Department of English
Bachelor of Arts in English and African American and African Diaspora Studies
Students on Summer 2018, Fall 2018, or Spring 2019 requirements ENGAAADBA
Requirements
The major requires at least 40 credit hours, including the requirements listed below.
- English Courses. 18 credit hours, of which at least 12 credit hours must be at the 300 level or above, from the list below:
- Introductory course. One (1) course:
- ENG-L 260 Introduction to Advanced Study of Literature
ENG-L 260 Introduction to Advanced Study of Literature
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- Completion of the English composition requirement
- Notes
- R: Completion within the first 9 credit hours of the major
- Description
- Introduces four principles essential to advanced study of literature: attention to language and varieties of figurative language, analysis of generic forms and modes, awareness of historical context and mediation of forms, and facility with traditional and contemporary theories of literature.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
- Introductory Genre course. One (1) course:
- ENG-L 203 Introduction to Drama (must be approved for CASE Intensive Writing)
- ENG-L 204 Introduction to Fiction (must be approved for CASE Intensive Writing)
- ENG-L 205 Introduction to Poetry (must be approved for CASE Intensive Writing)
- ENG-L 206 Introduction to Prose (Excluding Fiction) (must be approved for CASE Intensive Writing)
ENG-L 203 Introduction to Drama
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Acquaints students with characteristics of drama as a type of literature through the study of representative significant plays. Readings will include plays from several ages and countries.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-L 204 Introduction to Fiction
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Representative works of fiction; structural techniques in the novel. Novels and short stories from several ages and countries.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-L 205 Introduction to Poetry
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Kinds, conventions, and elements of poetry in a selection of poems from several historical periods.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-L 206 Introduction to Prose (Excluding Fiction)
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Varieties of nonfictional prose, such as autobiography, biography, and the essay. Representative works from several periods and countries.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
- Literary history courses. Three (3) courses:
- ENG-L 310
- ENG-L 312 Literary History 2: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
- ENG-L 316
ENG-L 312 Literary History 2: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- Completion of the English composition requirement
- Notes
- R: Completion within first 21 credit hours of major
- Description
- A broad overview of the development of British and American literature in the era of empire, industry, and revolution. Tells the story of the expansion of English language and literature.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
- Critical Practices. One (1) course:
- ENG-L 371 Critical Practices
ENG-L 371 Critical Practices
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- ENG-L 260 with grade of C- or higher
- Description
- Study of and practice in using contemporary critical methodologies; can be focused on specific topics.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
- Introductory course. One (1) course:
- African American and African Diaspora Studies Courses. 18 credit hours, of which at least 12 credit hours must be at the 300 level or above, from the list below:
- Introductory course. One (1) course:
- AAAD-A 150 Survey of the Culture of Black Americans
AAAD-A 150 Survey of the Culture of Black Americans
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Notes
- Required for the major
- Description
- Explores the culture of Blacks in America viewed from a broad interdisciplinary approach, employing resources from history, literature, folklore, religion, sociology, and political science.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
- Spring 2025CASE DUScourseFall 2024CASE DUScourse
- African American History. One (1) course:
- AAAD-A 355 African American History I
- AAAD-A 356 African American History II
AAAD-A 355 African American History I
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- History of blacks in the United States. Slavery, abolitionism, Reconstruction, and post-Reconstruction to 1900.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of AAAD-A 355 or HIST-A 355.
- Spring 2025CASE DUScourseFall 2024CASE DUScourse
- Spring 2025CASE SHcourseFall 2024CASE SHcourse
AAAD-A 356 African American History II
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Notes
- R: AAAD-A 355
- Description
- 1900 to the present. Migration north, NAACP, Harlem Renaissance, postwar freedom movement.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of AAAD-A 356 or HIST-A 356.
- Spring 2025CASE DUScourseFall 2024CASE DUScourse
- Spring 2025CASE SHcourseFall 2024CASE SHcourse
- African American Literature. One (1) course:
- AAAD-A 379 Early Black American Writing
- AAAD-A 380 Contemporary Black American Writing
AAAD-A 379 Early Black American Writing
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- African American writing before World War II, with emphasis on critical reactions and analyses. Includes slave narratives, autobiographies, rhetoric, fiction, and poetry.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
- Spring 2025CASE DUScourseFall 2024CASE DUScourse
AAAD-A 380 Contemporary Black American Writing
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Notes
- R: AAAD-A 379
- Description
- The black experience in America as it has been reflected since World War II in the works of outstanding African American writers: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
- Spring 2025CASE DUScourseFall 2024CASE DUScourse
- Electives. Three (3) courses:
- AAAD-A 249 African American Autobiography
- AAAD-A 283 Blacks in American Drama and Theatre, 1767-1945
- AAAD-A 384 Blacks in American Drama and Theatre, 1945-Present
- AAAD-A 479 Contemporary Black Poetry
- AAAD-A 480 The Black Novel
- AAAD-A 493 Senior Seminar in African American and African Diaspora Studies
AAAD-A 249 African American Autobiography
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- A survey of autobiographies written by black Americans in the last two centuries. The course emphasizes how the autobiographers combine the grace of art and the power of argument to urge the creation of genuine freedom in America.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
AAAD-A 283 Blacks in American Drama and Theatre, 1767-1945
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Images of blacks as reflected in American drama from 1767 to 1945. Selected dramas of both white and black playwrights, such as Isaac Bickerstaffe, William Wells Brown, Eugene O\'Neill, and Richard Wright, who depicted blacks on the stage.
- Repeatability
- Credit given for only one of AAAD-A 283 or AAAD-A 383.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
AAAD-A 384 Blacks in American Drama and Theatre, 1945-Present
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- Images of blacks as reflected in American drama from 1945 to the present. Emphasis on the contributions of black playwrights such as Lorraine Hansberry, Langston Hughes, Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Ted Shine, and Ed Bullins.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
AAAD-A 479 Contemporary Black Poetry
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Description
- An examination of black poetry from Dunbar to the present, emphasizing the emergence, growth, and development of black consciousness as a positive ethnic identification.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
AAAD-A 480 The Black Novel
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- None
- Notes
- R: AAAD-A 379 or AAAD-A 380
- Description
- Analysis of the African American novel from the Harlem Renaissance to the present: genesis, development, and current trends. Emphasis on traditions arising out of the black experience and on critical perspectives developed by black critics and scholars.
- Spring 2025CASE AHcourseFall 2024CASE AHcourse
- Spring 2025CASE DUScourseFall 2024CASE DUScourse
AAAD-A 493 Senior Seminar in African American and African Diaspora Studies
- Credits
- 3
- Prerequisites
- African American and African Diaspora Studies major; and senior standing
- Description
- Lecture/discussions on African American studies as an interdisciplinary field of inquiry and scholarship. Students will develop individual or group projects that synthesize their experiences as majors by demonstrating the interrelated nature of the department's concentration areas.
- Introductory course. One (1) course:
- Major GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
- At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
- At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed at the 300–499 level.
- Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the major.
- A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the major—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
- Exceptions to major requirements may be made with the approval of the department's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.
The Bachelor of Arts degree requires at least 120 credit hours, to include the following:
- College of Arts and Sciences Credit Hours. At least 100 credit hours must come from College of Arts and Sciences disciplines.
- Upper Division Courses. At least 42 credit hours (of the 120) must be at the 300–499 level.
- College Residency. Following completion of the 60th credit hour toward degree, at least 36 credit hours of College of Arts and Sciences coursework must be completed through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
- College GPA. A cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.000 is required for all courses taken at Indiana University.
- CASE Requirements. The following College of Arts and Sciences Education (CASE) requirements must be completed:
- CASE Foundations
- CASE Breadth of Inquiry
- CASE Culture Studies
- CASE Critical Approaches: 1 course
- CASE Foreign Language: Proficiency in a single foreign language through the second semester of the second year of college-level coursework
- CASE Intensive Writing: 1 course
- CASE Public Oral Communication: 1 course
- Major. Completion of the major as outlined in the Major Requirements section above.
Most students must also successfully complete the Indiana University Bloomington General Education program.