Lively dancing in West Africa

The Doctoral Minor in African Studies is for students completing a PhD at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who wish to focus their study on Africa. It requires four courses or seminars in two departments outside the student’s major department. The African studies minor is completed under “Minor Option A” of the Graduate School regulations.

Suggestions for Students Pursuing the Doctoral Minor in African Studies

  • Early Approval of Minor Program: It is the student's responsibility as a graduate student to determine that all courses/seminars being completed are eligible for inclusion in the doctoral minor. Students are encouraged to consult with the African Studies Program advisor before taking courses intended to be included in the minor.
  • Language Training: In planning the program, students should bear in mind the strong desirability of attaining competence in an African language. For many kinds of research, ability to use a language as a research tool is indispensable.
  • Auditing Courses: In addition to courses and seminars formally taken for credit, students are encouraged to audit additional offerings to develop a broad competence in African studies.

Admissions

  • Meet with the African Studies Program advisor. To make an appointment, send an email to the program's Associate Director (see Contact Information).
  • All Graduate School students must utilize the Graduate Student Portal in MyUW to add, change, or discontinue any doctoral minor. To apply to this minor, please log in to MyUW, click on Graduate Student Portal, and then click on Add/Change Programs. The minor coordinator will review your application for admittance, and reach out to you if there are any further questions.
  • After you have completed the preliminary PhD examinations, the African Studies Program director or designate will sign the warrant indicating completion of the minor.

Requirements

Grade Requirement

Grade Point Average: A 3.0 grade point average is required for all courses submitted for the minor.

Required Courses

  • Complete a minimum of 12 graduate credits from the African Studies Program core curriculum in four courses or seminars outside the major field, and from at least two different departments, in consultation with the faculty advisor. (Agricultural and applied economics, and economics courses/seminars are considered to be of one discipline for purposes of the minor.) See list below for example courses. Other courses may be chosen in consultation with the faculty advisor.
  • Graduate credit is available only for courses with numbers of 300 or higher and with the graduate attribute ("Grad 50%").
  • At least one of these four units must be a course or seminar numbered 700 to 999.  No thesis or dissertation credits (990) may be used.
  • Introductory first-year language courses may not be used for the doctoral minor in African studies even if they are numbered 300 or higher. Language courses may count for the minor only in so far as they do not overlap with departmental language requirements. When a department requires an African language for the PhD, language courses may count toward the minor only above and beyond four semesters of study in one language.
  • Include no more than one independent reading and research course in the four courses or seminars submitted.

Example Courses

AFROAMER/​AFRICAN  813 Contemporary African and Caribbean Drama3
AFRICAN 321 First Semester Arabic5
AFRICAN 322 Second Semester Arabic5
AFRICAN 323 Third Semester Arabic4
AFRICAN 324 Fourth Semester Arabic4
AFRICAN 329 Fifth Semester Arabic3
AFRICAN 330 Sixth Semester Arabic3
AFRICAN 331 First Semester Swahili5
AFRICAN 332 Second Semester Swahili5
AFRICAN 333 Third Semester Swahili4
AFRICAN 334 Fourth Semester Swahili4
AFRICAN 335 First Semester-A Language of Southern Africa5
AFRICAN 336 Second Semester-A Language of Southern Africa4-5
AFRICAN 361 First Semester Hausa5
AFRICAN 362 Second Semester Hausa4-5
AFRICAN 371 First Semester Yoruba5
AFRICAN 372 Second Semester Yoruba5
AFRICAN 373 Third Semester Yoruba4
AFRICAN 374 Fourth Semester Yoruba4
AFRICAN 391 First Semester-A Language of West Africa5
AFRICAN 392 Second Semester-A Language of West Africa4-5
AFRICAN 393 Third Semester-A Language of West Africa4
AFRICAN 394 Fourth Semester-A Language of West Africa4
AFRICAN 670 Theories and Methods of Learning a Less Commonly Taught Language2
AFRICAN 671 Multilanguage Seminar4
AFRICAN 672 Intensive Summer Multilanguage Seminar8
AFRICAN 700 Reading and Writing African Cultural Studies3
AFRICAN 703 Topics in Teaching African Languages1
AFRICAN 803 Theories of African Cultural Studies3
AFRICAN 901 Seminar in Modern African Literature3
AFRICAN 905 Seminar in African Cultural Studies: Topics3
AFRICAN 926 Seminar in Research Methods in African Cultural Studies3
AFRICAN/​ANTHRO/​ECON/​GEOG/​HISTORY/​POLI SCI  983 Interdepartmental Seminar in African Studies Topics3
HISTORY 861 Seminar-The History of Africa1-3
ED POL 750 African Education: Past, Present and Future3
ENGL 829 Topics in Migration and Diaspora (Migration in the Black Diaspora)3
INTL ST 620 Topics in International Studies (Contemporary Issues in Africa)1-4
POLI SCI/​AFRICAN/​ANTHRO/​ECON/​GEOG/​HISTORY  983 Interdepartmental Seminar in African Studies Topics3

Special Circumstances and Conditions in Complying with the Doctoral Minor

  • Credits from Other Universities: Courses from other universities that were taken for graduate credit may count toward the minor with approval of the African Studies Program. Normally, only two of the required four courses or seminars may come from outside the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Exceptions may be proposed by petition.
  • Courses Taken as an Undergraduate: Courses taken while the candidate was an undergraduate student are not eligible for credit toward the doctoral minor, including courses with graduate-level numbers.