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African Studies Program

Certificate in African Studies

Students on Summer 2018, Fall 2018, or Spring 2019 requirements AFRIACRT
The Certificate in African Studies provides a background for careers in foreign service, government, business, law, the academic world, and other areas. It is intended to give undergraduates both a broad, interdisciplinary understanding of the African continent (as does the minor), but it also requires that students gain a more in-depth knowledge of Africa as it relates to at least one discipline and one of its languages. Four semesters of an African language such as Akan/Twi, Arabic, Bamana, Swahili, Wolof, Yoruba, or Zulu are required. A Certificate in African Studies also complements a major in many departments and professional schools throughout the university.

Requirements

The certificate requires at least 18 credit hours, including the requirements listed below.
  1. African Civilization. One (1) course:
    • AFRI-L 231 African Civilization
    • HIST-H 227 African Civilizations
  2. Contemporary Africa. One (1) course:
    • AFRI-L 232 Contemporary Africa
  3. Electives. Four elective courses (totaling at least 12 credit hours) from at least two different departments chosen from African Studies or cross-listed full or partial African-content courses. At least three of the four courses must be at the 300- or 400-level, and at least two of the courses must have 100 per cent Africa content. Also, at least one elective course must be taught inside the College of Arts and Sciences. Note: Language courses cannot be applied toward the elective requirement.
    1. 100% Africa Content Courses
      • AFRI-A 100 Introduction to African Studies
      • AFRI-L 100 Topics in African Society and Culture (approved topics: "Gumboot Dance: Beauty from Pain"; "Reed Dance"; "Political Leadership in Africa"; "Southern African Culture, Song, and Dance"; "Women Political Leaders in Africa")
      • AFRI-L 202 Occultism in Africa
      • AFRI-L 210 Popular Akan Oral Art Forms
      • AFRI-L 231 African Civilization
      • AFRI-L 232 Contemporary Africa
      • AFRI-L 400 Topics in African Studies
      • AFRI-X 390 Readings and Research in African Studies
      • AFRI-X 473 Internship in African Studies
      • ANTH-E 300 Culture Areas and Ethnic Groups (approved topic: "Islam in and out of Africa")
      • ANTH-E 309 Problems in African Ethnography
      • ANTH-E 312
      • ANTH-E 417 African Women
      • ANTH-P 314 Earlier Prehistory of Africa
      • ANTH-P 315
      • ANTH-X 476 Museum Practicum (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
      • ARTH-A 155 Introduction to African Art
      • ARTH-A 255 Topics in African Art History
      • ARTH-A 350 Topics in African, Oceanic, and Pre-Columbian American Art
      • ARTH-A 352 Art of Eastern and Southern Africa
      • ARTH-A 355 Art, Craft, and Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa
      • ARTH-A 356 Art of Central Africa
      • ARTH-A 396 Foreign Study in History of Art
      • ARTH-A 453 Art of Sub-Saharan Africa I: Arts of Africa's Western Sudan
      • ARTH-A 454 Art of Sub-Saharan Africa II: Arts of the West African Coast
      • ARTH-A 458 Topics in the Ethnographic Arts
      • ARTH-A 490 Topics in Art History (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
      • CMLT-C 261 Introduction to African Literature
      • CMLT-C 291 Studies in Non-Western Film
      • CMLT-C 361 African Literature and Other Arts
      • CMLT-C 390
      • EAS-X 377 Field Geology and Paleoanthropology at Olduvai Gorge
      • FOLK-E 302 Music in African Life
      • FOLK-E 303 Zimbabwean Mbira Performance Ensemble
      • FOLK-F 301 African Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music (approved topics: "Music in African Life"; "African Music Performance"; "West African Music")
      • GEOG-G 425 Africa: Contemporary Geography Problems
      • GNDR-G 104 Topics in Gender Studies (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
      • HIST-E 200 Issues in African History
      • HIST-E 300 Issues in African History
      • HIST-E 331 African History from Ancient Times to Empires and City States
      • HIST-E 332 African History from Colonial Rule to Independence
      • HIST-E 333 Conflict in Southern Africa
      • HIST-E 338 History of Muslim West Africa
      • HIST-E 340 African Popular Culture
      • HIST-H 227 African Civilizations
      • HIST-J 300 Seminar In History (approved topics: "African Military History"; "Seminar on Contemporary Africa"; "African History of Technology")
      • INTL-I 300 Topics in International Studies
      • INTL-I 499 Seminar in Conflict Studies
      • INTL-X 473 Internship in International Studies (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
      • LING-L 210 Topics in Language and Society (approved topic: "African Communication and Culture")
      • LING-L 431 Field Methods
      • LING-L 432 Advanced Field Methods
      • LING-L 480 Introduction to African Linguistics
      • LING-L 481 Language in Africa
      • LING-L 485 Topics in Linguistics (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
      • MELC-E 201 Egypt of the Pharaohs: History and Civilization of Ancient Egypt
      • MELC-E 301 Religions of Ancient Egypt
      • MELC-M 204 Topics in Middle Eastern Culture and Society (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
      • POLS-Y 338 African Politics
      • SGIS-X 373 Internship in Global and International Studies (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
      • BUS-D 271 GLOBAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS-INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
      • BUS-L 272 GLOBAL BUSINESS IMMERSION-BUSINESS LAW & ETHICS (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
      • SPEA-V 450 CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS (approved topic: "African Political Economy")
      • SPEA-V 482 OVERSEAS TOPICS IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS (approved topic: "Peace Conflict and Development-Rwanda")
    2. Courses with 25% or higher Africa content
      • Additional courses from the 100% Africa Content list
      • Courses with 25% or higher Africa Content:
        • AAAD-A 100 African American Dance Company: Foundations and Practices
        • AAAD-A 112 Black Music of Two Worlds
        • AAAD-A 150 Survey of the Culture of Black Americans
        • AAAD-A 154 History of Race in the Americas
        • AAAD-A 156 Black Liberation Struggles against Jim Crow and Apartheid
        • AAAD-A 210 Black Women in the Diaspora
        • AAAD-A 221 Dance in the African Diaspora
        • AAAD-A 304 Black Paris
        • AAAD-A 350 Black Atlantic
        • AAAD-A 355 African American History I
        • AAAD-A 360 Slavery: Worldwide Perspective
        • AAAD-A 390
        • AAAD-A 407 African American and African Protest Strategies
        • AAAD-A 420 Transforming Divided Communities and Societies (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • AAAD-A 430 The Cinema of Africana Women
        • AMST-A 351 American Studies in Transnational Contexts
        • ANTH-A 107 Becoming Human: Evolving Genes, Bodies, Behaviors, Ideas
        • ANTH-A 122 Interpersonal Communication
        • ANTH-A 200 Topics in Anthropology of Culture and Society (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • ANTH-A 205 Anthropology Today: Selected Topics in Current Research (approved topic: "Exploring Sustainable Agriculture and Trade")
        • ANTH-A 208 Topics in the Anthropology of the Arts and Expressive Behavior
        • ANTH-B 200 Bioanthropology
        • ANTH-B 343 Evolution of Human Ecological Footprint
        • ANTH-B 368 The Evolution of Primate Social Behavior
        • ANTH-B 464 Human Paleontology
        • ANTH-B 466 The Primates
        • ANTH-E 105 Culture and Society
        • ANTH-E 300 Culture Areas and Ethnic Groups (approved topics: "Nature and Culture:Perspectives in Environment Anthropology"; "Photography and Ethnography")
        • ANTH-E 309 Problems in African Ethnography
        • ANTH-E 314
        • ANTH-E 381 Ethnographic Analysis of Family, Work, and Power
        • ANTH-E 386 Performance, Culture, and Power in the Middle East and North Africa
        • ANTH-E 400 Undergraduate Seminar (approved topic: "Money, Materiality, and Value")
        • ANTH-E 407 Visual Anthropology: Filmmaking
        • ANTH-E 417 African Women
        • ANTH-E 423 Life Histories
        • ANTH-E 444 People and Protected Areas: Theories of Conservation
        • ANTH-P 210
        • ANTH-P 250 Introductory World Archaeology
        • ANTH-P 314 Earlier Prehistory of Africa
        • ANTH-P 380 Prehistoric Diet and Nutrition
        • ANTH-P 399 Undergraduate Seminar (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • ARTH-A 327 Survey of Modern and Contemporary Islamic Art
        • ARTH-A 458 Topics in the Ethnographic Arts (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • BIOL-L 433 Tropical Biology
        • BIOL-L 465 Advanced Field Biology
        • CMLT-C 262 Cross-Cultural Encounters (approved topic: "Love and War across Borders")
        • CMLT-C 291 Studies in Non-Western Film (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • CMLT-C 301 Special Topics in Comparative Literature (approved topic: "Folklore and Magical/Animist Realism")
        • CMLT-C 318 Satire
        • CMLT-C 343 Literature and Politics (approved topic: "Migrants, Refugees and Cosmopolitans")
        • CMLT-C 360 Diasporic Literatures
        • CMLT-C 363 Black Paris
        • CMLT-C 464 French Language Literature of Africa and the Americas
        • COLL-C 103 Critical Approaches to the Arts and Humanities (approved topic: "Ebonics: The Controversy over African American Vernacular English")
        • COLL-C 104 Critical Approaches to the Social and Historical Studies (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • COLL-C 105 Critical Approaches to the Natural and Mathematical Sciences (approved topic: "Sister Species")
        • ENG-L 224 Introduction to World Literatures in English
        • FOLK-E 112 Black Music of Two Worlds
        • FOLK-E 151 Global Pop Music
        • FOLK-E 297 Popular Music of Black America
        • FOLK-E 496 African American Religious Music
        • FOLK-F 111 World Music and Culture
        • FOLK-F 121 World Arts and Cultures
        • FOLK-F 252 Folklore and the Humanities (approved topic: "Global Pop Music")
        • FOLK-F 307 Middle Eastern Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music
        • FOLK-F 308 Middle Eastern and Arab Mythology
        • FOLK-F 315 Latin American Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music
        • FOLK-F 377 Popular Culture and Politics in the Middle East
        • FOLK-F 450 Music in Religious Thought and Experience (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • FRIT-F 222 Media Studies in the Francophone World
        • FRIT-F 300 French and Francophone Studies: Introduction (approved topics: "Manger, boire..."; "Desire, soffrance et liberte")
        • FRIT-F 467 French Beyond the Hexagon
        • GEOG-G 208 Environment and Society
        • GEOG-G 315 Environmental Conservation
        • GEOG-G 317
        • GNDR-G 105 Sex, Gender and the Body
        • GNDR-G 215 Sex and Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
        • HISP-P 290 Global Portuguese: Arts and Culture (approved topic: "Portuguese around the World")
        • HISP-P 317 Reading and Conversation in Portuguese
        • HISP-P 400 Literatures of the Portuguese-Speaking World I
        • HISP-P 401 Literatures of the Portuguese-Speaking World II
        • HISP-P 405 Literature and Film in Portuguese
        • HISP-P 415 Women Writing in Portuguese
        • HISP-P 420 Literatures of the Portuguese-Speaking World in Translation
        • HISP-P 475 Theatre in Portuguese
        • HISP-P 476 Prose in Portuguese
        • HISP-P 498 Portuguese Honors Seminar (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • HIST-C 200 Issues in Ancient History
        • HIST-C 205 Islamic History and Civilization
        • HIST-H 101 The World in the Twentieth Century I
        • HIST-H 205 Ancient Civilization
        • HIST-J 400 Seminar in History (approved topics: "Indian Ocean - Cradle of Globalization"; "Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement")
        • HIST-W 200 Issues in World History (approved topic: "World War I from the Margins")
        • HIST-W 210 Global Soccer
        • HIST-W 300 Issues in World History (approved topic: "Slavery and Unfreedom")
        • HON-H 237 Law and Society (approved topic: "Coffee, Culture, and Global Exchange")
        • INTL-I 206 Peace and Conflict (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • INTL-I 303 Advanced Topics in Global Development (approved topic: "Comparative Politics of Natural Resources: Linking the Global and the Local")
        • INTL-L 202
        • JSTU-J 262 Muslim-Jewish Relations in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries
        • LING-L 103 Introduction to the Study of Language
        • LING-L 112 Language and Politics
        • LING-L 306 Phonetics
        • LING-L 308 Morphology
        • LING-L 315 Introduction to Sociolinguistics
        • LING-L 367 Languages of the World
        • LING-L 485 Topics in Linguistics (approved topic: "Advanced Phonology")
        • MELC-M 207 Topics in Islamic Studies
        • MELC-M 265 Introduction to Islamic Civilization
        • MELC-M 305 Issues in Middle Eastern Literature
        • MELC-M 365 Islamic Philosophy
        • MSCH-C 219 Media in the Global Context
        • MSCH-F 204 Topics in Media, Culture, and Society (approved topics: "Emerging Media: Nollywood Films"; "Migrants and Refugees in Film")
        • MSCH-F 391 Media Audiences
        • MSCH-F 398 National and Transnational Cinemas
        • MSCH-J 418
        • MSCH-J 448 Global Journalism: Issues and Research
        • POLS-Y 107 Introduction to Comparative Politics (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • POLS-Y 343 The Politics of International Development (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • REL-A 202 Issues in African, European, and West Asian Religions
        • REL-A 300 Studies in African, European, and West Asian Religions
        • REL-A 470 Topics in Islamic Studies
        • REL-D 250 Religion, Ecology, and the Self
        • SOAD-F 301 Fashion Studies: Topics in Cultural Analysis (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • SOC-S 346 Topics in Cross-Cultural Sociology
        • THTR-D 242 Dance in Human Society
        • BUS-D 411 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVE STRATEGY
        • BUS-D 496 FOREIGN STUDY IN BUSINESS
        • BUS-L 272 GLOBAL BUSINESS IMMERSION-BUSINESS LAW & ETHICS
        • MUS-E 459 INSTRUMENTAL PEDAGOGY
        • SPEA-V 160 NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL POLICY (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • SPEA-V 370 RESEARCH METHODS AND STATISTICAL MODELING
        • SPEA-V 434 NGO MANAGEMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
        • SPEA-V 450 CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS (approved topics: "Global Governance in the 21st Century"; "NGO Management in Comparative Perspective"; "Third World Development"; "U.S. Foreign Policy and Third World Regimes")
        • SPH-F 347 HUM DEV II:MID CHLDHD THRU ADOL (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • SPH-H 150 CHILDREN'S HEALTH UP TO AGE 5 (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
        • SPH-H 304 HEALTHY CHILDREN: BREASTFEEDING PROMOTION IN GLOBAL COMMUNITIES
        • SPH-H 414 HEALTH EDUC IN PRE-K - GRADE 6 (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
  4. Language requirement. Four semesters in a language other than English that is spoken on the African continent. This requirement may be fulfilled by taking African language courses, such as Akan/Twi, Bamana, Swahili, Wolof, Yoruba, and Zulu; Arabic offered through the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures; or another language approved by the Associate Director of African Studies. In most cases, European languages cannot be used to meet this requirement. Courses used for completion of the CASE foreign language requirement do not count toward the required 18 credit hours needed for the certificate.
  5. Certificate GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
    1. At least 9 credit hours in the certificate must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
    2. At least 9 credit hours in the certificate must be completed at the 300–499 level.
    3. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the certificate.
    4. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the certificate—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
    5. Exceptions to certificate 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.