No GRE/GMAT Masters Program in African Studies

African literature and films have been a vital (but often unacknowledged) stream in and stimulant to the global traffic in invention. Nigerian literature is one of the great literatures of the 20th century. Ethiopian literature is one of the oldest in the world. South Africans have won Nobel Prizes for Literature in the past forty years than authors from any other country. Senegalese films include some of the finest films ever made. In this course, we will study the richness and diversity of foundational African texts (some in translation), while foregrounding questions of aesthetics, style, humor, and epistemology.

Introduction to the vocal and instrumental music of Africa south of the Sahara. Topics include the place of music in society, the influence of language on musical composition, principles of rhythmic organization, urban popular music, art music as a response to colonialism, and the impact of African music on the earliest forms of African American music. Two 90-minute lectures.

A survey course that begins with an of the continent at the end of the third century A.D. and ends with the death of Moshoeshoe in the 19th century. Focuses on several great themes of African history: long-distance trade, state formation, migration, religious conversion to either Islam or Christianity, forms of domestic slavery, and the impact of the slave trade. Two 90-minute classes.

This course examines why well-meaning development experts get it wrong. It looks closely at what anthropologists mean by culture and why most development experts fail to attend to the cultural forces that hold communities together. By examining development projects from South Asia to the United States, students learn the relevance of exchange relations, genealogies, power, religion, and indigenous law.

An interdisciplinary study of places, periods, persons, or questions that helped define French cultural identity, from its origins to the present. Areas of study could include courtly love gothic art the Enyclopedia the Belle Epoque the Figure of the Intellectual from Zola to Simone de Beauvoir the sociocultural revolution of May 1968 colonization, its discontents, and its aftermaths France in the age of globalization Franco-American relations etc. Two 90-minute classes.

A comparative approach to African political systems. The meanings of the concepts of modernization, national integration, and development are explored. Topics include the inheritances of colonial rule, independence and the new tasks, political patterns in the postindependence period, prospects for political change, and African interstate relations. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

Designed to allow juniors and seniors enrolled in the program to examine significant problems in Africa in an interdisciplinary manner.

Apartheid, the political doctrine of separation of races in South Africa (1948-1990), dominated the (South) African political discourse in the second half of the 20th century. While it lasted, art and visual cultures were marshaled in the defense and contestation of its ideologies. Since the end of Apartheid, artists, filmmakers, dramatists, and scholars continue to reexamine the legacies of Apartheid, and the social, philosophical, and political conditions of non-racialized South Africa. Course readings examine issues of race, nationalism and politics, art and visual culture, and social memory in South Africa.

Continuation of SWA 101. Emphasis is on increasing proficiency in reading and listening comprehension, speaking, and writing. Cultural contexts of the East African societies where Swahili is spoken are incorporated in classroom activities in order to enhance communication and cultural proficiency. Prerequisite: SWA 101. Four classes.

This second-year Swahili course focuses on enhancing the communicative skills acquired in the first year. Instruction emphasizes reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The course infuses cultural and sociopolitical aspects of life in East Africa with complex grammatical concepts such as the subjunctive, grammar infixes, and relative clauses. Four classes.

Check out the Program of African Studies video, and Northwestern mission to pursue and generate research that transforms the world in an article by the Vice President for Research, Milan Mrksich.

Watch a talk hosted by the Program of African Studies anytime you want! Check out the PAS Youtube channel to watch video series on a variety of subjects, discussed by African Studies scholars from around the world.

Grab a copy or read it online here !

There are few departments or programs that match our strengths in:.

Global studies in black popular and mass culture.

Africana Studies offers a Ph.D. program with full funding, which includes paid tuition, health insurance and a stipend.

E-delivery may also be referred to as an e-TRF by your test center.).

This procedure, commonly referred to as the committee system, takes the place of uniform course requirements and uniform departmental examinations and is intended to encourage freedom and flexibility in the design of individual students' degree programs.

Seminar in Africana Studies I: Historical, Political and Social Analysis.

Seminar in Africana Studies II: Cultural, Literary and Visual Analysis.

Topics class in Africana History or Theory (Chosen in consultation with the DGS).

A supporting methods course: Students are required to take a supporting methods course.

Students will develop a program of study within major and minor areas of concentration by their second year. Within each track, students will select a geographic area of concentration, e.g. Africa, the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America, or emerging studies of the global African diaspora. In regards to course load, in order to remain in good academic standing, students are expected to complete at least three courses per semester. Students are strongly encouraged to enhance their learning and training by striving to complete than the minimum courses.

Seminar in Africana Studies I: Historical, Political and Social Analysis.

Seminar in Africana Studies II: Cultural, Literary and Visual Analysis.

Students complete the required seminars during the first year and, in consultation with their special committee, develop a program of study within major and minor areas of concentration over the following year. Within each track, students will select a geographic area of concentration, e.g. Africa, the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America, or emerging studies of the global African diaspora. Students take a minimum of ten additional courses in Africana studies and related fields before taking the qualifying exam (Q exam) by the end of the second year of graduate study. Students are strongly encouraged to enhance their learning and training by striving to complete than the minimum courses. The ASRC Ph.D. Program will only accept the transfer of graduate courses from other institutions under extremely rare circumstances and after the submission of a petition to the DGS.

Because the special committee is charged with guiding and supervising all of a student academic work, it is important to establish this committee as soon as possible. The expectation is that a student will select at least one member of their committee no later than the end of the first year of graduate study. The two other members of the committee represent fields of study (the minor fields ) in which the student also has a strong interest and will become competent to teach. The DGS will serve as a temporary member of the student special committee until there is a full complement of functioning members. Any changes or additions to the special committee before the A Exam can be assigned through Student Center.

Approving the student choice of courses for each semester.

Recommending at the end of each semester that the student be awarded appropriate residence credit. One unit of residence is awarded for a semester satisfactory full-time study. Fractions of a unit may be awarded for part time or not wholly satisfactory study.

Recommending the conferral of the degree. This recommendation must be unanimous.

The goal of a Q exam is to test whether the student has the necessary qualifications for continuation in the program.

Passing the Q Exam is required to remain in good academic standing.

The process and content for the Q exam should be discussed with second-year Ph.D. students early in the fall semester, and the exam must take place no later than the fourth semester of graduate study.

At the conclusion of the exam, the committee offers the student its written assessment of progress in developing the knowledge and skills necessary for a Ph.D. in Africana studies and makes recommendations for further study. At this time, the committee should also take the opportunity to propose how the language requirement is to be satisfied, or whether it has been satisfied already.

This exam will determine whether the student will remain in good academic standing. Students with incompletes are not eligible to take the exam.

Exam (Admission to Candidacy Examination), demonstrating proficiency in one major and two minor fields. Successful completion formally admits the student to candidacy for the doctoral degree.

This exam consists of written responses to questions from each of the committee members, followed by an oral examination based on the responses to the questions. The content and timing of the A exam is negotiated between the student and their special committee. exam comprised of a minimum of three separate questions (one from each committee member if a student has than three committee members, additional members may choose to collaboratively write an exam question for the student, may write a fourth question, or may substitute the dissertation proposal for a question. The response time should be agreed upon at least one month before the exam is scheduled. Students may also be required to submit reading lists, syllabi, and or a dissertation proposal as part of the A exam.

Upon passing the A exam, the student advances to Ph.D. Candidacy status. By the time of the A exam, the student should have identified and explored a doctoral dissertation topic. If the student plans to do fieldwork, a great deal of planning and preparation is necessary. Almost all foreign countries require graduate students to be attached to an institute or agency, so all such arrangements must be completed in advance. Students must also ensure that human subjects protocols are approved if this kind of research is germane to their dissertation research and writing.

All students must demonstrate proficiency in one language other than English. This requirement can be satisfied by taking a proficiency exam or by taking the relevant language course.

Ph.D. candidates at Cornell must complete at least six registration units. One registration unit is equivalent to one semester of fulltime study. Students entering the Ph.D. program may be granted a maximum of two registration units for a master degree earned at another institution if that degree is relevant to the doctoral program. However, no commitment regarding transfer of registration units may be made until the special committee has had an opportunity to judge the student accomplishments.

Candidates for the Ph.D. degree in Africana studies must complete at least three semesters of carefully supervised teaching as a teaching assistant during their third and fourth years.

In the second year of Africana Ph.D. program, candidates are expected to complete the Cornell Teaching Assistant Online Orientation.

The TA Online Orientation includes essential information to accelerate new TAs on the path to success in their teaching roles, as well as details campus teaching support resources. It should take approximately 4-5 hours to complete all 5 modules in the orientation.

If a student has incompletes, the evaluation must include the names of the courses, dates of enrollment and plans for resolving the incompletes.

The review will be based on the students' grades, papers, presentations, Q and A exams, publications and teaching in order to determine if they are making satisfactory progress toward the completion of the program.

Official milestones such as qualifying exams (Q exam), administered early in an academic program, admission to candidacy exams (A exam) which assess breadth and depth in the discipline, the defense of the thesis (B exams).

The Journalism and Africana Studies Joint M.A. at the Graduate School of Arts and Science (GSAS) is a 42 credit program (22 Journalism credits including a 1-credit internship and 1-credit directed reading for the Master’s project and 20 Africana Studies credits). Course requirements in Journalism are: Writing, Research and Reporting Workshop I, JOUR-GA 1021; Writing, Research and Reporting Workshop II, JOUR-GA 1022; three Journalism electives (at least two reporting-oriented); a 1-credit internship, JOUR-GA 1290; and a Master’s thesis completed while enrolled in Directed Reading, JOUR-GA 1299. Course requirements in Africana Studies are: Pro-Seminar I, AFRS-GA 2000 and four Africana Studies electives.

JOINT MASTER OF ARTS PROGRAM IN AFRICANA STUDIES AND JOURNALISM.

JOINT MASTER OF ARTS PROGRAM IN AFRICANA STUDIES ECONOMICS.

DUAL DEGREE PROGRAM (M.A. MSLIS) IN AFRICANA STUDIES AND LIBRARY SCIENCE.

This degree program offers an optional museum studies concentration.