Graduate Program in African and African Diaspora Studies

African and African Diaspora Studies Master's Program

The Master of Arts degree in African and African Diaspora Studies is designed to provide students with the skills and perspectives necessary to engage in an interdisciplinary scholarly approach to examining the lives of people of African descent throughout Africa and the African Diaspora, including the United States.  Students will explore the political, cultural, social, economic, artistic, and intellectual processes of people of African descent, and the personal and public forces that impinge on their experiences.  The curriculum offered is methodologically pluralistic, with a thematic and comparative approach that allows for a multi-layered understanding of Black experiences. 

The program's objective is to provide students with the broad foundational knowledge in African and African Diaspora Studies (also commonly known as Africana, Black, African and African American, African and/or Black Diaspora Studies) necessary to pursue a career and/or Ph.D. study in this scholarly area or related fields.  Students successfully completing the Master's program will be able to critically assess issues encountered by people of African descent from multiple perspectives; conduct original research; publish relevant scholarly material; and contribute to the public discourse on race.

Since the skills and content of the program cut across a variety of professional settings, graduates will be prepared for careers in many fields.

Please contact Joel Suarez at jsuarez@austin.utexas.edu or 512-471-4362 with questions.