THE M.A. IN AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
Charles E. Jones, Chair and Director of Graduate Studies

Students seeking admission to the graduate program are admitted once a year to begin in the fall semester. All application materials are due by April 1st. To complete the application process, please visit the College of Arts and Sciences graduate programs website at www.cas.gsu.edu/grad.html .

For M.A. course descriptions, click here

The Department of African-American Studies offers a vibrant and highly competitive graduate program. The Department’s Master of Arts degree is designed to provide students with a rigorous interdisciplinary training in the scholarly investigation of people of African descent. The faculty and the courses of the graduate program are drawn from the department and other academic units throughout the university.

The Master of Arts degree in African-American Studies offers two areas of concentrations: the Community Empowerment track and the Culture and Aesthetics track. The Community Empowerment concentration focuses on the historical and contemporary strategies to empower people of African descent. This track exposes the student to the political, economic, and policy responses to the impediments of African/African-American community development. The Culture and Aesthetics concentration focuses on the understandings and the interpretations of the philosophical, literary, and artistic contributions of people of African descent.

Students are prepared to pursue a doctorate in African-American Studies or other related disciplines in the social-sciences or the humanities. The M.A. degree in African-American Studies also enhances a career in government, education, the professional fields, and the non-profit sector.

Additional Admission Requirements
In addition to the general admission requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of African-American Studies has the following admission requirements:

1. Although an undergraduate degree in African-American Studies is not required, applicants are expected to have taken extensive coursework in African-American Studies.
2. Applicants must submit scores on the verbal, quantitative, and analytical sections of the GRE.
3. Applicants must have a 3.0 cumulative undergraduate grade point average.
4. Applicants must submit a career goals statement (2-3 pages).
5. Applicants must submit a writing sample of their previous scholarly work (10-20 pages)
6. Applicants must submit three letters of recommendation which assess the ability of the student to undertake graduate study.
7. Applicants must complete the supplementary application form provided by the Department of African-American Studies.

Degree Requirements
In order to earn a Master of Arts degree in African-American Studies, a student must complete 36 credits hours of graduate coursework:

1. Students must complete twelve (12 ) hours of core requirements:
2. AAS 6000 Proseminar in African-American Studies (3)
3. AAS 6005 Theories in African-American Studies (3)
4. AAS 6007 Black Feminist Thought (3)
5. AAS 6010 Research Methods in African-American Studies (3)
6. Students must complete twelve (12) credit hours of coursework in one of two areas of concentrations: Community Empowerment or Culture and Aesthetics:
7. Students who select the Community Empowerment concentration must complete at least twelve (12) credit hours of designated Community Empowerment coursework from the following intial course offering:
   
   AAS 6020 African -American Social Movements
   AAS 6025 Seminar in African-American History
   AAS 6026 Seminar in African-American Women’s History
   AAS 6027 Seminar in Southern Modern Civil Rights Movement
   AAS 6029 African-American Political Participation
   AAS 6030 Dynamics of the African American Family
   AAS 6032 African American Masculinity
   AAS 6034 African American Women in the U.S.
   AAS 6040 African American Community Empowerment
   AAS 6042 Ethnicity and Aging
   AAS 6044 African-American Anthropology
   AAS 6050 African Social Movements
   AAS 6052 Africana Women and Social Political Change
   AAS 6055 African Politics
   AAS 6056 Geography of Africa
   
   
8. Students who select the Culture and Aesthetics concentration must complete at least twelve (12) credit hours of designated Culture and Aesthetics coursework from the following intial course offering:
   
   AAS 6060 African Art
   AAS 6062 Contemporary African Art
   AAS 6063 Art of Egypt, Nubia & Maghrib
   AAS 6070 African American Literary Theory
   AAS 6073 19th Century African American Literature
   AAS 6075 20th Century African American Literature
   AAS 6079 African American Language
   AAS 6080 The Black Arts Movements
   AAS 6082 African-American Art
   AAS 6084 Jazz Styles
   
   
9. Students must complete six (6) credit hours of elective coursework. A student may select either African-American Studies or affiliated coursework. Non-designated African American Studies coursework requires prior approval from the graduate director.
10. Students must complete at least six (6) credit hours of AAS 8999 Thesis Research.
11. Students must submit an approved thesis.
12. Students must satisfactorily pass an oral thesis defense.