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African Studies Graduate Certificate

South African landscape

The purpose of the Graduate Certificate in African Studies is to permit students in any graduate major at Ohio University to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the National Resource Center for African Language and Area Studies and its many niche courses in specialized fields across the university. Fields such as international development, international health, and the arts offer both breadth and depth of study in Africa-related courses. As students often pair their disciplinary work with a regional interest, this certificate will provide them with the formal credential in African Studies as part of their programs. The 45-member African Studies faculty across the university is committed to the cross-disciplinary study of Africa, so the faculty is prepared to assist students with making curricular connections.

Opportunities Upon Graduation: Many of the students pursuing graduate level study related to Africa come to the university with prior Africa experience in work or travel. The Graduate Certificate in African Studies helps to pull together and focus those interests and give them intellectual and professional polish. Graduate study is so often about making the student more articulate and better informed about his or her area of interest; if Africa is the area of interest, improving one's communication skills about it will be important to prospective employers in government, business or finance, aid work, teaching and related fields. In some cases the Certificate may also direct the student to Africa for dissertation or other research projects.

Contact For More Information:
Dr. Ghirmai Negash ( negashg@ohio.edu )

Course Catalog

Core Requirements

Students must complete 12 credit hours of core courses from the following list.

  • ANTH 5550: Medical Anthropology (3.0HR)
  • ANTH 5570: Anthropology of Religion (3.0HR)
  • ANTH 5540: Primate Behavioral Ecology (3.0HR)
  • CLWR 5330: Islam (4.0HR)
  • CLWR 5430: Sufism-Mysticism and Asceticism in Islam (4.0HR)
  • ECON 5120: Economics of Poverty (4.0HR)
  • ENG 7800: Special Studies Seminar (4.0HR)
  • FR 5511: Francophone Literature and Culture of Africa and the Caribbean (4.0HR)
  • GEOG 5310: Geography of Africa (4.0HR)
  • HIST 5390: Women in African History (4.0HR)
  • HIST 5400: African Intellectual History (4.0HR)
  • HIST 5410: History of Africa to 1850 (4.0HR)
  • HIST 5411: History of Africa Since 1850 (4.0HR)
  • IART 7407: Transnational and Global Theories (4.0HR)
  • POLS 5630: African International Relations (3.0HR)
  • POLS 5410: African Politics (3.0HR)
  • POLS 5400: The Politics of Developing Areas (3.0HR)
  • INST 5100: Readings in African Studies (4.0HR)
  • INST 5101: Seminar for the African Child (4.0HR)
  • INST 5902: Special Topics in Africa: Literature, Media, and the Arts (4.0HR)
  • INST 5903: Special Topics in Africa (4.0HR)
  • INST 5901: Special Topics in Africa: Contemporary Issues in Africa (4.0HR)
  • IART 7601: Contemporary African Art (4.0HR)
  • IART 8901: Seminar in Interdisciplinary Arts (4.0HR)
  • ANTH 5510: Political Anthropology (3.0HR)
  • GEOG 5410: Geography of Hunger and Food Security (4.0HR)
  • GEOG 5480: Migration and Development (4.0HR)
  • POLS 5495: The Challenges of Democratization (3.0HR)
  • MUS 5250: Music of Africa (2.0HR)
  • MUS 6930: Independent Study (1.0-10.0HR)
  • DANC 6930: Independent Study (1.0-10.0HR)

African Studies Language Reqirement

A minimum of two semesters of a language is required. Students entering with language proficiency will not be required to fulfill the language requirement. This change is brought through adequate review and revision of the curricular components of the program. The change will not have any potential harm to other departments or schools.

Students should complete one year of one African language or equivalent courses.

  • ARAB 5110: Elementary Arabic I (4.0HR)
  • ARAB 5120: Elementary Arabic II (4.0HR)
  • ARAB 5210: Intermediate Arabic I (4.0HR)
  • ARAB 5220: Intermediate Arabic II (4.0HR)
  • SWAH 5110: Elementary Swahili I (4.0HR)
  • SWAH 5120: Elementary Swahili II (4.0HR)
  • SWAH 5310: Advanced Swahili I (3.0HR)
  • SWAH 5320: Advanced Swahili III (3.0HR)
  • TWI 5110: Elementary Twi (Akan) I (4.0HR)
  • TWI 5120: Elementary Twi (Akan) II (4.0HR)
  • TWI 5210: Intermediate Twi (Akan) I (4.0HR)
  • TWI 5220: Intermediate Twi (Akan) II (4.0HR)
  • WOL 5110: Elementary Wolof I (4.0HR)
  • WOL 5120: Elementary Wolof II (4.0HR)
  • WOL 5210: Intermediate Wolof I (4.0HR)
  • WOL 5220: Intermediate Wolof II (4.0HR)
  • INST 5904: Special Topics in African Languages and Literature (4.0HR)
  • INST 5905: Special Topics in Intermediate African Languages and Literature (4.0HR)
  • INST 6905: Special Topics in Advanced African Languages and Literature (4.0HR)