Undergraduate Programs
Black Diaspora and African American Studies are, by design, interdisciplinary fields of inquiry. Our major and minor allows for undergraduates to attain important skills in critical thinking, written exposition and socio-historical understanding. These skills translate directly into careers in academia, public policy, law, STEM, non-profit organization and corporate leadership, among many others.
Importantly, they give students tools with which to connect domestic and global patterns of racism, gender violence, educational inequity, migration and health disparities to their historical points of origin in systems of slavery, colonialism and capitalism.
Students leaving UC San Diego with a major in Black Diaspora and African American Studies in particular, will be better equipped to design and implement ethical research that takes into account the legacies of research on racially and socially oppressed groups.
Students will also understand the complexities of conducting research, designing representations of communities, and meeting the needs of racially and social marginalized families in ways that embrace the intersectional, multifaceted, social and political nature of the human experience.
Clearly, there is no greater need in our research communities than the ability to understand the current social, health and economic outcomes in the Black Diaspora and African American communities through innovative interdisciplinary lenses. A major program of study, which gives UC San Diego students opportunities to examine the complexities of race and racism within various fields of study across multiple departments, is a very exciting option for our students, and we think will be a new model for interdisciplinary programs of study on campus.
