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Founded in 1993, the IRAAS, brings together scholarly analyses that explore the historical, cultural, and social contours of urban black America, with a commitment to social responsibility addressing the contemporary political and economic problems that challenge race relations throughout our society. Its basic mission is to produce scholarship that addresses the problems and debates on race and inequality within the social terrain of urban America. The Institute invites the fullest possible range of scholars, community leaders, public officials, and others to participate in its forums, workshops, and conferences.

The Institute’s programs concentrate on the problems of American cities, especially the specific issues facing the black population of New York City. The Institute also explores the prospects of multi-racial and multi-cultural political coalition-building in the context of urban and national politics.

To realize its research agenda, the Institute sponsors a series of research projects and conferences. The research projects are coordinated by the faculty and administrative staff of the Institute. Conferences are sponsored on a regular basis and may include scholars from other academic institutions, researchers in public and private sector institutions, and public officials and leaders from New York City and throughout the nation.

The free-standing M.A. Program in African-American Studies is designed to provide the student with a thorough grounding in the literature and research of African-American Studies necessary to produce critical analysis and research about the complex and historically specific experiences of Africans in the Americas. Students are expected to demonstrate how those experiences have contributed to, and been shaped by, political, cultural, and economic forces, both nationally and globally.

Social and health professionals who deliver services to African-American populations, gain understanding of the complex social, cultural, and historical experiences of these communities, which leads to more effective delivery of service.

The program also assists education professionals who teach or administer at the secondary or community college level in their understanding of race relations among students. It also enables them to develop curriculum and courses that address specific ethnic and racial groups who have been integral to the American experience and who contribute significantly to American culture.

For professionals engaged in producing cultural representations (ranging from museum curators to advertising executives), the program provides background in the shared and unique social indices, historical experiences, and the patterns and processes of culture of the people of African descent.

Students who plan to go on to earn a Ph.D. find the free-standing M.A. program useful: it provides them with a solid foundation of knowledge and research skills and supplies them with an area of expertise in African American Studies that forms a basis for teaching and further research.

The program builds on the unique synergy created between the programs of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies (with which it is affiliated) and the Harlem community. M.A. students are expected to participate in the ongoing lecture series and contribute to the proceedings of the conferences sponsored by the Institute. This promotes a critical exchange between graduate students and undergraduate majors, as well as the intellectuals, community leaders, and social service providers who regularly attend the activities of the Institute.

For the Free-Standing M.A. Degree

To complete the M.A. successfully, students must (1) take 30 points of graduate course credit, which includes an M.A. thesis; (2) complete two full Residence Units; and (3) maintain a minimum grade point average of B (3.00). The specific course work requirements for the M.A. degree, which apply to all students regardless of their area of concentration, are as follows: (1) two courses that provide both a theoretical overview of the basic concepts in the study of race and a detailed survey of some of the major texts examining the black experience. Courses fulfilling this requirement include AFAM G4500. Race and the Articulation of Difference; and AFAM G4510. Critical Approaches to African-American Studies. (2) As an interdisciplinary field of scholarship, African-American Studies includes research in the social sciences and humanities, examining topics and issues drawn from Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States. M.A. students must therefore establish their expertise in the field by fulfilling the governed electives requirement as follows: at least one graduate-level course in each of the following disciplines or areas: (a) history; (b) literature and the arts (which includes English and comparative literature, art history); and (c) social and behavioral sciences (e.g., anthropology, economics, and sociology). At least one of these courses must focus primarily on Africa or the African diaspora outside the United States. (3) An area of concentration comprising three additional courses beyond the governed electives requirement that focus on a specific discipline (such as history, sociology, anthropology, literature) or a research area that combines several disciplines (such as urban studies, gender studies), or a geographical region (such as the Caribbean or southern United States). (4) An M.A. thesis completed under the supervision of the Director of Graduate Studies and the student’s M.A. advisor.

Sample Curriculum

To Complete the Degree in Two Years

Year One: Fall (half Residence Unit):

Governed elective in the social and behavioral sciences AFAM G4500.

Race and the Articulation of Difference.

Spring (quarter Residence Unit):

AFAM G4510. Critical Approaches to African-American Studies

Area of concentration course.

Summer (quarter Residence Unit):

Area of concentration course

Governed elective in history.

Year Two: Fall (half Residence Unit):

Governed elective in literature and the arts

area of concentration course.

Spring (half Residence Unit):

AFAM G6999. Thesis Research.

Independent study or optional course.

To Complete the Degree in One Year

Fall (one full Residence Unit):

Governed elective in the social and behavioral sciences

Governed elective in literature in the arts; area of concentration course AFAM G4500.

Race and the Articulation of Difference

Area of concentration course.

Spring (half Residence Unit):

AFAM G4510. Critical Approaches to African-American Studies

Area of concentration course

Governed elective in history

Summer (half Residence Unit):

AFAM G6999. Thesis Research.

Independent study or optional course.