Degree Requirements

Master of Arts

Students must complete thirty-three semester hours of coursework, including six semester hours of core coursework, and a three-hour master’s report course which must be taken in the final semester of program enrollment. Nine semester hours of supporting courses may be taken outside of the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies. Additional information about the Program of Work is available from the graduate adviser. 

Doctor of Philosophy

Students must complete a minimum of sixty semester hours, including nine semester hours of core coursework exploring the theoretical and methodological foundations of black studies; a three-semester-hour methods course in the student’s area of interest; and dissertation research and writing. Students without a master's degree from another institution must complete the core curriculum plus the additional three-semester-hour methods course, the interdisciplinary coursework for the master's report, and the language requirements (as determined by the graduate adviser) before taking the comprehensive qualifying exam.

Doctoral students must demonstrate proficiency in a non-English language before advancing to candidacy; ideally, this should take place before the qualifying examination. The language should be determined by the student and his or her adviser, should be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee, and should reflect the student's research interests. The language requirement will be fulfilled with a translation exam administered and evaluated by departmental faculty members. The student's adviser will determine whether or not he or she should also demonstrate speaking proficiency in the chosen language, in which case a proficiency exam is required. Non-English proficiency is not required upon admission to the program. To be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree, all PhD candidates must pass a comprehensive examination. Upon successful completion of the PhD coursework and the comprehensive examination, students may file for doctoral candidacy and register for dissertation hours. The dissertation culminates in an original body of scholarly, independent research demonstrating the candidate's expertise in his or her selected area of concentration. In consultation with the graduate adviser, the candidate selects a dissertation committee, including a dissertation supervisor and at least four other committee members. At least three members of the dissertation committee must be members of the Graduate Studies Committee in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies, and at least one member must be from an outside department or program. More information about the doctoral coursework requirements, foreign language requirement, comprehensive examinations, and dissertation process is available from the graduate adviser.