The Certificate appears on the Indiana University transcript. Students also receive a signed Certificate from the African Studies Program.
The African Studies master's degree program is intended for students who wish to: (1) obtain a graduate degree in African Studies in order to pursue careers in government, international relations (e.g. the Diplomatic Corps), international development, international business, or a professional field; or 2) continue graduate work in a discipline; or (3) combine an M.A. degree in African Studies with another Master’s degree in the Arts, Social and other Sciences, or in one of the professional schools.
The program normally takes two years to complete. It gives students the flexibility to tailor coursework to their needs and interests while requiring them to develop competence on a particular topic or region as well as in research methods and at least intermediate proficiency in an African language.
Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education with evidence of superior ability, completion of the graduate record exam, a statement of interest and a writing sample.
Elective courses are to be selected from the range of cross-listed African Studies offerings in the College of Arts and Sciences and several professional schools, with the approval of the student’s major advisor.
Electives may include three additional credits of AFRI A-731 since the topic for the African Studies Interdisciplinary Graduate Seminar changes every semester and is offered by different faculty members on a rotating basis.
At least four semesters of an African language. Students may have the language requirement waived by demonstrating equivalent competence through an examination completed under supervision of the African Languages Coordinator. Up to three credits for the study of an African language beyond the second year level may count toward the electives.
Students are required to constitute a committee composed of a disciplinary advisor and two additional members with relevant regional or topical expertise, approved by the director of the African Studies Program. Committee members must be selected from African Studies affiliate faculty with professional experience on the African continent. The purpose of the committee is to provide consultation to the student as needed and to read /comment on the Master’s thesis. There is no M.A. examination option.
The M.A. thesis should be an in-depth treatment of the chosen topic, interdisciplinary in nature and 70 to 100 double-spaced pages in length. It may be an expanded seminar paper or an entirely new project based on library, archival, field, or museum research, and should make use of relevant sources in a language other than English. All three committee members must approve the thesis but may agree to waive an oral defense.
The College of Arts and Sciences’ African Studies Program and the School of Health Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) propose to jointly offer a three-year program that qualifies students for a dual master’s degree (M.A. / M.P.H). The proposed program is a response to the growing need for public health personnel with Africa-specific knowledge and research experience in the humanities and social sciences. The dual M.A./M.P.H program requires completion of a minimum of 67 credit hours of graduate course work and the two degrees must be awarded simultaneously. Students will be assigned a mentor or an advisor from each unit. The student’s thesis committee must include a representative from each academic unit who will serve as Co-Chairs of the thesis project.
Same as for the College of Arts and Sciences Master of Arts in African Studies degree except that students must also apply to the master’s program of the School of Health Physical Education & Recreation (HPER) and meet its established M.P.H admissions criteria. Students must be accepted for admission to both units in order to be admitted to the program.
Students must pass all routine requirements of the MPH program including satisfactory performance on the C650 Culminating Experience in addition to the completion of the master’s thesis.
A minimum fifteen credit hours of course work distributed as follows:
A minimum nine credit hours of course work distributed as follows:
A minimum twenty-two credit hours of course work distributed as follows:
A minimum six credit hours of African Langauge. Up to three (3) credits for the study of an African Language beyond the second year level may count toward the electives.
A minimum of nine hours of elective credit distributed in one of the following two ways:
Either
Or
*(African Studies elective courses are to be selected from the range of cross-listed African Studies offerings in the College of Arts and Sciences and several professional schools, with the approval of the student’s major advisor. Electives may include three additional credits of AFRI A-731 since the topic for the African Studies Interdisciplinary Graduate Seminar changes every semester and is offered by different faculty members on a rotating basis. HPER elective courses may include any elective within the School of HPER that complements an area of topical or methodological focus.)
The College of Arts and Sciences African Studies Program and the School of Library and Information Science jointly offer a three-year program that qualifies students for a dual master’s degree (M.A./M.L.S.). The program responds to the growing need for librarians with Africa-specific knowledge and research experience in the humanities and social sciences. The dual M.A./M.L.S. program requires completion of a minimum of 56 credit hours of graduate course work and the two degrees must be awarded simultaneously. Students will be assigned a mentor/advisor from each unit. The student’s African Studies M.A. thesis committee should include a representative of the SLIS faculty or other means of including perspectives of both programs.
Same as for the College of Arts and Sciences Master of Arts in African Studies degree, except that students must also apply to the master’s program of the School of Library and Information Science and meet its established admissions criteria. Students must be accepted by both units in order to be admitted to the program.
A minimum twenty-six credit hours of course work distributed as follows:
Elective courses are to be selected from the range of cross-listed African Studies offerings in the College of Arts and Sciences and several professional schools, with the approval of the student’s major advisor.
Electives may include three additional credits of AFRI A-731 since the topic for the African Studies Interdisciplinary Graduate Seminar changes every semester and is offered by different faculty members on a rotating basis.
Thirty credit hours of course work consisting of:
The language requirement is the same as for the College of Arts and Sciences Master of Arts in African Studies Degree (see above).
Academic programs in African Studies continue to grow, with a corresponding need for scholars in Public Affairs who have knowledge and research experience in the humanities, social science, policy, and management aspects of this field. The dual M.A. /M.P.A. program requires completion of a minimum of 62 credit hours of graduate course work. Students must apply for admission to the master’s programs of both the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (Public Affairs) and the College of Arts and Sciences (African Studies Program), and meet the admissions criteria established for each. Students will be assigned a mentor from each unit until they form an M.A.-M.P.A. thesis committee which should be co-directed by a faculty member from each unit. The two degrees must be awarded simultaneously.
Same as for the College of Arts and Sciences Master of Arts in African Studies degree, except that students must also apply to the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and meet its established admissions criteria. Students must be accepted by both units in order to be admitted to the program.
Students must complete at least 26 hours of required and elective coursework in African Studies as well as complete a thesis
A. Required Courses (9 credit hours):
B. Elective Courses (12 credit hours)
Students should take elective courses organized around a topical or regional concentration. These courses are to be selected from the range of cross-listed African Studies offerings in the College of Arts and Sciences and several professional schools, with the approval of the student’s major advisor. Electives may include up to three additional credits of A731 because the topic for the African Studies Interdisciplinary Graduate Seminar changes every semester and is offered by different faculty members on a rotating basis.
C. MA Thesis
D. Language Requirement
The core requirements for the MPA and a specialized SPEA concentration (36 credit hours) to include:
A. MPA Foundation Courses (18 credits):
B. Specialized Area Students may design and develop a program of specialization courses in consultation with SPEA faculty advisors (18 credits)
The language requirement is the same as for the College of Arts and Sciences Master of Arts in African Studies Degree
