Overview

A minor in Pan-African Studies is designed to expose students to Black history, culture, experiences, and communities in a manner that complements the general education curriculum and coursework in other majors. The PAS minor requires 6 units of lower-division core, 9 units of elective courses. Electives must be drawn from courses offered within the Department of Pan-African Studies. Minor courses that are also a part of the general education (GE) curriculum can double-count for both GE and minor requirements.

Program Learning Outcomes

Attitude

• Value for critical thinking
• Valuing of diverse perspectives
• An appreciation for scholarship and the importance of ideas for personal and community advancement
• Value for diversity as a positive attribute of humanity  
• Value for the interconnections between scholarship and effective social action
• Value for lifelong learning

Knowledge

• Understanding of diversity within the Black community (in terms of gender, class, sexual orientation, national origin, etc.)
• General grasp of the historical context of contemporary Pan-African challenges.
• Understanding of shared experience and contemporary interconnections among people of African descent throughout the world.
• Basic knowledge of African history, cultures and politics, including (ancient African kingdoms, colonialism, independence movements, contemporary period)
• Basic knowledge of African-American history, culture and politics, including (slavery, Civil Rights, Black Power, Electoral Politics contemporary period)
• Basic knowledge of African/African-American cultural expressions, including literature, music, film, art, etc.
• Understanding of African/African-American activist traditions and its ramifications for national and global equity and justice  
• Basic Understanding of the intellectual tradition and seminal thinkers associated with the Black experience

Skills

• Ability to critically engage in analyses from a Black perspective
• Ability to engage in scholarly research, including the gathering of appropriate sources and employment of suitable methodologies
• Skilled presentation of research findings through written and oral means.
• Ability to historicize and compare contemporary conditions in the Pan African world
• Ability to examine intersectional oppressions simultaneously (race, gender, class, etc.)
• Ability to relate formal instruction in PAS to practical arenas of endeavor, e.g., career, activism, entrepreneurial, and others