Best African Studies Masters Programs in California

The School of Public Health and the African Studies Program have a concurrent degree program whereby students can pursue the MA degree in African Studies and the MPH with a specialization in Community Health Sciences at the same time. Applicants are required to satisfy the admission requirements of both programsm and students must meet the requirements in both programs to be awarded the degrees. Applicants interested in this concurrent program should contact the African Studies program, and the Student Affairs Office, the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

The African American Studies graduate program focuses on the life, culture, and social organization (broadly defined) of persons of African descent. The study of Africa, North America, and the Caribbean are central components of the program. Students are expected to apply a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the international and national divisions of race as they pertain to persons of African descent, wherever they may find themselves. Such an approach is to be employed for the study and understanding of development and underdevelopment, domination and power, self determination, mutual cooperation, and aesthetic and creative expression. Issues of identity construction, marginality, territoriality and the universal role of race in the organization of political economy and in class formation are critical to the program’s intellectual agenda.

A minimum of two years or four semesters of academic residence is required by the university for all Ph.D. programs. Academic residence is defined as enrollment in at least 12 units in the 200 series of courses. Thus, every graduate student must enroll in and complete a minimum of 12 units of graduate course work per required semester of academic residency. After successful completion of course work with a minimum GPA of 3.30, a pre qualifying examination based upon general knowledge in the field of African American Studies will be administered by the department.

Applicants must have completed an undergraduate degree and should demonstrate a general knowledge of African American history and an understanding of the disciplinary bases for the study of the African Diaspora. Demonstrated knowledge in the field should include understanding relations among social, economic, and political structures and culture in African American life. Applicant records must also demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language at the undergraduate level comparable to this university’s language requirement.

The Africana Studies major is designed to provide students with a rich intellectual experience through the critical and systematic study of the life, thought and practice of African peoples, Continental and Diasporan, in their current and historical dimensions. Africana Studies seeks to critically examine and understand the Africana initiative and experience from an Afrocentric or African-centered perspective, i.e., from a position internal to the culture of the people studied, while retaining a respect for and openness to the multicultural character and instructive value of the total human experience.

The Pan African Studies Master program provides students with an opportunity for structured graduate study in the multidimensional discipline of Pan African Studies. Explicitly, the intent of the program is to produce well-prepared individuals to function as both scholars and activists who are prepared to use their knowledge, skills, and competencies needed to enhance the lives of communities of people of African descent.

The program draws from multiple disciplines to deepen scholarly inquiry.

Learn the Program and Student Learning Outcomes.

There are no course prerequisites for admission to the program.

Completion of 30 units of graduate level Pan African Studies courses.

Completion of 9 credit hours of elective coursework. A student may select either PAS or affiliated coursework.

PAS 5000: Proseminar in Pan African Studies (3).

PAS 5001: of African History from Ancient Africa to Colonialism (3).

PAS 5002: Research Methods in Pan African Studies (3).

PAS 5020: African Literature of the Diaspora (3).

Students must complete nine (9) credit hours of elective coursework. A student may select either PAS or affiliated coursework.

Students can select from the following elective courses.

PAS 5023: Africans Outside the US and Afric History and Issues (3).

PAS 4110: African Spirituality in Theory and Practice (3).

The purpose of the project is to demonstrate that the degree candidate has acquired the knowledge and skills to carry out scholarly writing and research in their discipline and to advance knowledge in the discipline itself.

Applied or practical Pan Africanism is a central aspect of the Cal State LA Master of Arts in Pan African Studies. Students who choose to complete a thesis project are expected to take the intellectual and philosophical components of the field and produce tangible and beneficial outcomes with, in, or for African Black communities and spaces. The general structure of the written project could include the following: introduction theoretical or conceptual approach appropriate literature or historical context the project description, components, plan, and implementation project status and results and conclusions. Sample projects may include a film script or film a nonprofit or for-profit business, political organization, or social program (e.g., after-school program) a charter school document or program.

The program is designed to take two years.

PAS 5002: Research Methods in Pan African Studies.

PAS 5001: of African History from Ancient Africa to Colonialism.