Tunde Adeleke, Director
African American studies at The University of Montana-Missoula offers a broad historical link of African and African American (including Latin America and the Caribbean) experiences and perspectives into the 21st century. The goal of the African-American Studies curriculum is to develop basic knowledge of, and appreciation for, the diverse experiences of the African diaspora, and their contributions to the nations into which they were incorporated. The interdisciplinary curriculum of African-American Studies includes course offerings from the following academic disciplines: anthropology, history, fine and performing arts, economics, geography, international studies, political science, Native American studies, Asian studies, psychology and sociology. Some topics of study include: African heritage and cultural continuity among African-Americans; African-American identity issues and cultural variation; the history of African-American protest and resistance, including the abolitionist, anti-lynching, and civil rights movements; the Harlem Renaissance; the social dynamics of integration and segregation; and the various circumstances of, and prospects for, African-Americans in the 21st century.
Requirements for a Minor
The African-American studies minor is an interdisciplinary program requiring twenty-seven (27) credits drawn from a combination of disciplinesBhistory, anthropology, English, sociology, geography, economics, and political science.
- African-American Core Courses
12 credits required from the following:
AAS 195: Special Topics, Introduction to African American Studies
AAS 208H Discovering Africa
AAS 378H African American History to 1865
AAS 379H African American History Since 1865
6 credits required from the following electives:
AAS 195 Special Topics
AAS 278H African American Institutions and Perspectives
AAS 295 Special Topics: Abolitionism
AAS 395 Special Topics
AAS 408 Africa and the Black Diaspora
AAS 478 Martin, Malcolm and the Civil Rights Movement
AAS 493 Omnibus
AAS 495 Special Topics - Electives
9 credits required from at least two of the following fields:
Geography
277S Africa
History
283H Islamic Civilization: The Classical Age
359 Topics in 20th Century U.S. History
361H The American South: From Slavery to Civil Rights
362 African American Struggle for Equality
363H History of American Law
388H Africa to 1880
389H African since 1880
409 History of Southern Africa
470 Women and Slavery
471 Southern Women in Black and White
Sociology
200 Social Stratification
220S Race, Gender and Class
322 Sociology of Poverty
Political Science
326H Politics of Africa
Economics
350 Economic Development
English
337 African-American Literature
Anthropology
180S Race and Minorities
329S Social Change in Non-Western Societies
385S Indigenous Peoples and Global Development
Courses
U = for undergraduate credit only, UG = for undergraduate or graduate credit, G = for graduate credit. R after the credit indicates the course may be repeated for credit to the maximum indicated after the R. Credits beyond this maximum do not count toward a degree.
African-American Studies (AAS)
U 195 Special Topics Variable cr. (R 6) Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one time offerings of current topics.
U 208H Discovering Africa 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 208H. Interdisciplinary study of the history of pre-colonial Africa, focusing on social, economic, political and cultural institutions and traditions including the wealth, diversity and complexity of ancient and classical African civilizations and cultures.
U 278H African American Institutions and Perspectives 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Study of social, political, economic and cultural institutions that Blacks developed and utilized in their struggles from slavery to freedom, and the ideological schools of thoughts and perspectives that have defined, and continue to define and shape, the Black experience and struggle.
U 288 Abolitionism: The First Civil Rights Movement 3 cr. Offered spring. Interdisciplinary, historical perspective on the early 19th century movement to abolish slavery and racial discrimination in the United States.
U 295 Special Topics Variable cr. (R-6) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.
U 368 Gandhi and King: Ethics of Nonviolence 3 cr. Prereq., lower-division course in Perspective 5 or consent of instr. An examination of the writings of Gandhi and King in search of the ethical basis for their struggles for justice.
U 372 African American Identity 3 cr. Offered autumn. Interdisciplinary course designed to explore and illuminate the multifaceted nature and development of African American group and individual identity.
U 378H African American History to 1865 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 378H. Survey of the African American experience from the African background to the end of the Civil War. Focus on Black American quest for the American Dream, and how Blacks attempted to deal with the challenges of enslavement and racism.
U 379H African American History Since 1865 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 379H. Study of the African American experience since the Civil War. Change and continuity in the African American experience, the fight against Jim Crow, the struggle for civil rights, and post-civil rights economic, political, social and cultural developments and challenges.
U 388H Africa to 1880 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 388H. History of Africa from the earliest of times. Evolution of African societies and states, social, economic, political, and cultural developments; the dynamics, nature and consequences of Africa's interaction with Europe up to 1880.
U 389H Africa Since 1880 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 389H. Historical development in Africa since the imposition of colonial rule. Analysis of colonialism and emergence of nationalism.
U 395 Special Topics Variable cr. (R 9) Prereq., consent of instr. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one time offerings of current topics.
U 396 Independent Study Variable cr. (R 9) Prereq., consent of instr.
UG 408 Africa and the Black Diaspora 3 cr. Offered intermittently. History of Blacks in the diaspora. Focus on comparative examination of experiences in the United States, Latin America, South America, Africa and the Caribbean.UG 409 History of Southern Africa 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 409. Historical survey of developments in southern Africa from the earliest of times to the present. Focus on the evolution and growth of societies and states; economic, social and political developments; external interventions and impacts on race relations.
UG 478 Martin, Malcolm and the Civil Rights Movement 3 cr. Offered intermittently. Same as HIST 478. Examination of two leading and dominant leaders of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Backgrounds, ideological orientations, idiosyncracies, and dynamics of change, continuity, conflict and consensus in their respective programs; lasting impacts and legacies.
U 493 Omnibus Variable cr. (R 6) Prereq., consent of instr.
UG 495 Special Topics Variable cr. (R 9) Prereq., consent of instr. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one time offerings of current topics.
U 496 Independent Study Variable cr. (R 9) Prereq., consent of instr.
Faculty
Professor
Tunde Adeleke, Ph.D., Western Ontario, 1985
Instructors
Jim Hogan, M.A., 1984
George Price, M.A., The University of Montana, 1996
Emeritus Professor
Ulysses S. Doss, Ph.D., The Union Institute, 1974