The Mission of African & African-American Studies at Elon

Welcome to the internet hub for African & African-American Studies at Elon University (AAASE). AAASE is an active, diverse and vibrant community with a mission to promote the production and dissemination of knowledge about African and African-descended peoples through advocacy, learning, research, scholarship, service, and teaching. This site is designed to help students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni and other visitors access important information about our curriculum, programs, events and goals.

The minor serves as an important supplement for those students who are studying international relations, sociology, anthropology, economics, business, foreign languages, literature, history and politics, among other disciplines. Combining African & African-American studies with a major in one of these areas contributes not only to the broadening of the horizon of the student, but provides a strong basis for pursuing graduate opportunities in such areas as communications, economics, international relations, sociology, anthropology, postcolonial literature, cultural studies, gender studies and area studies.

A background in African & African-American studies is useful in seeking employment in public service and governmental agencies and in many international and non­governmental organizations.

Towards that end, the program aims:

  • To build on the work done in the field of African & African-American Studies by various programs at Elon University, most notably, in the Departments of English, and History and Geography.
  • To provide space and funding for the expansion of AAASE that nurture interdisciplinary, peer and faculty/student collaborations.
  • To promote research and curriculum development in the field of African, African-American, and Africana Studies, with special emphasis on interdisciplinary and comparative research, at the undergraduate and faculty levels.
  • To disseminate this body of knowledge via seminars, symposia, conferences, lectures and publications; to facilitate debates and discussions in all spheres of Black Studies and act as a resource to professionals and academics teaching and researching in associated fields; to provide courses and short programs in Black Studies.
  • To develop links with centers for African, African-American and Africana research within the Americas, Africa, and Europe.
  • To reinforce the growing awareness of black life and culture as an important and rich area for further research and study.