Minor in African American and Africana Studies:

By completing 18 hours of course work students can earn a minor in African American and Africana Studies. This minor offers a cultural, historical, and literary base that can strengthen any major in the Humanities or the Social Sciences. The African American and Africana Studies Program seeks to promote the interest and knowledge of the African diaspora experience through quality teaching and research. Multidisciplinary in scope, AAAS offers a selection of courses in English, History, Geography, Political Science, Sociology, Philosophy, Religion, and Language. Courses affiliated with the Program are listed each Fall and Spring semester on our website and in the University Schedule of Classes under the AAS prefix.

Requirements for the AAAS minor:

• 18 credit hours
• Major courses (9 credits)
  • AAS 100 (also HIS 100): Introduction to African Studies
  • AAS 200: Introduction to African American Studies
  • AAS 301: Introduction to the African Diaspora
• Guided electives (9 credits):
  • Students must complete 9 additional credit hours of AAS prefix coursework. These courses include but are not limited to:
  • AAS 400: Special Topics in African American Studies: a detailed investigation of a particular topic in Black Studies, with emphasis both on content and existing research. Topics will vary from semester to semester and are announced the preceding semester. This course may be repeated a maximum of six credits when identified by a different subtitle.
  •  AAS 401: Reading and Research in AAAS: The student pursues a course of reading and research under the guidance of an Instructor which culminates in a major research project.
• Other courses may be used to satisfy this requirement with permission of the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS).
• Other AAAS minor facts:
  • Only students who declare the AAAS minor in fall 2021 or later will automatically be under the new curriculum.
  • Technically, students should complete the curriculum tied to the year they declared the minor.
  • Anyone who declared the minor prior to the first day of class in fall 2021, and wants to switch to the new curriculum, would have to request that the audit year for their minor be changed to 2021-22 through asadvisingcenter@uky.edu

Instructions for declaring the AAAS Minor:



**Students planning on declaring a minor need to make the request to declare the minor in your primary college even if your major is in another college and the minor you want is an Arts & Sciences minor. 

1. If your primary college is A&S (you are majoring in an A&S department) and you want to declare a minor in AAAS, please come to the Advising Office in 202 Patterson Office Tower and use the "Change your Major" kiosk. ** (If the kiosk is not available ask the advising office for a declaration of minor form instead. The advising office will provide the form and you should submit the form back to advising).

2. If your primary college is not the College of Arts & Sciences, you must declare the AAAS minor through your primary college.  Please contact your primary college for instructions on how to declare the minor. 

3. If you have any questions regarding the AAAS minor, please contact Crystal Ross at 859-257-2284.

For general questions about AAAS, please contact Dr. Vanessa Holden, Director of AAAS: vanessaholden@uky.edu

For questions about undergraduate programs in AAAS, please contact Dr. Priscilla McCutcheon, Director of Undergraduate Studies:  priscilla.mccutcheon@uky.edu