Africana Studies (Minor)

The development of Africana/Black Studies at Trinity is a product of the Afro-American Society’s (now Black Student Alliance) activism and student demand for a Black Studies program in the late 1960s. Focused on self-determination, Black radicalism, and Black pride, university students from across the United States demanded that administrators address the lack of Black culture on college campuses and within the curriculum during the 1960s.

The birth of Africana Studies at Trinity (2020) is one of the many creations tied to this student demand. Trinity’s Africana Studies program is grounded in the need to advance the interest of the African World including Afro-America, Africa, Afro-Caribbean, and Afro-Latin America.

Africana Studies is an interdisciplinary approach to studying and understanding the experiences of Africans and people of African descent throughout the Americas, Caribbean, and Latin America. The purpose of the Africana Studies Minor is to introduce students to the interdisciplinary and global understanding of the complex histories and diverse experiences of African people and their descendants. Africana Studies courses are designed to develop and support student competencies in scientific observation and analysis, survey and archival research methods, and effective verbal and written communication.

This lays the foundation that equips students with the necessary intellectual capital and methodological orientation to contribute to the solutions of local, state, national and global problems. The Africana Studies program prepares the recipient for successful careers devoted to an understanding and uplifting of African communities locally, nationally, and globally. Such careers span the following fields: public service, community activism, policy analysis, artistic/literary endeavors, law and justice, and private enterprise. Graduates of the Africana Studies program have the unique flexibility to enter graduate or professional programs in the field of social sciences, humanities, and education.

An Africana Studies concentration is also available in the Global Affairs major program offered in the College of Arts and Sciences.