Doctoral / PHD Programs in African Studies

The Department of African and African American Studies offers a graduate degree in African and African American Studies. The program offers rigorous interdisciplinary training in the humanities and the social sciences, with a focus in a disciplinary field, leading to the PhD.

A minimum of two years of full-time study (fourteen four-credit courses or equivalent) is required.

The heart of African Studies is the workshop. information the workshop can be found here.

Marriage, Identity, and Social Reproduction after GenocideZoë Berman PhD Candidate in Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago.

The innovative Ph.D. program trains students in an interdisciplinary, three-fields approach to African, African American and African Diaspora Studies. Students critically examine the cultural, political, economic, and historical factors that have created and shaped the African, African American and African Diasporic experiences. The Program's in-depth training in the field of Africana Studies prepares students for the challenges of the globally interconnected world of the 21st century. The Program positions students for careers in the academy and professions, enabling them to make ground-breaking contributions to national and global discourse and problem solving.

Program of African Studies Adjunct Major in African Studies Minor in African Studies Graduate Certificate and Cluster.

PhD Cluster and Certificate in Middle East and North African Studies.

Major Minor in Middle East and North African Studies.

Middle East and North African Studies Program Major Minor in Middle East and North African Studies Graduate Studies PhD Cluster and Certificate in Middle East and North African Studies.

The Department of Africana Studies at Brown University is the intellectual center for faculty and students interested in the critical study of the artistic, cultural, historical, literary and theoretical expressions of the peoples and cultures of Africa and the African Diaspora. The department has one of the leading faculties in the discipline.

The Ph.D. program in Africana Studies provides a firm base for graduate students to create new and innovative knowledge within the discipline as well as develop cutting-edge scholarship that contributes to the broader academy and public life. Graduate students in the program receive rigorous training in the discipline of Africana Studies and the theories and methods of interdisciplinary work, with an acute focus on race, class, gender, and sexuality, while being critically conversant with the methods and theories of other academic disciplines. The goal of the program is to prepare students to become skilled and informed scholars and educators poised to make significant contributions to academic and nonacademic communities and initiate cultural and social policies with humanitarian objectives informed by critical thinking and global perspectives on social and human development.

The Africana Studies Ph.D. program is a small and high quality program designed to expand knowledge production about peoples of African descent and to train future generations of scholars who will deepen and refine the field.

An interdisciplinary field of study, Africana Studies embraces the study of people of African ancestry on the African continent and in the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America and the broader diaspora. Toward that end, it is at the forefront of scholarship that both transcends disciplinary fields and brings more powerful explanatory value to issues of race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality. Accordingly, since its inception, Africana Studies has profoundly shaped research and discourse in the humanities and social sciences by altering traditional epistemologies and methodologies. Africana Studies has historically resisted the confines of national borders in its analyses.

Indeed, the diversity of the Cornell University's college system, its strengths in the traditional disciplines and its strong support and encouragement of interdisciplinary work provides students an ideal environment in which to pursue graduate training in this field. Moreover, Cornell now has a critical mass of scholars in the Humanities, Visual and Expressive Culture and Social Sciences whose work collectively sits on the cutting edge of Africana Studies.

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 African and African Diaspora Studies (AADS) Ph.D. program provides students with the necessary skills and analytical framework to engage interdisciplinary approaches for examining the lives of people of African descent throughout Africa and the African Diaspora, including the United States. Students will develop the broad foundational knowledge necessary to pursue an academic career and to conduct scholarly research in African and African Diaspora Studies and related fields.

The AADS Ph.D. program is the first Black studies program to grant Ph.D. degrees in the southern United States. Dedicated to recruiting and admitting exceptional Ph.D. students who are committed to the study of Black life, our students will learn the skills and perspectives necessary to engage in an interdisciplinary scholarly approach to examining the lives of people of African descent throughout Africa and the African Diaspora. The curriculum offered is methodologically pluralistic, with a thematic and comparative approach that allows for a multi-layered understanding of Black experiences.

The mission of the African Cultural Studies is to provide research and teaching in the languages and expressive cultures of Africa and Africans around the world.

The department is the only one of its kind in the United States. For those learning to conduct research in African expressive cultures, it offers curricula leading to both the master of arts degree and the doctor of philosophy degree. For those learning to teach African languages, it offers a terminal master of arts degree with an emphasis on pedagogy. Its students come from all over the world, including many African countries.

Graduate admissions is a two-step process between academic programs and the Graduate School. Once you have researched the graduate program(s) you are interested in, apply online.

African Studies does not admit in the spring.

African Studies does not admit in the summer.

Admission to the graduate program requires a bachelors degree with substantial coursework related to the expressive cultures of Africa. Admitted students with an insufficient background in African cultural studies may be asked to complete additional coursework beyond the regular degree requirements. Applicants should have a minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 grading scale or equivalent academic performance on other scales. The department will consider special cases, however, for probationary admission.

Admission into the Ph.D. program requires a master of arts in a closely related field (with the thesis or other substantive piece of graduate-level writing submitted as a writing sample).

All applicants to the program must apply online by 15 December. Please note, the $75 application fee is due at the time of application (an additional $6 will be charged to international students to cover processing). The department cannot review an applicant who has not met all Graduate School admissions requirements. Carefully review the instructions and other information the Graduate School provides most of the admissions questions we receive relate to the Graduate School requirements and are answered in their documentation.

If you are offered admission to the program, the Graduate School will request that you provide official copies of transcripts or academic records from each institution you have attended. These must be issued directly by the institutions with all official seals, stamps, and signatures. International academic records must be in the original languages and records in languages other than English accompanied by an official English translation. An accepted student may not matriculate or enroll for courses until the Graduate School has documented official transcript(s) matching or updating the application transcript(s).

The online application allows you to self-report scores, but we cannot consider your application until the Graduate School receives your official score report directly from the examination organization.

Give a detailed account of the reasons and circumstances that led to your decision to undertake graduate work in the African Cultural Studies. Include references to your academic work, your short-term and long-term goals, your personal relationship to or interests in the fields we study, and your knowledge of any African languages. If your transcripts reflect any any negative episodes in your academic career, e.g., a poor grade or a dropped course, you may explain them here.

The department will make secondary use of your purpose statement to assess the style and substance of your writing. We recommend a length of 500-1000 words. The scope of your discussion and the level of detail that you choose to provide will be part of our assessment.

We require three letters of recommendation, submitted directly by the referees. You must requests to all three of your references as part of the online application. Recommenders will receive a notice via email and will submit their letters accordingly.

Recommendation letters should discuss your overall scholarly ability. Please ask your referees to include specific examples of your academic achievements your independent thinking, analytical and critical thinking skills papers and presentations given in their courses and your merits relative to other students. For international applicants, the letters should also address English proficiency. If recommenders submit their letters via the Graduate School online application system, they will be asked to provide class rank information if they do not submit their letters through this system, they should include this information in the letter itself.

Strong letters of recommendation will provide the department with evidence that you will succeed in the study of African languages and expressive cultures at the graduate level.

Use the information to track the progress of your application. Please keep in mind that materials sent by post may take some time to appear on this progress report.

Resources to help you afford graduate study might include assistantships, fellowships, traineeships, and financial aid. Further funding information is available from the Graduate School. Be sure to check with your program for individual policies and restrictions related to funding.

All admitted students are guaranteed five years of funding, typically in the form of TAships, as long as they are making satisfactory progress. Our top domestic minority students are typically nominated for, and often receive, Advanced Opportunity Fellowships. All domestic students are encouraged to apply for Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships. Many of our graduate students also pursue outside funding as their career progresses.

The department regularly funds teaching assistantships for both our language and literature culture courses. Opportunities and assignments vary by semester. All continuing graduate students in good academic standing must apply by 15 December to be considered for positions for the following academic year. All new applicants are automatically considered. Teaching assistants earn tuition remission, a stipend, and benefits.

The Ebrahim Hussein Endowment for research in African expressive cultures was established in the College of Letters Science in 2003 thanks to the generosity of Robert M. Philipson, alumnus of the College of Letters Science (Ph.D.1989). The college will award $7500 each year to one or full-time graduate students in L S to carry out research on African expressive cultures in Africa and or archives outside of the United States. The research must lead to a Ph.D. dissertation, an M.A. thesis, or a publishable-quality paper. Doctoral students may receive up to $7500 each M.A. level students may receive up to $3,750 each.

Timing of the proposed research in relation to degree requirements.

The Graduate School provides additional information helpful to graduate students in need of funding.

Javits Fellowship Program (US Dept of Ed).

Accelerated: Accelerated programs are offered at a fast pace that condenses the time to completion. Students are able to complete a program with minimal disruptions to careers and other commitments.

Students have the advantages of face-to-face courses with the flexibility to keep work and other life commitments.

Hybrid: These programs combine face-to-face and online learning formats.

Online: These programs are offered 100% online. Some programs may require an on-campus orientation or residency experience, but the courses will be facilitated in an online format.

Ph.D. candidates should maintain a 3.5 GPA in all AFRICAN department courses and may not have any than two Incompletes on their record at any one time.

Doctoral students must pass a preliminary written examination to become dissertators, followed by a dissertation proposal oral defense. After writing the dissertation, candidates must pass an oral defense of the completed dissertation.Doctoral students must submit a short statement (2-3 pages) at the end of their third semester, discussing how the courses that they have taken so far, as well as those that they plan to take in the future semester(s), relate to their area of focus and inform their dissertation research and their envisioned career path.

Ph.D. students must complete one year of an African language beyond second year level.Students may petition for an exemption if they have received comparable African language training or have intermediate or higher proficiency in an African language.

One additional course in a language relevant to the student doctoral research and or geographic area of focus, other than English.

All doctoral students are required to complete a minor.

Ph.D. students must complete one year of an African language beyond second year level. Students may petition for an exemption if they have received comparable African language training or have intermediate or higher proficiency in an African language. One additional course in a language relevant to the student doctoral research and or geographic area of focus, other than English.

Within that area of study, students will take:.

Up to 6 credits of prior coursework may be counted toward the Ph.D. with approval.

At least one of the four members must be from outside of the Department and all doctoral committee members must be designated as readers.

For students who earned an M.A. elsewhere, coursework should be completed in six semesters. By the beginning of the sixth semester, the candidate proceeds to the preliminary examination. A student who has not attempted the written preliminary exam by the beginning of the their seventh semester, or passed it by the end of the seventh semester, will leave the program with a terminal M.A. (provided they have at least thirty credits).

By the beginning of the fourth semester, the candidate proceeds to the preliminary examination. A student who has not attempted the written preliminary exam by the beginning of their fifth semester, or passed it by the end of the fifth semester, will leave the program.

A candidate for a doctoral degree who fails to take the final oral examination and deposit the dissertation within five years after passing the preliminary examination may be required to take another preliminary examination and to be admitted to candidacy a second time.

These resources may be helpful in addressing your concerns:.

Take advantage of the Graduate School professional development resources to build skills, thrive academically, and launch your career.

(Content) Recognize canonical authors and texts, historical forms, genres, and structures, and recognize aesthetic and cultural concerns in Africa and its diasporas.

(Content) Develop in-depth knowledge in a sub-field of specialization within African cultural studies.

(Content) Demonstrate their understanding of major theories, approaches, concepts, and current and classical research findings in African and diaspora literary and cultural studies.

(Content) Develop knowledge of a secondary field of research from outside the African Cultural Studies.

(Research Skills) Effectively retrieve and comprehend primary sources in English and African languages, and secondary sources from a range of disciplines.

(Communication Skills) Develop or improve speaking, listening, writing, reading skills in an African language, and integrate these skills to communicate effectively.

(Communication Skills) Communicate effectively through essays, oral presentations, and discussion, so they may share their knowledge, wisdom, and values with others across social and professional settings.

(Analytical Skills) Demonstrate command of the terminology and methodology of cultural studies, construct complex arguments, and use primary and secondary sources to support arguments.

Opportunities also exist for students to cross-register in African Studies courses at other area colleges and universities, such as Harvard University, MIT, Northeastern University, Brandeis University, Tufts University, and Boston College.

Fall 2022 Course Spotlight: AN 532 Islamic Africa.

Fall Course Spotlight: CAS AH114 Kon Cub Art, Exchange, and Self-Determination in Africa and Latin America.

African Student Organization, Umoja the African Language Program hosted over 100 students at annual dinner.

The ASC Fall 2022 Course Offerings are now live!

Anthropology Ph.D. candidate Gana Ndiaye has been named a Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellow.

The ASC offers eight African languages and provides fellowships to students at the intermediate or advanced level.

Our Graduate Certificate is open to Masters and Ph.D. candidates looking to complement their graduate education with regional study.

In the African Postcolony.