College of Arts and Sciences
DEPARTMENT OF AFRO-AMERICAN STUDIES

Introduction | Mission Statement | Faculty and Staff
Afro-American Studies Resource Center | Course Descriptions
| Links of Interest

Introduction

The Department of Afro-American Studies offers an interdisciplinary, social science undergraduate curriculum focusing on the presence of black social formations in the Western Hemisphere, with special emphasis on the United States and the Caribbean. The curriculum consists of three core concentrations:  political, social and cultural. Courses are designed to develop and support student competencies in scientific social observation and analysis, survey and archival research methods, and effective verbal and written communication. A minimum of thirty-three credit hours of course work within the curriculum satisfies the requirements of the major.  Eighteen credit hours of course work within the Department are required of all minors. The Department typically serves over 1,000 students per academic year.

Mission Statement

• present to undergraduates a curriculum which will
  facilitate their understanding of the various political, social
  and cultural forces shaping the  Black Experience;
• 
  provide students with opportunities to study some of the major
  problems confronting blacks in the Western hemisphere; 
   
• explore the context in which the presence of  Blacks enriched
  the general social and economic orders of the U.S. and the Caribbean;
   
• assist in the preparation of students for graduate and professional
  careers and for leadership roles in the American and global community.       

Faculty and Staff

Dr. Russell L. Adams, Professor and Chair

Dr. Lila Ammons, Associate Professor

Dr. Nikongo Ba-Nikongo, Associate Professor

Dr. Greg Carr, Assistant Professor

Dr. Lavonne Jackson, Assistant Professor

Dr. Priscilla R. Ramsey, Associate Professor

Mr. E. Ethelbert Miller, Afro-American Studies, Director
Afro-American Studies Resource Center

Mrs. Joyce L. Rose
Departmental Secretary

Afro-American Studies Resource Center

In common with African American Studies Departments throughout the nation, the Department is served by an African American Studies Resource Center, under the supervision of  Mr. E. Ethelbert Miller (B.A., Afro-American Studies, Howard University) under whose stewardship it has gained national recognition both as an academic repository and a key place for aspiring writers to obtain material related to the writing experience. The Center houses one of the premier collections of literary and social science publications on the black experience in
America. In addition to supporting the departmental curriculum, the Center is a highly accessible resource for students in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Howard University community in general.  Mr. Miller himself is an internationally recognized poet, editor and author. His autobiography is Fathering Words: The Making of An African American Writer (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000) and  his sixth edited collection of poetry is African American Poetry for the 21^st Century (Baltimore, MD: Black Classics Press, 2002).

• Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History

• Afro-American Studies Research Guide

 © 2002 Howard University, all rights reserved.
HOWARD UNIVERSITY, 2400 Sixth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20059
Phone: 202-806-6100 - Webmaster / Contacts - WWW Disclaimer