About the Department

In the late 1960's, African American students at Berea College, like their counterparts at other colleges and universities, participated in the Black Revolution. To share and promote their culture, they created organizations, which still exist: The Black Student Union and Black Music Ensemble. On November 26, 1967, eighteen African American students submitted a petition which stated: "We, the Black students at Berea College, are in support of the initiation of a Negro History course in the academic curriculum on this campus." That course, History 373, Negro History, was offered in the fall of 1968 as an elective. Now African and African American Studies courses fulfill the Black or World Culture component of the cultural area requirement. Students desiring further study can earn a minor or an independent major in African and African American Studies.

Why Study African and African American Studies?

African and African American Studies is multidisciplinary. It focuses globally on the life, culture, and social organization of persons of African descent in Africa, North America, Latin America, Caribbean, etc.; thus, anywhere peoples of the African Diaspora find themselves. Courses in African and African American Studies will engage students as they seek to learn about society in general and the experiences of the African Diaspora in particular.