Africana Studies programs are offered at many excellent institutions of higher learning.

What is Africana Studies?

The discipline of Africana Studies explores and analyzes the lives and thought of people of African ancestry in every region of the world. It is premised on the idea that African-descended people’s histories, epistemologies, aesthetic and cultural productions are central rather than marginal. Students will critically engage with categories of identity like race, gender, sexuality, class and citizenship; with transnational processes like the diasporic movement of peoples and ideas; and with relations of power like racism, colonialism, community solidarity, and self-determination.

Contribution to the Mission of NMSU

Understanding the experience of African-descended people is critical to navigating the modern world, particularly in the United States. An interdisciplinary minor in Africana Studies should be attractive to students of any background seeking to enter fields like education, nursing, social work, social justice, policymaking, urban planning, or law.

The Africana Studies minor consists of 18 credits of coursework, including four required courses and three electives.