Ethnic and Area Studies (B.A.) with African and African American Studies Concentration

Program Overview

Director: Bernardo Michael

The mission of the Ethnic and Area Studies Major is to develop a multidisciplinary understanding of culture and in-depth knowledge of at least one culture or a cultural/racial/ethnic tradition so that students can apply this knowledge in church and society to become effective agents of social justice and reconciliation. Students take a shared set of courses from multiple disciplines to develop a broad understanding of culture and also choose a concentration in a particular ethnic/geographic area to complete a total of 36 credits. Students are strongly encouraged to seek out appropriate cross-cultural/study abroad experiences in their particular area of study.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates from Messiah’s Ethnic and Area Studies program can:

  1. Explain theories of culture, ethnicity, race, and identity.
  2. Articulate the significance of cultural diversity in America and in other world cultures.
  3. Demonstrate advanced knowledge of the historical experiences and contemporary challenges of at least one ethnic/racial/cultural group or of the culture associated with a specific area of the world (i.e. Middle Eastern Studies, Chinese Studies, etc.).
  4. Identify the sources of cultural conflict and employ means of resolving cultural conflict.
  5. Develop a significant research project grounded in a research question they develop that reflects their learning and intellectual or applied interests in the field.
  6. Write an extended and well-researched argument using effective prose appropriate to the discipline.

Major Requirements

Complete the following for your major:

COMM 342Intercultural Communication

3

HEAS 490Senior Thesis

3

SOCI 212Cultural Anthropology

3

SOCI 335Social Conflict, Justice and Peacemaking

3

SOCI 356Social Inequality

3

THEO 223Global Christian Theology

3

HEAS 490: Fulfills Writing Enriched course requirement for major.

Three credits from the following:

HIST 324European Imperialism and its Legacies: 1500 to Present

3

POLI 320Ethnic and Racial Politics in America

3

African and African American Studies Concentration

15 credits from the following:

ENGL 154Introduction to Ethnic Literatures of the United States

3

 

ENGL 330American Literature before 1900

3

OR

ENGL 340American Literature After 1900

3

 

ENGL 160Introduction to World Literature

3

OR

ENGL 350Postcolonial / World Literature

3

 

HIST 352African-American History Since 1865

3

HIST 381History of Africa

3

HIST 383South Africa: Struggle for Freedom

3

INTE 391Internship

1-3

RELI 329Christianity in Africa

3

THEO 207African-American Theology

3

ENGL 154, ENGL 330, ENGL 340, ENGL 160, ENGL 350: Requires certification from the instructor that the course will focus significantly on African literature.

Note: Students are encouraged to seek out appropriate cross cultural/study abroad experiences in their area of study.

QuEST Requirements

Experiential Learning requirement 0
QuEST requirements Credits
First Year Seminar 3
Oral Communication 3
Created and Called for Community (W) 3
Mathematical Sciences 3 or 4
Laboratory Science 3 or 4
Science, Technology & the World 3
Two of the following (six credits total):
   Social Science
   European History
   United States History
6
Literature 3
Philosophy and Religion 3
Arts 3
First Semester of Language 3
Second Semester of Language 3
Third Semester of Language or Cross Cultural 3
Non-Western Studies (SOCI 212) met/major
Bible 3
Christian Beliefs (THEO 223) met/major
Wellness course 1
Ethics (SOCI 335), World Views or Pluralism met/major
QuEST requirements 46-48
Major requirements (inclusive of concentration) 36
Free electives 41-39
Total credits 123