Major and Minor Requirements

Upper Division Core Requirements:

Elective Requirements:

• Students must complete four additional upper division elective courses focused on a specific area of concentration (cluster). At least 3 courses must come from within the department
• The cluster must be pre-approved by the department’s academic advisor

Honors Program

To be eligible for admission to the honors program, a student must have completed at least two semesters at UC Berkeley and have attained senior standing with a GPA of 3.3 or higher in all University work, as well as a 3.5 GPA or higher in the African American Studies major. Students in the program are required to take AFRICAM 195 senior capstone course to be completed in the fall semester of their senior year and must complete AFRICAM 100 and 101 prerequisite for AFRICAM 195 (to be taken prior to or concurrently with AFRICAM 195).  Students must receive a minimum of a B or above in AFRICAM 195 to enroll into AFRICAM H195 (Honors Thesis) the following semester culminating in the completion of a senior honors thesis. In order to be considered for the honor of Valedictorian, African American Studies majors must pursue the Honors Thesis and enroll in both the Senior Capstone course (Fall) and the Senior Honors Thesis course (Spring).  The Valedictorian will be selected based on the highest GPA and pursuance of an honors thesis.

For more information, please contact Eric Cheatham at eric_cheatham@berkeley.edu.

Minor Requirements

Students who have a strong interest in an area of study outside their major, often decide to complete a minor program. These programs have set requirements and are noted officially on the transcript in the memoranda section, but are not noted on diplomas.

General Guidelines

1. All courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements below must be taken for graded credit.
2. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 is required for courses used to fulfill the minor requirements.
3. Courses used to fulfill the minor requirements may be applied toward the Seven-Course Breadth requirement for Letters & Science students.
4. No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student’s major and minor programs.
5. All minor requirements must be completed prior to the last day of finals during the semester in which you plan to graduate. If you cannot finish all courses required for the minor by that time, please see a College of Letters & Science adviser.
6. All minor requirements must be completed within the unit ceiling.

Requirements

To apply for the minor in African American Studies, students must submit the departmental minor application once they have decided to minor in the program. The form may be obtained from 660 Social Sciences Building or online.  After completion of the minor requirements, students must submit a Completion of L&S Minor Program form, which may be obtained either at 664A Social Sciences Building or online. The Completion of the L&S Minor Program form should be submitted to the department undergraduate adviser the semester before the student plans to graduate.Please see the undergraduate adviser for advice while pursuing the minor program.