Departmental Brochure

The Black Studies program at Fairfield University is designed to provide the student with a comprehensive study of the origins and experiences of people of African descent. The program uses the methodology and analytical instruments of various disciplines in the humanities and social sciences to shed light on these conditions. The principal aim is to introduce students to the field by exploring the social, political, and economic roots of contemporary problems and by examining them in the context of the wider world.

Given its interdisciplinary nature, the program draws from various disciplines especially in the humanities and social sciences.

In addition to exploring new areas of contact among these disciplines, the minor helps prepare students for life in an increasingly multi-ethnic and global society. It also provides students with the opportunity to build on skills needed for graduate study and for professional careers in community service, education, government, law, and private industry.

Course of Study

The Black Studies program in the College of Arts and Sciences seeks to promote the general awareness and understanding of the Black experience through an exploration of its historical and present-day expressions in various societies. The program brings together scholars who are concerned with Black America, the African Diaspora, and Africa.

It utilizes a cross-cultural approach, incorporating the active participation of faculty, students, and the larger community. The faculty ground their students in history, literature, drama, the arts, and the social sciences, with specific emphasis on the achievement of moral ideals such as equality and democracy, cultural theory, and the social, aesthetic, and political ideas emerging from historical and contemporary societies. Students applying for the minor in Black Studies must have completed at least one semester of full-time study at the University with a grade-point average of at least 2.1. The 18-credit minor in Black Studies requires completion of Introduction to Black Studies and five additional courses drawn from a variety of disciplines. These courses must be drawn from the social sciences or history, and from the humanities; no more than three courses can come from either area. The five courses must represent three different disciplines. At least three must be "focus" courses while the other two may be “component” courses.

Focus Courses

English

• Colonial/Postcolonial West African Novel
• African-American Literature and Culture, 1900-1940
• Seminar on Alice Walker
• Early African-American Literature
• African-American Fiction, 1940 to Present
• African-American Women’s Writing       

History

• African-American History, 1619 to 1865
• Inventing Themselves: African-American Women’s History
• African-American History from 1865 to Present
• Africans in the New World, 1500-1800
• Topics in the History of Africa

Component Courses

English

• Black Bodies/White Bodies: The Angst over Race
• Race, Culture, and American Realism
• Contemporary Women Writers of Color

History

• The United States, 1850-1900
• 20th-Century U.S.
• Immigration, Ethnicity, and Race in U.S. History
• The Spanish Caribbean

Politics

• Caribbean Politics

Sociology

• Race, Gender, and Ethnic Relations
• Urban/Suburban Sociology

Religious Studies

• Liberation Theology

Visual and Performing Arts

• Intro to the Art History of Asia, Africa, and the Americas
• American Popular Music
• World Music History and Ensemble

Alternative arrangements for certain courses for the minor in Black Studies are available, but must be approved in advance by a program advisor and the directors.

Advanced students who have demonstrated the potential for doing research in a particular area may participate in independent study and special projects on an individual or group basis. Prerequisites for advanced classes in Black Studies are Introduction to Black Studies and two focus courses.

The Faculty

Faculty for the program and its advisory committee are drawn from half a dozen departments. The following are among those you will encounter in Black Studies:

Real-World Education

The minor in Black Studies is intended to supplement the student's academic major with a scholarly understanding of the African and African-American Experience. The Black Studies program seeks to provide students with clear, precise, reliable, and accurate knowledge about all aspects of the African Diaspora within the framework of a liberal arts education.

The program fosters a strong grounding in the African American community's contemporary state, history and traditions, unique culture, collective experience, and antecedent connection with Africa and African history. To that end, teaching, analysis, and research within the program are directed toward the community's world view, core beliefs, structures of relationships, patterns of moral and ethical discourse, political thought and action, experience of and response to racism, cultural motifs, and historical foundations.

Life after Fairfield

Regarding the prospect of majoring in Black Studies, one of the most commonly asked questions is: What can I do with a major in Black Studies? The answer is: the same thing you can do with any liberal arts or science minor (such as English, History, or Chemistry) and much more. A concentration in Black Studies provides the foundation through which you can guide your personal and professional ambitions. Furthermore, in a world that is increasingly more conscious about the value of multiculturalism, the Black Studies perspective also makes a graduate with the minor a more attractive candidate to perspective employers. Last but not least, the Black Studies curriculum assists the student in understanding the compartmentalized and often disconnected areas of focus within Western education.

For further information,
please contact:
Program Co-Directors
Dr. Yohuru Williams
Department of History
and Dr. Renée White,
Department of Sociology
Fairfield University
Fairfield, CT 06824-5195
Telephone: (203) 254-4000, ext. 2322 (Williams) or ext. 2813 (White)
Office: Canisius Hall 320 (Williams) and Donnarumma Hall 210 (White)
E-mail: ywilliams@mail.fairfield.edu or rtwhite@mail.fairfield.edu