Minor in Pan-African Studies

Cal State LA

Los Angeles, CA

A minor in Pan-African Studies is designed to expose students to Black history, culture, experiences, and communities in a manner that complements the general education curriculum and coursework in other majors. The PAS minor requires 6 units of lower-division core, 9 units of elective courses. Electives must be drawn from courses offered within the Department of Pan-African Studies. Minor courses that are also a part of the general education (GE) curriculum can double-count for both GE and minor requirements.

 

Program Learning Outcomes

Attitude

- Value for critical thinking

- Valuing diverse perspectives

- An appreciation for scholarship and the importance of ideas for personal and community advancement

- Value for diversity as a positive attribute of humanity  

- Value for the interconnections between scholarship and effective social action

- Value for lifelong learning

 

Knowledge

- Understanding of diversity within the Black community (in terms of gender, class, sexual orientation, national origin, etc.)

- General grasp of the historical context of contemporary Pan-African challenges.

- Understanding of shared experience and contemporary interconnections among people of African descent throughout the world.

- Basic knowledge of African history, cultures and politics, including (ancient African kingdoms, colonialism, independence - ovements, and contemporary period)

- Basic knowledge of African-American history, culture and politics, including (slavery, Civil Rights, Black Power, and Electoral Politics contemporary period)

- Basic knowledge of African/African-American cultural expressions, including literature, music, film, art, etc.

- Understanding of African/African-American activist traditions and their ramifications for national and global equity and justice  

- Basic Understanding of the intellectual tradition and seminal thinkers associated with the Black experience

 

Skills

- Ability to critically engage in analyses from a Black perspective

- Ability to engage in scholarly research, including the gathering of appropriate sources and employment of suitable methodologies

- Skilled presentation of research findings through written and oral means.

- Ability to historicize and compare contemporary conditions in the Pan-African world

- Ability to examine intersectional oppressions simultaneously (race, gender, class, etc.)

- Ability to relate formal instruction in PAS to practical arenas of endeavor, e.g., career, activism, entrepreneurial, and others