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Black Diaspora and African American Studies

[ courses | faculty ]

School of Arts and Humanities
Ridge Walk Academic Complex, Arts and Humanities Building, Floor 6, Room 653
bdaas@ucsd.edu
https://bdaas.ucsd.edu/

All courses, faculty listings, and curricular and degree requirements described herein are subject to change or deletion without notice.


Major(s)

Capped

Transfer Major Prep

Black Diaspora and African American Studies (effective fall 2022)

No

No

The Undergraduate Program

The Black Diaspora and African American studies major is an interdisciplinary program of study. Students will be able to design their individual programs under the guidelines of three different program concentrations: Concentration A: Black Diaspora studies, Concentration B: African American studies, or Concentration C: interdisciplinary study. Concentration A focuses on Africa and the Black Diaspora. Concentration B focuses on African American experiences. Concentration C allows students to design a major focus across a selected intersectional topic or issue that is covered across multiple departments. Concentration A and Concentration B require students to select a disciplinary focus under the umbrella of the Black Diaspora (Concentration A) or African American studies (Concentration B). This means that students will take at least five courses in one UC San Diego department. Students who select interdisciplinary study (Concentration C) will take courses across two or three UC San Diego departments.

Black Diaspora and African American Studies (AA25)

Unit Requirements for the Major

Lower-division units

4

Upper-division units

48

Total units required for the major*

52

* See “Graduation Requirements in the UC San Diego Colleges” for complete graduation requirements in each college.

Major Summary

The Black Diaspora and African American studies major requires fifty-two units of study to complete the program. The BA program of study includes: one four-unit lower-division core course, four upper-division core courses, six upper-division courses in a concentration, one UC San Diego human research upper-division course, and one additional four-unit upper-division course (or four units of group and/or independent study).

Students can petition to count two outside courses toward the following required courses in the major: the lower-division core course, the research methods course, and/or an upper-division elective. An outside lower-division elective can be used to fulfill the additional four units of study in the program. Students can fulfill this additional four units in multiple ways: a four-unit upper-division course, 198 and 199 independent or group study course credits, and/or senior seminar. Students can petition to count two lower-division, one upper-division discipline specific course, and/or the human research method course from outside UC San Diego toward the program.

To receive a BA in Black Diaspora studies/African American studies, students must meet the following requirements listed below.

Concentrations

Students pursuing the Black Diaspora and African American studies major must choose a concentration to complete the program.

  1. Africa and the Black Diaspora studies
  2. African American studies
  3. Interdisciplinary study

Concentration A and Concentration B focus on particular groups of people, broadly conceptualized, who share close or distant connections to the continent of Africa through the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism, migration, and racial imperialism. Students who choose Concentration A will take the majority of their upper-division course work in a single department AND with a focus on Black Diaspora studies. Students who choose Concentration B will take the majority of their upper-division course work in a single department AND with a focus on African American studies. The dual focus on particular groups of people and a specific discipline of scholarship will provide a strong academic foundation for the major program.

Students who choose Concentration C will choose a specific group of people, theory, or conceptual model that does not fit within Concentration A or B or does not have sufficient course work in one department to fulfill the requirements of Concentration A or B. An example of Concentration C would most likely include areas of interdisciplinarity and intersectionality, including but not limited to gender, sexuality, and class among Black people and communities and/or the desire to study a particular topic across multiple disciplines. Concentration C gives students the option to pursue foci on smaller subsets of Black communities and build nontraditional conceptual models for understanding different iterations of Blackness.

Concentrations A and B require students to take five of the six upper-division courses within one specific UC San Diego department. The five upper-division courses in one department serve as a disciplinary focus in Concentration A or B. For Concentration C, the student will select six upper-division elective courses from across two or three affiliated departments. All of the BDAAS sanctioned courses can apply to Concentration A or Concentration B, but cannot be used toward both concentrations. Students will be required to select Concentration A, B, or C when declaring the baccalaureate of arts (BA) major in BDAAS. The student will work with the BDAAS program adviser to articulate how the student will meet the specific major requirements regarding the upper- and lower-division core courses, the affiliated concentration courses, and the human research methodology courses.

Students taking the Black Diaspora and African American studies major are expected to focus their independent and/or group projects/papers on issues of Blackness, the Black Diaspora, and/or African American studies in elective courses counting toward the BDAAS major.

Lower-Division Requirements

Core Course Requirement (four units)

These courses consist of various introductions to Black Diaspora and African American studies. These courses provide foundational scholarship and fundamentals of research, theory, humanities, history, and conceptual design related to Black Diasporic and African American populations and experiences.

Students completing the major must complete ONE lower-division core course as a prerequisite to completing upper-division courses for the major.

Concentration A: Africa and the Black Diaspora

  • AAS 11. Introduction to Black Diasporic Studies (4)
  • AAS 14. Introduction to African Studies (4)
  • AAS 15. Racism and Global Imperialism (4)

Concentration B: African American Studies

  • AAS 10. Introduction to African American Studies (4)
  • AAS 11. Introduction to Black Diasporic Studies (4)
  • AAS 14. Introduction to African Studies (4)
  • AAS 15. Racism and Global Imperialism (4)

Concentration C: Interdisciplinary Study

  • Students may choose a lower-division course from Concentration A and B.

Upper-Division Requirements

Core Course Requirements (sixteen units)

These courses provide a unifying and cohesive course work experience for students taking the major. These courses will be offered through the BDAAS program.

  • AAS 170. Legacies of Research on Disenfranchised Communities (4)
    Students will learn about the historic and current legacies of scientific research and the convergence(s) between science and society as a mechanism for colonization and imperialism.
  • AAS 171. Service Learning in Nonprofits (with field experience) (4)
    Students will work with nonprofit organizations to support Black communities in San Diego while learning about nonprofit organizations.
  • AAS 172. Scholarly Work Practicum (with chosen Senate faculty) (4)
    Students will work with a chosen UC San Diego or UC faculty member on the faculty member’s scholarship. The terms of the work will be agreed upon by the faculty member, the student, and the BDAAS director. At the end of the quarter, the student will submit a brief report on how they supported the faculty member and how the scholarship relates to their major.
  • BDAAS Capstone Course (4)
    Students will be meet collectively to work on individual scholarly projects with an instructor’s guidance and supervision. Students can only take the capstone course once they have completed their upper-division course work, or they are completing their courses while simultaneously taking the capstone course.

UC San Diego Department Human Research Methodology Courses (four units)

This class can be taken in any UC San Diego department or program with the permission of the BDAAS program director. Approved human research methods courses must focus on learning to design, conduct, and analyze data on human beings.

Additional Upper-Division Course (four units)

Students must take an additional four-unit upper-division course. Students are able to apply 198 directed group study, 199 independent study, and senior seminar opportunities within UC San Diego to the additional four units required for the major.

BA Upper-Division Affiliate Content Courses (twenty-four units)

Students taking the African American studies minor or Black Diaspora and African American studies major are expected to focus their independent and/or group projects/papers on issues of Blackness, the Black Diaspora, and/or African American studies.

For Concentration A or B, a minimum of five of the six courses must be taken within one UC San Diego affiliated department.

For Concentration C, six upper-division courses must be taken across two or three departments.

CONCENTRATION A: AFRICA AND THE BLACK DIASPORA

Approved courses for Concentration A must have a singular or significant focus on the experiences of people of African descent in the United States and/or globally.

Upper-Division Discipline Elective Courses 

Anthropology

  • ANSC 110. Societies and Cultures of the Caribbean (4)
  • ANBI 131. Biology and Culture of Race (4)
  • ANAR 183. Chiefdoms, States, and the Emergence of Civilizations (4)
  • ANSC 185/AAS 185. #BlackLivesMatter (4)

Communication

  • COMM 111F. CCP: Folklore and Communication (4)
  • COMM 110M. LLC: Communication and the Community (4)
  • COMM 120M. AMP: Media Stereotypes (4)
  • COMM 135. Contemporary Minority Media Makers and the Festival Experience (4)
  • COMM 137. Black Women Filmmakers (4)
  • COMM 138. Black Women, Feminism, and Media (4)

Critical Gender Studies

  • CGS 114/ETHN 183. Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Class (4)
  • CGS 117. Transgenderisms (4)
  • CGS 118. Gender and Incarceration (4)
  • CGS 125. Women of Color Writers (4)
  • CGS 126. Muslims on Gender and Sexuality (4)
  • CGS 147/ETHN 147. Black Feminisms, Past and Present (4)
  • CGS 165/ETHN 165. Gender and Sexuality in African American Communities (4)

Ethnic Studies

  • ETHN 101. Ethnic Images in Film (4)
  • ETHN 102. Science and Technology: Race, Gender, and Class (4)
  • ETHN 103. Environmental Racism (4)
  • ETHN 108/MUS 151. Race, Culture, and Social Change (4)
  • ETHN 109. Race and Social Movements (4)
  • ETHN 119. Race in the Americas (4)
  • ETHN 120. Race and Performance: The Politics of Popular Culture (4)
  • ETHN 128/MUS 152. Hip-Hop: The Politics of Culture (4)
  • ETHN 142. Medicine, Race, and Global Politics of Inequality (4)
  • ETHN 150/CGS 150. Visuality, Sexuality, and Race (4)
  • ETHN 178/MUS 126. Blues: An Oral Tradition (4)
  • ETHN 179A/MUS 127A. Jazz Roots and Early Development (1900–1943) (4)
  • ETHN 179B/MUS 127B. Jazz Since 1946: Freedom and Form (4)
  • ETHN 183/CGS 114. Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Class (4)
  • ETHN 185. Discourse, Power, and Inequality (4)

History

  • HIAF 111. Modern African Since 1880 (4)
  • HIAF 120. History of South Africa (4)
  • HILA 121. History of Brazil (4)
  • HILA 122. Cuba: From Colony to Socialist Republic (4)
  • HIUS 135. The Atlantic World, 1492–1803 (4)

Linguistics

  • LIGN 108. Languages of Africa (4)
  • LIGN 175. Sociolinguistics (4)

Literature

  • LTAF 110. African Oral Literature (4)
  • LTAF 120. Literature and Film of Modern Africa (4)
  • LTAM 111. Comparative Caribbean Discourse (4)
  • LTCS 130. Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Class, and Culture (4)
  • LTSP 137. Caribbean Literature (4)
  • LTWL 140. Novel and History in the Third World (4)
  • LTWL 150. Modernity and Literature (4)
  • LTEN 178. Comparative Ethnic Literature (4)
  • LTEN 188. Contemporary Caribbean Literature (4)

Music

  • MUS 126. Blues: An Oral Tradition (4)
  • MUS 150. Jazz and the Music of the African Diaspora: Special Topics Seminar (4)
  • MUS 151/ETHN 108. Race, Culture, and Social Change (4)

Philosophy

  • PHIL 170. Philosophy and Race (4)

Sociology

  • SOCI 105. Ethnographic Film: Media Methods (6)
  • SOCI 113. Sociology of the AIDS Epidemic (4)
  • SOCI 127. Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity (4)
  • SOCI 148E. Inequality and Jobs (4)
  • SOCI 157. Religion in Contemporary Society (4)
  • SOCI 158. Islam in the Modern World (4)
  • SOCI 187. African Societies through Film (4)
  • SOCI 188E. Community and Social Change in Africa (4)
  • SOCI 188J. Change in Modern South Africa (4)

Theatre and Dance

  • TDHT 109. African American Theatre (4)
  • TDMV 138. Beginning Hip-Hop (2)
  • TDMV 143. West African Dance (4)

Urban Studies and Planning

  • USP 104/ETHN 105. Ethnic Diversity and the City (4)
  • USP 105/SOCI 153. Urban Sociology (4)
  • USP 107/POLI 102E. Urban Politics (4)
  • USP 132/ETHN 188. African Americans, Religion, and the City (4)
  • USP 133/SOCI 152. Social Inequality and Public Policy (4)

Visual Arts

  • VIS 126J. African and Afro-American Art (4)

CONCENTRATION B: AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES

Approved courses for Concentration B must have a singular or significant focus on the experiences of African Americans in the United States and/or globally.

Upper-Division Discipline Elective Courses

African American Studies

  • AAS 185/ANSC 185. #BlackLivesMatter (4)
  • AAS 190. Special Topics in African American Studies (1–4)
  • AAS 198. Directed Group Study in African American Studies (2 or 4)
  • AAS 199. Independent Study in African American Studies (2 or 4)

Anthropology

  • ANSC 110. Societies and Cultures of the Caribbean (4)
  • ANBI 131. Biology and Culture of Race (4)
  • ANSC 185/AAS 185. #BlackLivesMatter (4)

Communication

  • COMM 110M. LLC: Communication and the Community (4)
  • COMM 120M. AMP: Media Stereotypes (4)
  • COMM 135. Contemporary Minority Media Makers and the Festival Experience (4)
  • COMM 137. Black Women Filmmakers (4)
  • COMM 138. Black Women, Feminism, and Media (4)

Critical Gender Studies

  • CGS 114/ETHN 183. Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Class (4)
  • CGS 117. Transgenderisms (4)
  • CGS 118. Gender and Incarceration (4)
  • CGS 125. Women of Color Writers (4)
  • CGS 126. Muslims on Gender and Sexuality (4)
  • CGS 147/ETHN 147. Black Feminisms, Past and Present (4)
  • CGS 165/ETHN 165. Gender and Sexuality in African American Communities (4)

Economics

  • ECON 138. Economics of Discrimination (4)

Education Studies

  • EDS 112. Urban Education in the United States (4)
  • EDS 117. Language, Culture, and Education (4)
  • EDS 126. Social Organization of Education (4)

Ethnic Studies

  • ETHN 101. Ethnic Images in Film (4)
  • ETHN 102. Science and Technology: Race, Gender, and Class (4)
  • ETHN 103. Environmental Racism (4)
  • ETHN 105/USP 104. Ethnic Diversity and the City (4)
  • ETHN 108/MUS 151. Race, Culture, and Social Change (4)
  • ETHN 109. Race and Social Movements (4)
  • ETHN 119. Race in the Americas (4)
  • ETHN 120. Race and Performance: The Politics of Popular Culture (4)
  • ETHN 128/MUS 152. Hip-Hop: The Politics of Culture (4)
  • ETHN 142. Medicine, Race, and Global Politics of Inequality (4)
  • ETHN 147/CGS 147. Black Feminisms, Past and Present (4)
  • ETHN 149. African American History in the Twentieth Century (4)
  • ETHN 150/CGS 150. Visuality, Sexuality, and Race (4)
  • ETHN 151. Ethnic Politics in America (4)
  • ETHN 152. Law and Civil Rights (4)
  • ETHN 159/HIUS 183. Topics in African American History (4)
  • ETHN 161. Black Politics and Protest Since 1941 (4)
  • ETHN 164/MUS 153. African Americans and the Mass Media (4)
  • ETHN 165/CGS 165. Gender and Sexuality in African American Communities (4)
  • ETHN 172/LTEN 183. Afro-American Prose (4)
  • ETHN 174/LTEN 185. Themes in Afro-American Literature (4)
  • ETHN 178/MUS 126. Blues: An Oral Tradition (4)
  • ETHN 179A/MUS 127A. Jazz Roots and Early Development (1900–1943) (4)
  • ETHN 179B/MUS 127B. Jazz Since 1946: Freedom and Form (4)
  • ETHN 183/CGS 114. Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Class (4)
  • ETHN 184. Black Intellectuals in the Twentieth Century (4)
  • ETHN 185. Discourse, Power, and Inequality (4)
  • ETHN 188/USP 132. African Americans, Religion, and the City (4)

History

  • HIUS 126. The History of Race in the U.S. (4)
  • HIUS 128. African American Legal History (4)
  • HIUS 134. From Be Bop to Hip Hop: African American Cultural History since 1945 (4)
  • HIUS 139/ETHN 149. African American History in the Twentieth Century (4)
  • HIUS 144. Topics in US History (4)
  • HIUS 146. Race, Riots, and Violence in the U.S. (4)
  • HIUS 148/USP 103. American Cities/Twentieth Century (4)
  • HIUS 155. From Zoot Suits to Hip-Hop: Race and Popular Culture since World War II (4)
  • HIUS 176/276. Race and Sexual Politics (4)

Linguistics

  • LIGN 108. Languages of Africa (4)
  • LIGN 175. Sociolinguistics (4)

Literature

  • LTCS 130. Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Class, and Culture (4)
  • LTEN 178. Comparative Ethnic Literature (4)
  • LTEN 183/ETHN 172. African American Prose (4)
  • LTEN 185. Themes in African American Literature (4)
  • LTEN 186/ETHN 175. Literature of the Harlem Renaissance (4)

Music

  • MUS 126/ETHN 178. Blues: An Oral Tradition (4)
  • MUS 127/ETHN 179. Discover Jazz (4)
  • MUS 150. Jazz and the Music of the African Diaspora: Special Topics Seminar (4)
  • MUS 151/ETHN 108. Race, Culture, and Social Change (4)
  • MUS 152/ETHN 128. Hip Hop: The Politics of Culture (4)
  • MUS 153/ETHN 164. African Americans and the Mass Media (4)

Philosophy

  • PHIL 170. Philosophy and Race (4)

Political Science

  • POLI 100O. Perspectives on Race (4)
  • POLI 100H. Race and Ethnicity in American Politics (4)
  • POLI 100I. Participation and Inequality (4)
  • POLI 100J. Race in American Political Development (4)
  • POLI 100W. Politics, Policy, and Educational Inequality (4)
  • POLI 102D. Voting Rights Act: Fifty Years Later (4)
  • POLI 102E/USP 107. Urban Politics (4)
  • POLI 102K. The Urban Underclass (4)
  • POLI 104N. Race and Law (4)
  • POLI 108. Politics of Multiculturalism (4)

Sociology

  • SOCI 113. Sociology of the AIDS Epidemic (4)
  • SOCI 126. Social Organization of Education (4)
  • SOCI 127. Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity (4)
  • SOCI 139. Social Inequality: Class, Race, and Gender (4)
  • SOCI 148E. Inequality and Jobs (4)
  • SOCI 151. Social Movement from Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter (4)
  • SOCI 152/USP 133. Social Inequality and Public Policy (4)
  • SOCI 153/USP 105. Urban Sociology (4)
  • SOCI 187E. The Sixties (4)

Theatre and Dance

  • TDHT 109. African American Theatre (4)
  • TDMV 138. Beginning Hip-Hop (2)
  • TDMV 143. West African Dance (4)

Urban Studies and Planning

  • USP 104/ETHN 105. Ethnic Diversity and the City (4)
  • USP 105/SOCI 153. Urban Sociology (4)
  • USP 107/POLI 102E. Urban Politics (4)
  • USP 132/ETHN 188. African Americans, Religion, and the City (4)
  • USP 133/SOCI 152. Social Inequality and Public Policy (4)

Visual Arts

  • VIS 126J. African and Afro-American Art (4)

CONCENTRATION C: INTERDISCIPLINARY

Courses for Concentration C can be chosen from approved courses in Concentration A and Concentration B. Students who choose Concentration C must choose six four-unit upper-division courses from two or three affiliated departments for their program of study.

CONCENTRATION A, B, AND C APPROVED COURSES FOCUSED ON HUMAN RESEARCH METHODS

Students may take one of the following courses to complete the human research methods course requirement. Students may also petition a course to complete the requirement. Human research methods courses must focus on learning to design, conduct, and analyze data on human beings.

  • ANAR 104. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) (4)
  • ANAR 121. Cyber-Archaeology and World Digital Cultural Heritage (4)
  • ANAR 183. Chiefdoms, States, and the Emergence of Civilizations (4)
  • ANSC 138. The Cultural Design Practicum: Using Anthropology to Solve Human Problems (4)
  • ANSC 183. Visualizing the Human: Film, Photography, and Digital Technologies (4)
  • BISP 193. Biology Education Research (4)
  • COMM 101E. MPL: Ethnographic Methods for Media Production (4)
  • EDS 102. Introduction to Qualitative Methods in Education Research (4)
  • EDS 103. Introduction to Quantitative Methods in Education Research (4)
  • ETHN 107/197. Fieldwork in Racial and Ethnic Communities (4)
  • SIO 110. Introduction to GIS and GPS for Scientists (4)
  • SOCI 104. Field Research: Methods of Participant Observation (4)
  • SOCI 104Q. Qualitative Interviewing (4)
  • SOCI 105. Ethnographic Film: Media Methods (6)
  • SOCI 108. Survey Research Design (4)
  • USP 129/ETHN 107. Research Methods: Studying Racial and Ethnic Communities (4)
  • USP 130/ETHN 107. Fieldwork in Racial and Ethnic Communities (4)
  • USP 147. Case Studies in Health-Care Programs/Poor and Underserved Population (4)

Black Diaspora and African American Studies BA Program Requirements

Concentration A Concentration B Concentration C
Lower-Division Core Courses four units four units four units
BDAAS Upper-Division Core Courses sixteen units sixteen units sixteen units
Upper-Division Courses in UC San Diego Departments and Programs twenty-four units; six upper-division courses; five courses concentrated in a single department twenty-four units; six upper-division courses; five courses concentrated in a single department twenty-four units; six upper-division courses; six courses across two or three departments
Human Research Methods Course four units four units four units
Additional Upper-Division Course four units four units four units