States and in the world. Students who pursue and fulfill all requirements for the Concentration are awarded a Bachelor of Arts in African American Studies. Alternatively, the Certificate in African American Studies is equivalent to an academic ‘minor’ in African American Studies. Undergraduate students in both tracks select from the same course offerings. The Curriculum requirements in the Undergraduate Program in African American Studies reflects the complex interplay between political, economic, and cultural forces that shape our understanding of the historic achievements and struggles of African-descended people in this country and their relation to others around the world. The Course of Study is directed in three distinct subfields; African American Culture and Life; Race and Public Policy; and Global Race and Ethnicity. The Graduate Studies program in African American Studies provides an opportunity for students to complement doctoral studies in their home department with coordinated interdisciplinary training in African American Studies. Students entering the program may come from any department in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Graduate students cannot be admitted to Princeton University through the African American Studies Certificate Program since it is not a degree program.