Thurgood Marshall College » Programs » African-American Studies Minor

AASM

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UCSD-TV premieres

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Lilith: The Opera

UCSD-TV to premiere Lilith:
The Opera on March 26 at 8pm.

Lilith is a new opera by Music Dept/African American Studies professor and internationally renowned composer Anthony Davis, with an original libretto by TMC Provost Allan Havis - both artists recipient of Guggenheim Fellowships. Set in both biblical times and present-day New York, Lilith places Adam's legendary first wife at the center of a devious parable about marriage and sexual politics. More ...

Investigating Our Past African-American Studies Minor Exploring Our Future

Celebrating over three centuries of Cultural Achievement in Arts, Humanities, Sciences and Folk Traditions

Welcome to the African-American Studies Minor

Welcome to the official website for the African-American Studies Minor at UC San Diego!

The interdisciplinary field of African-American Studies is a relative newcomer on the Academic scene and the establishment of the nation's first African-American Studies department occurred in 1968 at San Francisco State University. UCSD established the African-American Studies minor in the Fall of 2005. Building on the successful Contemporary Black Arts minor, the new African-American Studies Minor is an interdisciplinary field of study in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The fundamental goal of the curriculum is to provide students with an introduction to the dynamic life experiences of African-Americans by guiding them to an open understanding of the unique attitudes, evolution, and circumstances of African-Americans. More ...

Led by faculty from the departments of Communication, Ethnic Studies, Literature, Music, Sociology, and Theatre and Dance, scholars and artists investigate the history and culture of peoples of the African Diaspora exploring both the ways in which the African-American experience is configured by economic, political, and social factors, and the aesthetic dimensions of the experience as expressed in music, art, and literature. The minor offers a unique perspective as to how African-Americans helped shape American cultural history and continue to transform it today.

AASM is sponsored by Thurgood Marshall College at UCSD. Although AASM is housed in Marshall College, the minor is offered campus wide and is open to all undergraduate students in good academic standing.

In addition to the academic component, the AASM program also plans and sponsors various events and activities on campus, including film screenings, discussion forums, guest speakers, resident artists and seminars. The program works collaboratively with various organizations in an effort to meet both the academic and social needs of underrepresented students on campus. Some of these organizations include the Black Student Union at UCSD (BSU), The African-American Studies Association (AASA), the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), The Community Law Project at UCSD, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Cross Cultural Center (CCC), The Ujima Network, Historically African-American Sororities and Fraternities, The Chicano/a Latino/a Arts and Humanities Program (CLAH) and the Division of Student Affairs at UC San Diego.

Why Study African-American Studies?

"We acknowledge that our society carries historical and divisive biases based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, and political beliefs. Therefore, we seek to foster understanding and tolerance among individuals and groups, and we promote awareness through education..."- UCSD Principles of Community

It is the responsibility of the educational community to foster a more full appreciation of the history and culture of the various peoples who make up our nation and the world community. Artifacts of the African-American experience have penetrated all aspects of popular American life from dress, music, language, art, dance, history, and politics. This penetration has essentially been through oral and visual transmission which unfortunately has in many ways led to misunderstanding and misappropriation. A coherent study of African-American culture helps to alleviate the misrepresentation which has led to the development of ethnic stereotypes that continue to breed misunderstanding.

The study of cultures and perspectives different from our own serve to broaden and deepen our individual experience and foster tolerance among various people groups for "It is not our differences that divide us, it is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences." -Audre Lorde

If you would like to receive emails about AASM related events through our listserv email,
please contact at af-amstudies@ucsd.edu .

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Upcoming Events:

Call for Justice In The Ogaden

... the Ogaden Youth Network hopes to voice the hidden tragedy in the Ogaden region of eastern Ethiopia.

UC San Diego – the art room at the cross cultural center (map )
Thursday April 8th, 7:00pm- 9:00pm
More... pdf

Just Dance

Precision Dance Company – 2010 Annual Showcase
Hermosa Beach Playhouse
Saturday, April 17th 1:30 and 6:30pm
More...

Winner, 2010 Gaffney Playwriting Competition – Lou-Lou Igbokwe for OBAMANATION

Staged Reading: Saturday, April 24th 2010 @ 10:30am More ...

Read the Marshall Institute Blog interview with Lou-Lou Igbokwe .

Battle Against Hate – Racism is not going to happen in our UC San Diego community!

Racism is not going to happen in our UC San Diego community!
At Battle Against Hate , stay informed and get involved.

posted: February 22, 2010

Do UC Us? Campaign to Increase Numbers of African-American Students at UCSD

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox writes:

We encourage the UC San Diego campus community to review the "Do UC Us? Campaign to Increase Numbers of African-American Students at the University of California, San Diego." We invite the campus community to review the report on the Student Affairs webpage at http://vceba.ucsd.edu/pdf/Do UC us Campaign Report.pdf pdf

We commend the students for their careful review of the challenges we face in increasing our African-American student enrollment. Comments about the report may be provided via email to chancellor@ucsd.edu send an email and/or vcstudentaffairs@ucsd.edu .

posted: February 19, 2010

For questions regarding the minor,
please contact us by email at: af-amstudies@ucsd.edu or by phone at: (858) 534-0613