Program Overview

The Program

The objective of the graduate program in Afro-American Studies is to produce scholars and teachers in the tradition of the Department's namesake, W. E. B. Du Bois, a native son of Massachusetts who throughout his long life insisted that a commitment to social justice must be rooted in scholarship of the highest order. Our graduate students receive a thorough grounding in the historical and cultural realities of the African American experience and are assisted in developing the intellectual and scholarly capacity to undertake an Afro-American critique of American life, history, and society, as well as to make on-going contributions to the scholarship on the questions of race and race relations. Our graduate program encourages our students to adopt a critical perspective requiring an integrative approach to the study of history, politics, economics, and culture that does not abstract them from their political and social contexts, but rather relocates them within the social and political contexts out of which they have developed. Students are required to focus not only on the experiences of African Americans, but also on the linkages of those experiences to the cultural, political, and economic forces of the larger society to which Black people have been, and are, inextricably linked. There is a growing demand for scholars and teachers who are professionally trained in African American Studies and who are able to teach the subject at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It is our aim to produce a steady stream of superbly trained scholar-teachers who will help to staff the undergraduate and graduate departments and programs in Afro-American Studies throughout the country as well as the numerous public and private schools which have expanded their curricula to include the study of Black people in the United States. In addition to African American Studies departments and programs which will provide a natural source of teaching positions for our graduates, there are hundreds of history departments and literature departments seeking scholars and teachers to staff courses in Afro-American history or literature. As a consequence, our graduates will be able to obtain teaching positions in four year colleges and in universities. Graduates of the Du Bois Department also are prepared to meet the growing demand for men and women possessing a scholarly understanding of Afro-American Studies, a demand expressed by federal, state, and local government, by charitable organizations, and by other organizations of public trust and responsibility.

Students enrolled in the doctoral program may also earn the degree of Master of Arts upon completion of the preliminary requirements for the doctorate.

Requirements

1. Sixteen graduate courses and seminars for a total of 64 credits.
2. Required seminars, including a two-semester sequence devoted to major works of Afro-American Studies, a seminar on Literary Theory as applied to African American Literature, a seminar on Black Politics, and a seminar on Historiography.
3. Nine additional seminars or courses, in either the History/Politics or Literature/Culture track, including a reading course in preparation for the Qualifying Examinations.
4. Demonstration of reading proficiency in one language other than English directly related to the research interests and dissertation topic of the student, to be accomplished by the end of the third year and prior to taking the Qualifying Examination.
5. Satisfactory performance on the Comprehensive and Qualifying Examinations. The Comprehensive Examination will test the student's general knowledge of the field of Afro-American Studies, and the Qualifying Examination will test the student's mastery of advanced materials in either the History/Politics or Literature/Culture track.
6. A total of ten Dissertation credits (AFROAM 899).
7. A Doctoral Dissertation satisfactory in form and content.

Terminal Master's Degree

In addition to offering a Master of Arts degree to our doctoral students, the W.E.B. Du Bois Department offers a terminal M.A. to students who satisfy the course requirements. Master's students will take 46 credits in courses over two years. Students will take the Comprehensive Examination after the first year based on the Major Works seminars.