George Mason University

The African and African American Studies program offers students a unique opportunity to better understand the experiences of people of African descent throughout the African Diaspora—from the African continent to the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe.
 
Through coursework in disciplines like philosophy, history, religion, literature, art and more, the African and African American Studies program aims to vitalize the landscape of historical thinking. It encourages students to critically examine and better appreciate the global struggle for justice.

The program offers a minor and access to the resources of the African and African American Studies Research and Resource Center. These connect them to a research-minded group of faculty that is using technology to reflect on history, build community outreach programs, and channel its students to jobs, internships, and other study programs.

Author and Cultural Figure Mazrui speaks as part of Mason’s “African Initiative”

The African and African American studies program at George Mason offers students several community outreach opportunities as well as opportunities to meet with distinguished scholars. On April 9, 2009, Dr. Ali Mazrui visited George Mason as the highlight of the program’s 2009 “African Initiative.” An author of more than 20 books about Islam, globalization, the Diaspora, politics and more, Mazrui is also the director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at the State University of New York at Binghamton. He created a television series The Africans: A Triple Heritage, which was jointly produced by BBC, PBS and the Nigerian Television Authority. Read More >>

2009 Text and Community Program Enhances Department’s Year of the African Novel

The English Department has selected Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga’s debut novel, Nervous Conditions, for the 2009 Text and Community Program. Each spring, Text and Community fosters a collaboration between the English Department and other Mason departments and organizations, with professors encouraged to adopt the chosen title in their course work and students encouraged to read the book on their own, all with the goal of approaching a single text from diverse viewpoints and across a variety of disciplines. Read More >>

Call for Proposals: "African Identities in the Age of Obama"

To provide a critical forum for the continued examination of African identities, the African and African American Studies program at George Mason University will host a multidisciplinary conference titled “African Identities in the Age of Obama.” Read More >>