Master of Arts in African Studies

The Center for African Studies exists to increase and disseminate knowledge about Africa through the promotion of research, teaching, and outreach activities. Within the context of this broad mission, the Center established a master's program designed to give students an interdisciplinary perspective on the study of Africa. MA students explore a multiplicity of issues relative to the continent--historical, political, economic, social, religious and cultural--while they are exposed to a range of methodological and theoretical tools. Students who wish to pursue disciplinary interests are able to do so. The program requires intensive training in an indigenous African language.

The mix of area studies, disciplinary instruction, and language training provides skills and knowledge that are useful in a number of settings. Many students earning master's degrees in African Studies see the degree as an intermediate step on the path to a doctoral degree in a traditional discipline. Interdisciplinary training at the master's level provides exposure to broad issues and varied approaches, as well as to technical and language training that often become crucial to successful work in the traditional disciplines. Other students end their studies at the master's level and take on employment relating to Africa. In many cases, it is useful to combine the master's in African Studies with a professional degree to achieve employment objectives. Graduates of the program have taken positions in journalism, libraries, museums, non-governmental and international organizations and international studies offices. Finally, some students come to the program mid-career. Having worked in Africa for some time, these participants use the program to reflect on their experiences and gather new skills before returning to their work.

Specific goals and past training determine the particulars of a student's program. Courses need to be selected with care and consultation with the Center's director, its core faculty and other students. Because students have varied interests and objectives, the director will not always be able to respond fully to a student's questions and concerns. However, she will guide you through the administrative requirements and direct you to other faculty and resources across the university that can offer counsel to meet your specific needs. Students are encouraged to meet with faculty members regarding their academic and intellectual interests.

General Degree Requirements for the M.A. in African Studies

1. Successful completion of 34 graduate hours of approved graduate course work from at least three disciplines. Approved courses should be devoted entirely to Africa or African studies in their content.
2. Proficiency in an indigenous African language.
3. To remain in good standing a student must maintain a 3.25 grade point average on a 4 point scale.

Coursework

Students must take:

• LIS 530M Info Needs of Part Communities: Bibliography of Africa

This Library and Information Science course is offered once a year usually in the fall semester. You are required to sign up for 4 grad hours.

• AFST 522 Development of African Studies

This course is typically offered once a year in the spring semester. It is offered for 4 graduate hours.

• AFST 515 Practicum in African Studies

This course is highly recommended. AFST 515 is only available as a Pass/Fail course at 2 graduate hours.

Graduate hours are awarded for courses at the 400 and 500 levels, with 500 level courses being the more advanced. In some professional programs, such as Law, courses are listed at the 600 level, if they are open to students in other programs. These hours count towards your graduate degree. Courses taken to fulfill the language proficiency requirement are not credited towards the 34 graduate hours, but do fulfill the required proficiency requirement.

In addition to LIS 530M and AFST 522, 8 graduate hours of the 34 must be at the 500-level. No more than 4 hours of independent study is normally counted towards meeting the requirement for 500-level coursework. A course list identifying core courses is made available to students through the Center for African Studies and via the website.

Students wishing to write a thesis may enroll for up to eight graduate hours of thesis research (AFST 599). Students may only pursue the thesis option if a member of the core faculty agrees to serve as an advisor, guiding research conducted during the independent study. The thesis should be substantially longer and of greater conceptual or theoretical depth than a term paper. Students taking the thesis option will be required to submit a Master's Thesis Committee Form by the end of the first week on their third semester and to defend the thesis before a committee of at least three faculty members, two of whom must be drawn from the core faculty. Upon completion, one copy of the thesis is to be deposited at the Center office.

A typical semester load includes 3 to 4 courses or 12 -16 hours. Depending on language proficiency, students can normally fit 3 to 6 courses of additional electives into a four-semester program. These electives should be chosen based on the student's interests. It is sometimes possible to make these units count toward a second master's degree or a doctoral program.

Achieving Proficiency in an African Language

Proficiency in an indigenous African language must be at a level equivalent to six semesters of study. Students entering the program with no background in an indigenous African language will be expected to enroll in a language intensive course during the summer between the second and third semester. Courses taken to fulfill the language proficiency requirement are not credited towards the 34 graduate hours.

Graduate Minor in African Studies
(Now Effective)

The Minor Degree: Brief Description

The graduate minor in African Studies is designed to provide UIUC graduate students both at the master and doctoral levels in any discipline training in African Studies and is taken in conjunction with students’ primary fields of study. The minor’s purpose is to complement and supplement major work undertaken by students in their primary disciplines. The minor is intended to develop students’ knowledge of Africa through interdisciplinary training and African language study.

Requirements
A student pursuing the graduate minor in African Studies must fulfill the following requirements before the completion of his/her graduate degree:

1) Language Component: At least four semesters of the same African language instruction or demonstrated proficiency in an African language is required. Language instruction up to the third year is highly recommended for students conducting research or professional work in a particular region or country in Africa. If a student takes a third year of language, none of the hours will count toward the minor.

2) Area Coursework consisting of 12 graduate credit hours

• AFST 522
• 1 elective at the 500 level
• 1 other graduate (400 or 500 level) elective
  

Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for the minor.

Admission to the minor
A graduate student who elects African Studies as a minor must get approval from the Center, the administrating unit of the minor, and from his/her home department. Applicants must be in good standing in a graduate program at the University of Illinois and should demonstrate an interest in African Studies. Students enrolled in the MA program in African Studies are not eligible to receive the minor. Students are encouraged to work closely with the student adviser at the Center for African Studies to design their programs. The minor admission process is monitored by the Associate Director in charge of academic programming. Please fill out and submit the attached minor application form to the Center (Minor application form). Before graduation, students wishing to have the minor appear on their transcript must also successfully petition the graduate college to have the minor added to their academic record.

Minor adviser
The Associate Director will also be assigned the responsibility of advising students. She serves as the director of graduate studies and administers the master’s program in African Studies and works with graduate students from other departments whose focus is Africa and who are recipients of Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship.

Certification of successful completion
Successful completion of the graduate minor will be certified by the Center for African Studies. Upon completion of the minor requirements and of his/her master’s or doctoral degree, the student will receive a completion document created by the Center for African Studies indicating that he/she has earned a graduate minor in African Studies. Students with the minor on their academic record will also have the minor reflected on their transcript after graduation.

JOINT DEGREE PROGRAMS

MA. in African Studies and MS. in Library and Information Science (Now Effective)