A Graduate Certificate in African Diaspora Studies in the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will introduce students to the current scholarship on the African Diaspora as well as a basic grounding in the historical, political, literary, and cultural responses of African peoples to their diasporic conditions. A successful recipient of a Graduate Certificate in African Diaspora Studies from UMass Amherst would be expected to have acquired the following knowledge:
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grounding in the complex political and historical development of Pan-Africanism and the African Diaspora in the Americas;
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conceptual strategies and critical apparati for engaging with a variety of discourses on the African Diaspora;
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working knowledge of the issues, themes, and concepts informing the current scholarship in African Diaspora Studies, especially a critical engagement with issues such as refugee status, exile, migration, immigration, trans-nationalism, and expatriation; and,
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critical knowledge of the scholarship in at least one aspect of African Diaspora Studies.
Applying for the Certificate in African Diaspora Studies
The certificate welcomes applications from persons who meet the following criteria:
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have gained admission into a graduate degree-granting department at UMass Amherst; and,
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have earned a bachelor’s or graduate degree from an accredited university and have made an application for and gained admission to UMass as a non-degree student through the Graduate Admissions Office.
Requirements: Five graduate courses distributed as follows:
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AfroAm 692Q: African Diaspora Studies: Introduction to Concepts and Historiography
This course will offer an introduction to 1) key concepts and definitions e.g. diaspora, Pan-Africanism, Afro-centrism, etc. 2) the classic works in the field. 3) major trends in contemporary scholarship; and, -
four electives selected among the current offerings by the UMass Amherst and Five Colleges African Diaspora Faculty or alternate courses with the approval of one of the certificate co-directors.
Graduate Certificate Eligibility Form
Certificate Co-Directors: Toussaint Losier and Agustin Lao-Montes
Applying for the Certificate:
Contact: Tricia Loveland
Office: 329 New Africa House
Phone: (413) 545-2751