About Us
The Africana Studies program at UNC is one of the few programs across the country that has both a major and a minor in Africana Studies. The program also offers a major in secondary education teaching for students interested in teaching social studies at the middle or high school level. This program has been serving UNC students and the University community since 1969.
About Africana Studies
Africana Studies is the scholarly research, study, and interpretation of the history and culture of people of African descent in the African Diaspora. The African Diaspora is composed of people of African origin who reside primarily in Africa, the United States, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and South America.
Africana Studies students will evaluate and analyze many of the ideas, individuals, institutions and accomplishments of the past and present. They will examine the distinctiveness of African American people as well as their interrelationships with racial-ethnic groups. Also included is the study of identity, cultures, customs, traditions, languages and mannerisms.
The contextual scope of Africana Studies as developed academically is interdisciplinary in nature. Subjects comprising that interdisciplinary field include religion, political science, economics, art, music, anthropology, history, and sociology. Africana Studies provides an intellectually broadening field of studies for all students, regardless of race or ethnicity.
Our Mission
It is the mission of Africana Studies to incorporate the ongoing mission of the University of Northern Colorado as a “comprehensive baccalaureate and specialized graduate research university….” Africana Studies is a liberal arts program in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences that utilizes an interdisciplinary approach so that students will use critical thinking skills to explore, apply and disseminate both established and fresh scholarship in pursuit of academic excellence and social responsibility. Africana Studies prepares students to pursue graduate school in areas of public policy, curriculum transformation, international relations, politics, psychology, journalism and media studies, law, business, social work, cultural expression, education and a host of other fields, as well as other significant opportunities.
