New University Core Course Offered by African and African American Studies Program

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Sankofa - an Adinkra symbol of importance of learning from the past or "return and get it"

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The African and African American Studies Program in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences recently added a course that will fulfill the university’s general core requirement in the humanities. Students enrolled in AAST 2023 The African American Experience will benefit from its interdisciplinary exploration of questions of diversity, inclusion and culture.

Approached from multiple angles and methodologies, the course will open dialogue among students whose interests lie across various disciplines to help them develop a broad cultural literacy and see how the issues surrounding race that Arkansans and Americans deal with every day are grounded in a distinctive cultural framework and are still under construction today.

 “We are excited to begin offering this course as part of the university’s core curriculum especially since race is so essential in helping students understand American society past and present,” said Calvin White, associate professor of history and program director. “Adding the course as part of the general education curriculum aligns the University of Arkansas with the best practices of 10 out of the other 13 SEC schools that already offered courses as part of their core curriculums. The program needs to thank the various faculty committees who supported the inclusion of AAST 2023 and the critical need to educate our students about the importance of race in America.”

In addition to serving students in Fayetteville as a core humanities requirement for the entire undergraduate population, The African American Experience will serve as the gateway course in the program’s new online minor, recently approved by the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees. 

“The ability to offer AAST 2023 online advances the program’s goal of broadening educational access to underserved populations across Arkansas,” said James Gigantino, assistant professor of history and co-author of the proposal to include the course in the university core.  “Online courses expand our program’s reach and allow us to interact with populations we would have never come into contact with before — they are the night classes of the 21st century, only better. We are pleased to be able to help students both within Fayetteville and beyond learn the important role that race has played in American film, art, music, literature, politics and history.”

The African and African American Studies Program at the University of Arkansas is an interdisciplinary program that expands on the core disciplines of a traditional liberal arts education.  Through interdisciplinary study, students explore the legacy of the African diaspora and African-descended people’s global experiences and the importance of race with a focus on Africa, the United States and the Caribbean.

All of the university’s online degree programs and courses are showcased on the University of Arkansas ONLINE website.

The U of A Global Campus supports Fulbright College and the campus’ other academic colleges and schools in the development and delivery of online courses and programs. The Global Campus provides instructional design services, technology services, and assistance with strategic academic program development and marketing.