AAAS Minor

The Minor in African American and African Studies, administered by the Department of African American and African Studies offers students the opportunity to engage in an introductory exploration and critical examination of the lives, worlds, and cultural practices of Black peoples. Students are encouraged to explore the complexity of Black communities as well as the particularities of Blackness as it is lived, imagined and created. Students also gain an appreciation of the promise and possibilities of collaborative, interdisciplinary engagement. 

The minor is available to students who are enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs at Michigan State University other than the Bachelor of Arts degree in African American and African Studies. The minor is divided into two tracks where the Social Science Track is specifically for students whose primary major is in the College of Social Science. The program includes interconnected, required courses exploring Black Feminisms, Genders, and Sexualities Studies; encouragement of diverse understandings and approaches to knowledge production with and about Black peoples. 

If you are ready to declare AAAS as your minor, please complete this form!  

Requirements for the African American and African Studies Minor

Students must complete 15 credits from one of the following tracks:

AAAS Minor 

The following course (3 credits):

    • AAAS 100 – Pathways into AAAS  

Two of the following courses (6 credits):

    • AAAS 200 – Black Feminisms
    • AAAS 201 – Black Sexualities Studies
    • AAAS 202 – Black Genders Studies

Two AAAS courses at the 300-400 level (6 credits):

    • AAAS 300 – Communities in Action 
    • AAAS 301 – Creative Expression, Culture, and Performance
    • AAAS 302 – Black Institutions, Sustainability, and Statecraft
    • AAAS 303 – Black Girlhood Studies 
    • AAAS 304 – Afrofuturism  
    • AAAS 305 – Black People and Land 
    • AAAS 306 – Black Language and Literacy 
    • AAAS 307 – Creative Expression as Craft 
    • AAAS 401 – Social Media and New Journalism 
    • AAAS 402 – Producing Culture 
    • AAAS 403 – Institutions and Oppression 
    • AAAS 404 – Black Ecologies and Environmental Justice 
    • AAAS 405 – Black Entrepreneurship and Hustle 
    • AAAS 406 – Pedagogies of Protests 
    • AAAS 495 – Writing for Our Lives 

College of Social Science Track 

The following course (3 credits):

    • AAAS 100 – Pathways into AAAS  

Two of the following courses (6 credits):

    • AAAS 200 – Black Feminisms
    • AAAS 201 – Black Sexualities Studies
    • AAAS 202 – Black Genders Studies

Two of the following courses with at least 3 credits at the 300-400 level (6 credits):

    • ANP 330 – Race, Ethnicity, and Nation: Anthropological Approaches to Collective Identity  
    • HDFS 442 – Ethnic Families in America  
    • HST 208 – Introduction to African History, Culture and Society  
    • HST 310 – African American History to 1876  
    • HST 311 – African American History since 1876  
    • HST 312 – African American Women  
    • HST 364 – South Africa: From Shaka Zulu to Mandela  
    • HST 383 – The Caribbean  
    • PLS 304 – Minority Politics  
    • PLS 351 – African Politics  
    • SOC 214 – Social Inequality  
    • SOC 375 – Urban Sociology 

View AAAS minor requirements from the MSU Registrar Office 

For general inquiries about AAAS please contact aaas@msu.edu