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Academic Catalog 2022-2023

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  • Africana Studies and English, BA

Africana Studies and English, BA

2022-2023 Edition

  • Undergraduate
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      • Interdisciplinary
      • Asian Studies
      • School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
      • Cultures, Societies, and Global Studies
        • Africana Studies, BA
        • Africana Studies and English, BA
        • Africana Studies and Media and Screen Studies, BA
        • Africana Studies and Political Science, BA
        • History, Culture, and Law, BA
        • Religious Studies and Africana Studies, BA
        • Spanish, BA
        • Spanish and International Affairs, BA
        • Spanish and Linguistics, BA
        • Africana Studies, BS
        • American Sign Language—English Interpreting, BS
        • American Sign Language and Human Services, BS
        • American Sign Language and Linguistics, BS
        • American Sign Language and Psychology, BS
        • American Sign Language and Theatre, BS
        • African American Studies, Minor
        • African Studies, Minor
        • Africana Studies, Minor
        • American Sign Language, Minor
        • Arabic, Minor
        • Black Feminist Studies, Minor
        • Chinese, Minor
        • Film and International Cultures, Minor
        • German, Minor
        • Italian, Minor
        • Japanese, Minor
        • French, Minor
        • Portuguese, Minor
        • Russian, Minor
        • Spanish, Minor
      • Economics
      • English
      • History
      • Human Services
      • International Affairs
      • Jewish Studies
      • Philosophy and Religion
      • Political Science
      • Sociology and Anthropology
      • Accelerated Bachelor/​Graduate Degree Programs
    • Faculty
    • Appendix
  • College of Professional Studies Undergraduate
  • Graduate
  • Course Descriptions
  • Catalog Archives
  • Overview
  • Program Requirements
  • Plan of Study

The combined major in Africana studies and English offers students the opportunity to integrate their studies of both disciplines and explore the historical, practical, and theoretical relationships between the two disciplines. In addition to considering the significant points of contention, students explore the ways in which insights from Africana studies can be brought to bear on the disciplinary issues and questions of English studies. Within the combined major, students may also choose to focus their studies on a range of topics related to literature, writing, narrative, and cultural production in the United States, the Americas, Europe, Africa, and across the global African Diaspora.

Complete all courses listed below unless otherwise indicated. Also complete any corequisite labs, recitations, clinicals, or tools courses where specified and complete any additional courses needed beyond specific college and major requirements to satisfy graduation credit requirements.

Universitywide Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the Universitywide Requirements.

BA Language Requirements

All BA students are required to complete the BA language requirements.

NUpath Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the NUpath Requirements.

Africana Studies Requirements

Course List
Code Title Hours
Introduction to College
CLTR 1000Cultures, Societies, and Global Studies at Northeastern1
Foundational Course
AFAM 1101Introduction to African American and Africana Studies4
or AFRS 1101 Introduction to African Studies
Introductory Course
Complete one of the following:4
AFAM 1104
The African-American Experience through Music
AFAM 1113
Black Popular Culture
AFAM 1135
John Coltrane and the History of Jazz in the United States
AFRS 1180
African History
AFRS 1185
Gender and Sexuality in the African Diaspora
AFAM 1225
Gender, Race, and Medicine
AFRS 1270
Introduction to Global Health
Humanities
Complete three of the following:12
AFAM 2296
Early African-American Literature
AFAM 2619
Race and Religion in Film
AFAM 2690
Boston in Literature
AFAM 3404
African American Rhetorical Traditions
AFAM 3663
The African American Novel
AFAM 3664
Black Poetry and the Spoken Word
AFRS 2410
Possession, Sacrifice, and Divination in African Diasporic Religions
AFRS 3900
Gender and Black World Literatures
AFRS 4510
Anthropology of Africa
Social Sciences
Complete three of the following:12
AFAM 2355
Race, Identity, Social Change, and Empowerment
AFAM 2600
Issues in Race, Science, and Technology
AFAM 2618
Community Psychology
AFAM 3120
Race, Crime, and Justice
AFAM 3270
Race and Ethnic Relations
AFAM 5001
Special Topics in Race and the Law
AFRS 1185
Gender and Sexuality in the African Diaspora
AFRS 2307
Africa Today
AFRS 2325
Black Feminist Studies
AFRS 2464
Natural Resources and Sustainable Development
AFRS 2465
The Scope and Dynamics of Conflicts in Africa (up for reactivation)
AFRS 3424
Epidemiology of Pandemic Diseases and Health Disparities in the African Diaspora
AFRS 3460
Contemporary Government and Politics in Africa
CAEP 3310
Say It Loud: The Black Power Movement and Higher Education

English Requirements

Course List
Code Title Hours
Foundational Courses
ENGL 1000English at Northeastern1
ENGL 1400Introduction to Literary Studies4
ENGL 1160Introduction to Rhetoric4
or ENGL 1410 Introduction to Research on Writing
ENGL 1700Global Literatures 14
or ENGL 1701 Global Literatures 2

English Electives

Two of the courses chosen from the lists below must be at the 3000 or 4000 level.

Course List
Code Title Hours
Diversity
Complete one course from the following. You may reuse this course to fulfill an additional English requirement below.4
ENGL 2150
Literature and Digital Diversity
ENGL 2296
Early African-American Literature
ENGL 2450
Postcolonial Literature
ENGL 2455
American Women Writers
ENGL 2470
Asian-American Literature
ENGL 2760
Writing in Global Contexts
ENGL 3663
The African American Novel
ENGL 3678
Bedrooms and Battlefields: Hebrew Bible and the Origins of Sex, Gender, and Ethnicity
ENGL 3685
Modern and Contemporary Jewish Literature
Literary Periods
Pre-19th Century Literature
Complete one course from the following:4
ENGL 1600
Introduction to Shakespeare
ENGL 2296
Early African-American Literature
ENGL 3101
Early Literatures
ENGL 3120
17th- and 18th-Century Literatures
ENGL 3618
Milton
ENGL 3678
Bedrooms and Battlefields: Hebrew Bible and the Origins of Sex, Gender, and Ethnicity
or JWSS 3678
Bedrooms and Battlefields: Hebrew Bible and the Origins of Sex, Gender, and Ethnicity
19th/20th/21st Century Literature
Complete one of the following courses:4
19th Century
ENGL 2330
The American Renaissance
ENGL 3140
19th-Century Literatures
ENGL 3619
Emerson and Thoreau
ENGL 3720
19th-Century Major Figure
20th/21st Century
ENGL 2301
The Graphic Novel
ENGL 2440
The Modern Bestseller
ENGL 2600
Irish Literary Culture (Abroad)
ENGL 3161
20th- and 21st-Century Literatures
ENGL 3685
Modern and Contemporary Jewish Literature
or JWSS 3685
Modern and Contemporary Jewish Literature
ENGL 3730
20th- and 21st-Century Major Figure
Theories and Methods
Complete one of the following:4
ENGL 1140
Grammar: The Architecture of English
ENGL 1160
Introduction to Rhetoric
ENGL 1410
Introduction to Research on Writing
ENGL 2150
Literature and Digital Diversity
ENGL 3325
Rhetoric of Law
ENGL 3381
The Practice and Theory of Teaching Writing
ENGL 3400
Opening the Archive
ENGL 3700
Narrative Medicine
LING 1150
Introduction to Language and Linguistics
LING 2350
Linguistic Analysis
LING 3450
Syntax
LING 3452
Semantics
LING 3454
History of English
LING 3456
Language and Gender
LING 3458
Topics in Linguistics
Comparative Course
Complete one of the following courses:4
ENGL 1450
Reading and Writing in the Digital Age
ENGL 1500
British Literature to 1800
ENGL 1502
American Literature to 1865
ENGL 2150
Literature and Digital Diversity
ENGL 2420
Contemporary Poetry
ENGL 2430
Contemporary Fiction
ENGL 2455
American Women Writers
ENGL 2470
Asian-American Literature
ENGL 2510
Horror Fiction
ENGL 2520
Science Fiction
ENGL 2600
Irish Literary Culture (Abroad)
ENGL 2620
What Is Nature?
ENGL 2690
Boston in Literature
ENGL 3487
Film and Text (Abroad)
ENGL 3663
The African American Novel
Writing
Complete one of the following:4
ENGL 2700
Creative Writing
ENGL 2710
Style and Editing
ENGL 2730
Digital Writing
ENGL 2740
Writing and Community Engagement
ENGL 2760
Writing in Global Contexts
ENGL 2770
Writing to Heal
ENGL 2850
Writing for Social Media: Theory and Practice
ENGL 3375
Writing Boston
ENGL 3376
Creative Nonfiction
ENGL 3377
Poetry Workshop
ENGL 3378
Fiction Workshop
ENGL 3380
Writing Seminar
ENGL 3382
Publishing in the 21st Century
ENGL 3384
The Writer’s Marketplace
English Electives
Complete any two ENGL courses that have not already been used to fulfill another requirement.8

Integrative Course

Course List
Code Title Hours
Complete one of the following:4
AFAM 2296
Early African-American Literature
or ENGL 2296
Early African-American Literature
AFAM 3404
African American Rhetorical Traditions
or ENGL 3404
African American Rhetorical Traditions
AFAM 3663
The African American Novel
or ENGL 3663
The African American Novel
AFAM 3664
Black Poetry and the Spoken Word
or ENGL 3664
Black Poetry and the Spoken Word
AFRS 3900
Gender and Black World Literatures
or ENGL 3900
Gender and Black World Literatures

Capstone 

Course List
Code Title Hours
Complete one capstone in either Africana Studies or English from the following:4
AFAM 4700
Capstone
or AFRS 4700
Capstone
ENGL 4710
Capstone Seminar
or ENGL 4720
Capstone Project

Africana Studies and English Combined-Major Credit Requirement

Complete 86 semester hours in the major.

Experiential Liberal Arts

All students in this College of Social Sciences and Humanities program are required to complete the Experiential Liberal Arts Requirement.

Program Requirements

128 total semester hours required. 

Four Years, Two Co-ops in Summer 2/Fall

Year 1
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
CLTR 10001ENGL 14004ENGL elective4Elective4
ENGL 11604Africana studies social sciences course4Foreign language course4Elective4
ENGW 11114Foreign language course4  
Africana studies foundational course4Integrative course4  
Africana studies introductory course4   
 17 16 8 8
Year 2
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
Africana studies humanities course4Africana studies social sciences course4Africana studies humanities course4sCo-op
Africana studies social sciences course4Africana studies humanities course4Elective4 
Africana studies social sciences course4ENGL diversity course4  
Comparative ENGL course4ENGL Pre-19th century course4  
 16 16 4-8 0
Year 3
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
Co-opAdvanced Writing in the Disciplines4ENGL writing course4Co-op
 ENGL 19th/20th/21st-century literature course4Elective4 
 Elective4  
 Elective4  
 0 16 8 0
Year 4
FallHoursSpringHours  
Co-opCapstone course4  
 ENGL theories and methods course4  
 ENGL elective4  
 Elective4  
 0 16  
Total Hours: 125-129
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