The Department of African and African American Studies brings together scholars and scholarship from many disciplines to explore the histories, societies, and cultures of African and African-descended people. The field of African and African American Studies is not only interdisciplinary but also comparative and cross-cultural. The Department offers students two paths of study within its concentration: the African track and the African American track, each with its own set of requirements.

The secondary field enables students whose concentration is outside the field of African and African American Studies to gain a basic understanding of the history, cultures, politics, and social problems of Africans and peoples of African descent. Africans and peoples of African descent have developed cultural forms and traditions that are worthy of study in their own right and that also have profoundly shaped the fine arts and popular culture in the Americas and all around the planet. Black struggles for freedom, both on the continent of Africa and throughout the Western hemisphere, have served as a model for other oppressed groups throughout the world. Comparative and cross-cultural studies of Africa and its diaspora contribute enormously to our understanding of race and ethnicity, and in addressing the ethical, social, and political consequences of racial and ethnic antagonism, the field of African and African American Studies raises questions relevant to the experiences of all peoples. The Department of African and African American Studies (AAAS) is offering two secondary field pathways, African Studies and African American Studies.