Bachelor of Arts - African and African American Studies

Program Description 

The African and African American Studies program aims to nurture in students an understanding of the diversity that makes for human culture, an understanding that will foster respect for difference. This program is housed in the History Department and is comprised of courses taught across the UCA campus in art, communication, history, literature, music, philosophy and religion, political science, sociology, world languages, and writing. Thus, it gives students an interdisciplinary understanding of the history and cultures of Africa, the effects of colonialism and slavery on those cultures and on the United States and Caribbean nations, including the contributions of Africans to the culture of America. Giving students the ability to look at an issue from the perspectives of different disciplines is, of course, one of the most important goals of a liberal arts education, and this program accomplishes that goal while enabling students to deal with some of the questions that are most central to our development as a nation and culture. It will prepare students to work successfully in fields that require an understanding of diversity and an ability to relate to people from different cultures, two increasingly important qualifications in today’s world, and qualities that are especially needed in Arkansas.