Bachelor in Africana Studies

Africana Studies at Connecticut College employs an interdisciplinary and transnational approach to the study of peoples in Africa and throughout the African diaspora. The departments of Anthropology, Art History, Dance, Economics, Education, English, Film Studies, French, Government, History, Hispanic Studies, Human Development, Music, Philosophy, and Sociology contribute courses to this program covering Africa, North and South America, the Caribbean and Europe. Africana Studies critically engages the historic and contemporary life, thought and cultures of African peoples. Africana Studies seeks to explore the linkages among African peoples while also highlighting a multiplicity of experiences through the lenses of issues such as class, ethnicity, gender, nation, and sexuality.

As a discipline, Africana Studies represents a tradition of intellectual inquiry that grew out of the black freedom struggle and is therefore concerned with the issues of slavery, colonialism, racism and shifting notions of blackness. It is a dynamic and expansive field that interrogates the migration patterns and complex global realities of people of African descent.

The Africana Studies major and minor are interdisciplinary and transnational, and are designed for students to examine the universal and particular experiences of people of African descent. A major in Africana Studies can lead you to a wide array of career paths in areas such as the arts, business, law, media, health, politics or sports education.

Rigorous academic standards, innovative and engaging faculty members, and a diverse classroom curriculum challenge students to reach their full intellectual potential. The College expects students to learn outside the classroom as well, through such activities as research, travel, and internships. The College facilitates those opportunities in the belief that a diversity of experiences is essential for genuine academic excellence. The College also expects and strongly supports faculty scholarship, research, and creative work that advances human knowledge and expression and informs excellent teaching.

In the early 20th century, Connecticut College was founded in the belief that all qualified students - women as well as men - deserve an opportunity to secure an education. The College strives to be a community in which all members feel comfortable, respect each other's differences, and seek common ground. The College promotes understanding by offering a variety of academic and social experiences and is committed to building greater access, opportunity, and equity. Students, faculty, staff, trustees, and alumni all participate in the governance of the College.