African Studies and the African Diaspora taps a wide range of academic pursuits, intellectual methods and cultural traditions to give our majors and minors a broad perspective of African experiences—both historic, contemporary, local and global. Our students are informed and knowledgeable in dialogues concerning the socio-political, literary, cultural, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of how the African experience has influenced every aspect of the world we live in. This ranges from the history, politics and culture (among other aspects) of African countries, to the influence and lives of people in the African diaspora around the world, including black life in the United States. Numerous opportunities exist for our students to study abroad in Africa, Latin America, or the Caribbean, further enabling them to expand their international and multicultural awareness of issues relative to globalization and social justice. Internships or service-learning programs that foster experiential learning are also available.

The Black World Studies program was inaugurated in 1971 as Loyola's first interdisciplinary program. It uniquely advanced the university's transformative educational mission for over four decades. As agents of social change, our students strive to apply their knowledge of the global black experience in ways that help make our world a home for all. In keeping with changes in the various disciplines that study the African and diaspora experience, in 2013 the program evolved into the new African Studies and the African Diaspora program.

Curriculum

The African Studies and the African Diaspora major requires 11 courses (33 credit hours):

¹

Students can take any Culture and Methods courses from any of the departments associated with the African Studies and African Diaspora program.  Students should consult their advisor before registering for this requirement.

²

Three additional AFR courses that have not been taken from the selected concentration.  Of the three AFR elective courses selected, at least one must be 200-level or higher and at least one further course must be 300-level or higher.

Transfer-Student Residence Requirement

College of Arts and Sciences Graduation Requirements

All Undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences are required to take two Writing Intensive courses (6 credit hours) as well as complete a foreign language requirement at 102-level or higher (3 credit hours) or a language competency test.  More information can be found here.

Additional Undergraduate Graduation Requirements

All Undergraduate students are required to complete the University Core, at least one Engaged Learning course, and UNIV 101.  SCPS students are not required to take UNIV 101.  Nursing students in the Accelerated BSN program are not required to take core or UNIV 101.  You can find more information in the University Requirements area.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of the program, our students can recognize, identify, and appreciate the unique gifts and enriching contributions of African and African descended people, communities and countries in the areas of literature, politics, spirituality, morality, psychology, philosophy, and the arts. In service of humanity, our students are able to skillfully communicate their knowledge and values to peoples of all cultural backgrounds, nurturing within them a spirit of tolerance, accommodation, and respectful inclusion that grounds a more just, humane, and peaceful social order. Differences with regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, ethnicity, and religion are viewed and affirmed as valuable. Our students are able to reasonably discuss Africa as the cradle of humanity and civilization, locate African and African influenced culture in space and time from its earliest beginnings, and describe the varied ways in which African people’s cultural identity and gifts have come to expression across global communities for centuries. They are knowledgeable about the liberation struggles of African and diaspora communities and the inspirational impact these struggles have exerted globally on other civil and human rights movements. They understand the history of enslavement of Africans in the Western hemisphere and the European colonization of Africa as this history relates to current issues of institutional racism and social inequality in the US, Africa, and elsewhere. From their elevated perspective, our students view African descended peoples as actors or agents of justice rather than as helpless victims of injustice on the stage of history, recognizing that the primary reality is not what oppressors have done to blacks but what blacks have done to resist, counter, and overcome their oppressors' power to enslave, exploit, defame, and dominate.