Africana Studies is one of Lafayette College’s longest-running multidisciplinary programs. Our primary concern lies in the cultural, historical, political, economic and psychosocial experiences of people of African descent the world wide. The program offers and promotes a focused and critical study of Africa and her Diaspora through a generous offering of courses specific to the discipline while also drawing from a number of disciplines and programs represented in Lafayette’s curriculum (Anthropology & Sociology, Art, Economics & Business, English, Government & Law, History, Religion, and Women’s & Gender Studies).
Africana Studies diversifies Lafayette’s curriculum by offering or cross-listing courses that focus on Africa and its Diaspora and thus encourages departments across campus to consider the study of Africa and the African Diaspora as essential, rather than peripheral to their disciplines. It provides opportunities for students to recognize the evolutionary, socio-historical and cultural relevance of Africa and responds to the demand that knowledge and theories reflective of the experiences of peoples of African heritage be represented in the higher education curriculum.
The overall mission of the Africana Studies program is to provide students with the competencies necessary to succeed as citizens, workers, and leaders of the global community. Africana Studies provides students conceptual tools with which to better understand the global context of the modern world and to learn the national and international dimensions of their chosen careers.