东密歇根大学

The MA program in Africology and African American Studies is an advanced theoretical, practical and critical examination of the lived experiences of peoples of African descent, which is designed to equip students with managerial-level, diversity-oriented intellectual knowledge and skills required to serve effectively in organizations, enterprises, companies, and businesses with diverse clientele. It offers two optional tracks: Applied or Thesis-based with a concentration in Africology & African American Studies courses, but, in each case, students are required to choose a complementary focus according to their intellectual or vocational orientation or their undergraduate degrees—from among participating disciplinary programs/departments across academic disciplines and programs of Eastern Michigan University.

Applied Track

Integrates theoretical perspectives and disciplinary knowledge with practical skills and training required to serve constituent organizations, enterprises, companies, and businesses in diverse communities of the United States and beyond.

A capstone internship seminar will serve as the major element of the second-year’s field experience phase of the program. Typically, the project will involve working with companies and/or organizations in the region or elsewhere that serve a diverse clientele. During the internship period, the student will work under the guidance of two supervisors: the DAAAS internship director through a capstone internship seminar (AFC 603) and a representative of the internship placement institution who will oversee the student’s activities and will report periodically to the AAAS Dept’s internship director.

Thesis-based Track

The main goal of this track is to ensure that the theoretical, methodological, and functional dimensions of the degree will complement one another, and thus, increase the students’ preparedness to tackle a diverse range of issues that affect the lives and experiences of the African world, particularly the African Diaspora. The ultimate goal is to help promote democratic, pluralistic, and multicultural approaches to phenomena in contemporary society.

The track encompasses a composite knowledge of African peoples’ historical and contemporary experiences and of the discipline of Africology in relation to other areas in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. This is an intensive academic, writing and researching track aimed at students’ acquisition of (1) a deep insight into the particular nature of the African American and African experiences and (2) knowledge and skills necessary to contribute to the advancement of conversations about the African and African diasporic experiences, both historically and contemporarily. Coursework and guided research will be developed and assessed in accord with both prescribed departmental standards and applicable standards of the Graduate School.