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Current political and economic conditions, both national and international, make the introduction of the major in AAF particularly useful. This period of increased immigration and globalization of the labor market make it increasingly important for students to become familiar with peoples and cultures non-European. In addition to academic exposure for students, the Program offers possibilities for workshops and seminars for public school teachers and other professionals in the State whose job responsibilities have been expanded by changing demographics in the nation.
African and African American Studies is more than an effort to make our curriculum inclusive. The Program will introduce new methods of inquiry which are grounded in an interdisciplinary approach. The internships planned for students and the senior seminar required for majors are designed to maximize students' opportunity to apply research and training.
We are hopeful that this Program can help to build new bridges within the State between communities. Our objective is to both ensure that students stay in tune with their communities and to link faculty and their research to the larger community. In so doing we seek to aid the process of community development.
At campuses across the country, students have been demanding a new cultural pluralism -
greater diversity in the courses offered and in the faculty hired to teach them. African
and African American Studies at URI opens the university to minority students. Part of
this department's academic mission is its potential to foster a positive self-image for
the African American community and alter the often negative images of African and African
American history and culture widely disseminated in American culture at large. This aspect
of the program is crucial to providing the support necessary for many African American and
other minority students to achieve success. The AAF Program, with its interdisciplinary
goals, aims to encourage the aspirations of African American and other minority students,
and the actualization of those aspirations - that is, to expand their sense of the
contributions they already make to the university and to the larger American community and
to help them to envision themselves making further contributions.
Courses developed in this department will provide additional opportunities to all students
to enrich their university experience in multicultural and international education. The
AAF Program also functions as a center for the investigation of intercultural processes
and development. This is critical during a period of transforming global relations.
America's demographic shifts have the potential to transform politics and culture as the
number of non-Europeans grows in every major urban area.
The African and African American Studies Program is interdisciplinary, drawing on the
arts, humanities and social sciences. It offers a wide range of courses which explore the
history, culture, politics and economics of people of African origin, particularly those
who live in the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America. The AAF
Program presents new intellectual and cross-cultural enterprises, incorporating
alternative historical reconstruction's and formulating methodological, theoretical and
analytical forms into the social sciences as well as the humanities. We sponsor lectures
and workshops in collaboration with other departments and with the Multicultural Center
for students and the community covering a variety of topics from international, national,
state and community politics to educational, social, cultural and economic issues.
Main Page / Overview / Faculty / Courses
University of Rhode Island / College of Arts & Sciences
For more information, please contact:
African & African American Studies Program
90 Lower College Road, Roosevelt Hall, Kingston, RI 02881
Phone: 401-874-2536 Fax: 401-874-4527