VCU news

By Malorie Burkett

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Commonwealth University’s African-American Studies (AFAM) program in the College of Humanities and Sciences will offer a stand alone major in African-American studies this fall, becoming only the second school in Virginia to offer a Bachelor of Arts degree in AFAM.

VCU has offered a minor in African American Studies since the program began in 1971.  Earlier this year, the Board of Visitors granted approval for the new degree program, and in April, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) granted its approval for the B.A. in African American Studies. 

“We already have received inquiries from VCU graduates who are interested in returning to the university to get an additional degree in African American Studies, who recognize the contributions learning about people of African descent will make to their jobs and particular interests, and from currently enrolled students who have been waiting anxiously for the major,” said Njeri Jackson, Ph.D., director of VCU’s African-American studies program. “

VCU officials say their goal is to build one of the stellar African-American Studies programs in the country.  “We want our students to understand how the racial worldview has shaped and impacted human relations and social structures,” said Jackson.  “We want our students to be able to fashion solutions to problems, such as health disparities and the impact of the digital divide.”

The new major expands the existing interdisciplinary 18 credits minor. The curriculum for the B.A. requires completion of 120 credits, including 36 credits in AFAM courses, 21 of which must be AFAM upper-division courses.

VCU’s AFAM program has six jointly appointed faculty members. They include Jackson, political science and public administration; Anne Creighton-Zollar, Ph.D., sociology; Christopher Brooks, Ph.D., anthropology; Norrece T. Jones, Ph.D., history; Mark D. Wood, Ph.D., religious studies and Rose Landrum-Lee, ABD, women's studies.

VCU’s AFAM program plans to celebrate the founding of the new major during the upcoming fall and spring semesters with guest lectures, community events and a PBS film series titled “Race: The Power of an Illusion.” Audrey Smedley, Ph.D., emeritus faculty in VCU’s AFAM program, served as an advisor during the production of the series, and is also listed as an expert on the web site for the series. For more information on the show, visit www.pbs.org/race/000_General/000_00-Home.htm, or for more information on VCU’s AFAM program, visit www.has.vcu.edu/aas/.  

Virginia’s only other B.A. program in AFAM is at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. According to Jackson, there are about 200 degree-granting AFAM programs in the United States, including some of VCU’s peer institutions, like the University of Alabama, Birmingham, Ala.; University of Illinois, Chicago; University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass. and Temple University, Philadelphia.