Goals

The Africana/Black Studies minor focuses on the diaspora of African-descended people and cultures. The sequencing of courses includes areas of study on the History of Africa, The African-American (USA and Canada) experience both historically and in contemporary times, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Hispanic, and other cultures and descents of African peoples. The program offerings range across traditional fields of sociology, criminology, history, literature, political sciences, law, communications, and education. Overall, the Africana/Black Studies minor seeks to provide Niagara University studies with a multidisciplinary and comparative framework through which to explore African diaspora. Generally, the minor is designed to introduce students to the history, culture and society, and political and economic conditions of Black people in Africa, the Americas, and elsewhere in the world; and to explore new approaches — perspectives, analyses and interdisciplinary techniques — appropriate to the study of the Black experience.

Upon successful completion of the Africana/Black Studies minor, students will be able to:

1. Articulate a critical understanding of major historical, cultural, political sociological, and economic developments affecting peoples of African descent across the globe, in particular the scope and ramifications of the African Diaspora.
2. Interpret the experience, impact and continuing significance of African peoples in history as well as how said history has shaped global racial and spatial inequality in the present with respect to the color line.
3. Integrate course material into career opportunities and community engagement.
4. Apply their global understanding of cultural diversity through a work of original research or direct outreach to the community in the form of extended volunteer work and/or internships appropriate to the minor and the Vincentian Mission.

Minor