Africana Studies Program
Dr. Meta Schettler, Program Coordinator
Science I Building, Room 182
Office: 559.278.2832
Direct: 559.278.4593
FAX: 559.278.7268
Email: mschettl@csufresno.edu
https://socialsciences.fresnostate.edu/afrs/
B.A. in Africana Studies
Minor in Africana Studies
Certificate of Special Study in Africana Historical Experience
Certificate of Special Study in Racial Understanding
The Africana Studies program (AFRS) at California State University, Fresno offers an interdisciplinary curriculum that illuminates the connectedness of the human experience and provides culturally-appropriate knowledge and skills. This helps students understand the experiences of African peoples all over the world and other ethnic groups in the United States. The program also involves its faculty and students in research, experiential learning, career counseling, computer technology, curriculum development, conference participation, and extended day, evening, and weekend courses.
The program offers interdisciplinary courses leading to the Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies as well as minors in Africana Studies and Ethnic Studies. Students with a B.A. in Africana Studies can pursue a master's or doctoral degree in the humanities, social sciences, or health sciences. Students can also seek other professional degrees in such areas as business, human resources, teacher education, and law. The program teaches appreciation for the heritage of African peoples and their contributions to the shaping of the fabric of American life and history.
Africana Studies emphasizes the study of the history and culture of African Americans as they relate to the experiences of Africans on the continent and other peoples of African descent in the Diaspora. The major in Africana Studies provides an epistemological basis for understanding issues that pertain to the experiences of African peoples and other minority ethnic groups in the American society. The curriculum promotes an awareness of the African heritage of African Americans and others throughout the Americas. Opportunities are provided for students to engage in study abroad and service-learning in Africa and the Caribbean to stimulate intellectual interest in, and linkage to, contemporary Africa and the African Diaspora while enhancing global understanding of the varied social realities of the human experience.
Certificate in Racial Understanding
A program of study designed to prepare students and practicing professionals to develop knowledge and skills necessary to understand racialdifference and underlying racism and manage conflict resulting from it. The certificate seeks to promote racial awareness and rac¡al harmony, diversity competency, and cultural understanding in our multiracial and multicultural society.
Certificate in Africana Historical Experience
A certificate designed for concentrated study of the African American experience in the United States for students interested in developing their knowledge and analysis of African American history, race relations, literature, activism, and resistance to racial hegemony. The certificate seeks to foster multicultural competency for future teachers and to offer greater knowledge, skills, and understanding of Africana Studies as a discipline and field in academia.