Graduate Programs

Overview

The master of liberal arts with a concentration in Africana studies is an interdisciplinary degree program that focuses on the study of the African Diaspora with attention to history, culture, society, and politics. Coursework in Africana studies—wherein faculty research focuses on the western, eastern, and southern Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean—aligns with the University of South Florida’s strategic goals of developing “well-educated, highly-skilled global citizens” who will assume leadership roles domestically and abroad. By choosing Africana Studies, you become a part of a unique education entity that is grounded in the experiences, culture, and contributions of the Black World (the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean). Indeed, Africana Studies is itself an institution indebted to the passion for social change and the power of progressive thinking that emerged during the late civil rights movement and the Black Power era. USF’s Department of Africana Studies was founded in 1969 and was the first department of its kind to offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in the state of Florida. In 2016, it joined with International Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and Political Science to develop an interdisciplinary school focused on training students to develop cross-disciplinary skills and perspectives to advance research that expands our collective knowledge and capacity to recognize, assess, and address social, political, and economic linkages across local and global communities.