威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校

The mission of the Department of African Cultural Studies is to research and teach the languages and expressive cultures of Africa and Africans around the world. This includes work at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and emphasizes the development and application of analytical, linguistic, and methodological tools that enable students to work effectively and imaginatively across regions, languages, cultural forms, methodologies, and disciplines.

Undergraduates study one of six languages offered by the department—Arabic, Hausa, Swahili, Wolof, Yoruba, and Zulu—and combine their language study with popular courses in the humanities, literature, and ethnic studies. The department's undergraduate courses cover a wide range of topics, including introductory African literature and storytelling, contemporary cinema and music, and social issues. Students also have the opportunity to study less commonly taught African languages through the self-study methodology program, which enables independent learning of a language through supportive, peer-to-peer and instructor-led coursework.

Majors are encouraged to study abroad in Africa during their undergraduate careers. Study abroad programs sponsored by UW–Madison include semesters or full years in Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Ghana, and other African nations. Other programs are available through different institutions.

1. (Content) Recognize canonical authors and texts, historical forms, genres, and structures, and recognize aesthetic and cultural concerns in Africa and its diasporas.

2. (Content) Demonstrate their understanding of major theories, approaches, concepts, and current and classical research findings in African and diaspora literary and cultural studies.

3. (Content) Develop a level of proficiency in the different “ways of knowing” Africa and the diaspora through language, literatures, and cultures.

4. (Research Skills) Understand their own learning processes and possess the capacity to intentionally seek, evaluate, and learn from information, and recognize and reduce bias in their thinking.

5. (Research Skills) Effectively retrieve and comprehend primary sources in English and African languages, and secondary sources from a range of disciplines.

6. (Communication Skills) Develop or improve speaking, listening, writing, reading skills in an African language, and integrate these skills to communicate effectively.

7. (Communication Skills) Communicate effectively through essays, oral presentations, and discussion, so they may share their knowledge, wisdom, and values with others across social and professional settings.

8. (Communication Skills) Show knowledge of conventional rhetorical strategies, and integrate research by other authors while distinguishing between their own ideas and those of others.

9. (Communication Skills) Write and speak across disciplinary boundaries with regard to existing research about Africa and the diaspora in the humanities and social sciences.

10. (Analytical Skills) Discuss cultural texts from various theoretical and critical perspectives, formulate ideas and make connections between literary/cultural concepts and themes.

11. (Analytical Skills) Demonstrate command of the terminology and methodology of cultural studies, construct complex arguments, and use primary and secondary sources to support arguments.