Africology

School/College: College of Letters and Science

Degree Conferred:

• PhD in Africology

Contents

• Graduate Faculty
• Doctor of Philosophy in Africology
• Courses

NOTE: Applications are now being accepted for the fall 2010 semester.

Overview

The Ph.D. in africology is grounded in the axiomatic assumption that, as the imperatives of global integration significantly transform human relations, the twenty-first century will witness an exponential expansion of the institutional delivery of africological knowledge. Across the planet today, Africa remains the only continent with a vast store of natural resources (e.g., uranium, oil, copper, nickel) that are underutilized. With the demand for energy increasing exponentially worldwide, knowledge and understanding of the cultures and political economies of African countries and societies clearly are in the self-interest of the global community. Because of this twenty-first century imperative, the Department of Africology has designed the Ph.D. degree around concentrations in 1) Political Economy and Public Policy, 2) Culture and Society: Africa and the African Diaspora, and 3) a concentration outside the department in the student's area of interest.

The fields of concentration are the substantive core of the Ph.D. program. Political economy entails the normative and empirical relations of political and economic phenomena in given sociocultural contexts. Public policy entails the making of binding authoritative decisions that produce, allocate, reproduce, and reallocate societal resources. Political, economic, cultural, and social elements interact continually in every political economy, and public policy substantially frames their patterns of interaction. Through a range of research methods and techniques, the concentration in political economy and public policy grounds students in local, national, and transnational political economies and public policies. Relevant courses and seminars in such fields as economics, political science, sociology, urban planning, geography, and history will be utilized.

All cultures share in common at least eight attributes. These are species life, species being, language, religion, food, literature-art-science-technology, institutions, and transgenerational memory. Systematic comparisons of these elements of cultures in Africa and in the African Diaspora worldwide afford sound explanations of, and novel insights into, the behaviors of Africans and their descent. This concentration in comparative cultures will enable students to scrutinize rigorously exchanges, admixtures, fusions, retentions, and disappearances of cultural elements in Africa and the African Diaspora in regard to their contemporary significance. Relevant courses and seminars in English, foreign languages and literatures, history, and sociology will complement those offered in the department.

Graduate Faculty

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Professors

Bellegarde-Smith, Patrick, Ph.D., American University

Van Horne, Winston, Ph.D., University of California-Los Angeles

Associate Professors

Aborampah, Osei-Mensah, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Kirk, Joyce F., Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Mbalia, Doreatha D., Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Assistant Professors

Gelan, Abera, Ph.D, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Jones, Sandra, Ph.D, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Wilson, Anika, Ph.D, University of Pennsylvania

Winkler, Erin, Ph.D, University of California-Berkeley

Doctor of Philosophy in Africology

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Admission

To be considered for admission, an applicant must meet UWM Graduate Faculty requirements for admission plus the departmental requirements listed below. A master's degree is not a prerequisite for this PhD program.

1. Possession of an overall undergraduate grade point average of 3.33 (B+)
2. Submission of scores within the last five years from the Graduate Record Examination
3. Submission of three letters of recommendation from individuals who are familiar with the applicant's academic work
4. Submission of a writing sample (10-15 pages) of the applicant's written work, signaling one's aptitude for graduate study

Normally, students are admitted only for the fall semester. However, in extraordinary circumstances, a student may be permitted to begin Ph.D. studies in the spring semester. The department does not offer a terminal M.A. degree. Students applying without a master's degree are admitted to the Ph.D. program in the equivalent of master's status.

Admission to the graduate program is based on a careful review of the applicant's academic qualifications, and is highly competitive. Successful candidates usually have a high grade point average (GPA) in their undergraduate majors, as well as overall. There are, of course, a variety of factors that come into play over the years of an applicant's studies, and so the admissions committee will consider closely a student's academic profile, as well as accomplishments that are germane to his/her application.

It is the policy of the Graduate Faculty that "Applicants may be admitted with specific program-defined course deficiencies provided that the deficiencies amount to no more than two courses.

The student is expected to satisfy deficiency requirements within three enrolled semesters. No course credits earned in making up deficiencies may be counted as program credits required for the degree."

Language or Mathematics/Statistics Proficiency

Students are expected to enter the Ph.D. program with proficiency in a language other than English and/or in mathematics/statistics. Students may satisfy the language requirement by passing a translation examination administered by a faculty member, or by completing, with a grade of C or better, the final course in a four-semester sequence in a language approved by the department. Native speakers of a departmentally approved language may petition the graduate adviser for an exemption to the foreign language requirement.

Proficiency in mathematics/statistics is indicated by completion of two courses at the upper-division level (numbered 300 and above or requiring junior standing) with at least a B average. Students who have not completed this requirement in the context of their undergraduate (or master's degree) studies must take courses to satisfy the requirement during their Ph.D. studies.

Credits earned in satisfying this requirement do not count toward the required credits for the Ph.D. degree. The language or mathematics/statistics proficiency requirement must be completed prior to the doctoral preliminary examinations. Students are encouraged strongly to have the proficiency requirements completed by the time they take the comprehensive examination.

Major Professor as Adviser

Upon admission to the program, students are required to consult with the Director of Graduate Studies about the department's expectations of them, as well as elucidate their own expectations of the department. Soon afterward, students must secure individual advisers, drawn from the department's faculty.

Residence

The student must complete at least half of the graduate credits required for the Ph.D. in residence at UWM in doctoral status. In addition, the student must complete at least 8 graduate credits in each of two consecutive semesters, or 6 or more graduate credits in each of three consecutive semesters, exclusive of summer sessions.

Course of Study

The Ph.D. degree requires completion of at least 54 graduate credits—48 credits of coursework, and 6 dissertation credits. Students may count up to a maximum of 6 credits in dual level undergraduate/graduate courses toward the degree. Precise numbers of credits and actual course requirements will be determined after review of the applicant's previous coursework.

Required Courses (12 credits)

During the first three semesters in the program, the following courses in Forms of Reasoning are required:

Africol 700 Empirical Theory and Methods I, 3 credits, and

Africol 701 Empirical Theory and Methods II, 3 credits

and either

Africol 705 Normative Theory and Principles of Social Organization I, 3 credits, and

Africol 706 Normative Theory and Principles of Social Organization II, 3 credits

or

Africol 708 Critical Literary Theory in the History of Ideas I, 3 credits, and

Africol 709 Critical Literary Theory in the History of Ideas II, 3 credits

Three Fields of Concentration (36 credits)

All students must complete at least 12 credits (four courses) in each of three different fields of concentration. The Department of Africology has been structured conceptually and empirically around two fields of concentration: Political Economy and Public Policy, and Culture and Society: Africa and the African Diaspora. Students will take a third field of concentration outside of the Department.

The Comprehensive Examination

Prior to the end of each entering student's third semester of enrollment, s/he is required to take and pass the department's graduate student Comprehensive Examination (written and oral) in order to continue his/her studies toward the Ph.D. degree. There are no exceptions to this requirement. The Comprehensive Examination is administered in the spring and fall semesters of each academic year.

The examination will be administered by three (3) members of the department's faculty, who will grade the written work and conduct the orals. Members of the examination committee rotate each academic year. Students must pass the written examination to be eligible for the oral examination.

Students who pass the comprehensive examination are permitted to proceed toward the Ph.D. degree. Failing the exam will result in a recommendation to the Graduate School for the student's academic dismissal. The Comprehensive Examination is not repeatable.

Upon passing the exam, students continue to take courses in the concentrations in preparation for the doctoral preliminary examinations and independent research.

The Doctoral Preliminary Examinations

Students will take written and oral doctoral preliminary examinations in two of their three fields of concentration, which they will select.

To be eligible to take the preliminary examinations, which are administered in the fall and spring semesters of each academic year, student must:

• Be registered.
• Have an overall GPA of at least 3.0 ( B), at the time of the examination.
• Have completed all coursework—there shall be no incompletes (Is) at the time of the examination.
• Have satisfied the foreign language or mathematics/statistics requirement.
• Have made one presentation to the department's faculty as a whole in the Departmental Faculty Colloquium Series. The purpose of the presentation is to: I) refine a student's knowledge of a given subject; ii) socialize students in the rigors of making scholarly presentations on one's research before future peers; and iii) prepare students for the demands of interviews for future jobs. A student will not be judged to either have passed or failed the presentation. Rather, s/he will be given constructive comments concerning the substance and style of his/her presentation. Generally, each colloquium will last for two (2) hours.
• Have fulfilled all residency requirements.
• Have secured, in addition to their primary departmental adviser, a secondary advisor from outside the department should they plan to use their extra-departmental field of concentration as one of the two written-examination fields.

Those who pass the written examinations with a grade of at least a B on each shall then proceed to take the oral examination. Should a student fail one of the two written examinations, s/he upon petition to the Director of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Studies Committee, may be permitted to retake it at the next scheduled examination cycle. Students who fail both written examinations will not be permitted to retake them.

Failure of both written examinations, or the retake of a written examination, or the oral examination, will result in a recommendation to the Graduate School for the student's academic dismissal. Students who pass the preliminary examinations shall proceed to prepare a dissertation prospectus.

The preliminary examinations must be taken within five years of enrollment in the Ph.D. program.

A student's dissertation committee shall consist of five (5) graduate faculty members, including his/her major professor. At least three (3) of the five members must be from the Department of Africology.

Dissertation Prospectus (Proposal Hearing)

Prior to undertaking research for the dissertation, a student is required to prepare a dissertation prospectus, with the advice and consent of his/her adviser and Dissertation Committee. Acceptance of the dissertation proposal establishes an agreement between the student and the Dissertation Committee as to the nature and scope of the research to be conducted, and the procedure for completing the dissertation. Prior to the Dissertation Committee's approval of the prospectus, research involving the use of human subjects must receive the approval of the Institutional Review Board.

Dissertator Status

Specific requirements which must be completed before a doctoral student qualifies for dissertator status are described on the Graduate School Doctoral Requirements page.

Dissertation

The dissertation is a major piece of original research representing a substantial contribution to an existing body of knowledge. The original research findings embodied in the dissertation should be acceptable for publication in a refereed journal. The student's adviser and Dissertation Committee provide guidance in completing the dissertation. Once a student's dissertation has been approved by his/her adviser and Dissertation Committee, the document, in approved Graduate School format, is ready to be filed with the Graduate School. There is no oral defense of the dissertation.

Time Limit

It is expected that students entering the program with a baccalaureate degree should normally complete their Ph.D. degree within six (6) years. However, because circumstances beyond a student's control may prevent completion of requirements according to this timeline, students will be granted a maximum of ten years to complete the degree.

Additional Information

More specific information on program requirements and procedures can be found in the Africology Student Handbook.

Courses

There are other courses under development in addition to those that appear below. The full complement of courses will be available soon.

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Courses numbered 300-699 are Undergraduate/Graduate. Courses numbered 700 and above are Graduate only.

300 Urban Violence. 3 cr. U/G.

Analysis of the nature, causes, and consequences of urban violence; the possibilities and limits of violence in promoting the good of blacks will be scrutinized. Prereq: jr st.

311 African Religious Thought and Social Organizations. 3 cr. U/G.

A critical analysis of foundations from which complex social structures and institutions evolved in the diverse societies of the Afroworld. Prereq: jr st.

319 History of Blacks in the American City. 3 cr. U/G.

A consideration of the contributions of blacks to the growth and development of the American city. Prereq: jr st.

321 Black Workers in Technologic Society. 3 cr. U/G.

Analysis of scientific and technological changes in America since 1900, and their qualitative as well as quantitative impact on black productivity and participation in the work force. Prereq: jr st.

322 Order and Disorder: The Quest for Social Justice. 3 cr. U/G.

An analysis of the forms, purposes, and effects of order and disorder in relation to black people's quest for social justice. Prereq: jr st.

326 Economic Problems of Black Business. 3 cr. U/G.

Examination of major economic problems of black business; liquidity, credit, market shares, insurance, rents, mortgages, and location are analyzed in relation to black business performance. Prereq: jr st.

329 Economic Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa. 3 cr. U/G.

Economic development in African countries; poverty reduction strategies, role of education and health, Millennium Development Goals, agrarian systems, international trade; U.S. as key trading partner. Prereq: jr st.

344 Political Movements and Organizations in the Afroworld. 3 cr. U/G.

Analysis of leadership, ideology, and the structure of black political movements and organizations in the twentieth century. Prereq: jr st.

350 The Black Family. 3 cr. U/G.

An examination of the structure and functions of the black family in its urban and rural contexts. Prereq: jr st.

450 Cultural Transmissions: Black Africa and Black America. 3 cr. U/G.

A cross-national and cross-cultural comparison of the societies and cultures of black Americans and black Africans. Prereq: jr st.

451 Rites of Passage in Black Societies. 3 cr. U/G.

Foundations of the use of rites of passage in different societies throughout Africa and the African diaspora. Prereq: jr st.

497 Study Abroad: (Subtitled). 1-12 cr. U/G.

Designed to enroll students in UWM sponsored program before course work level, content, and credits are determined and/or in specially prepared program course work. Retakable w/chg in topic. Prereq: jr st; acceptance for Study Abroad Prog.

565 Selected Texts/Topics in Africology: (Subtitled). 3 cr. U/G.

Examination of selected problems, issues, and themes in Africology. Retakable w/chg in topic to 6 cr max. Prereq: jr st.

700 Theories and Methods in Qualitative Research in Africology. 3 cr. G.

Construction and testing of empirical theory; interviewing, ethnography, focus groups, semiotics, content analysis, archival work, and analysis of historical documents; research design for field work. Prereq: grad st; approp upper-level math or stats course.

701 Theories and Methods in Empirical Research in Africology. 3 cr. G.

Applicability of particular empirical theories and qualitative/quantitative methods to a range of substantive problems and issues pertaining to peoples of African descent. Prereq: grad st; Africol 700(P) or cons instr.

705 Normative Theory and Principles of Social Organization I. 3 cr. G.

Conceptual and value foundations of normative theory in relation to forms of social organization. Prereq: grad st

706 (effective 09/02/2010) Normative Theory and Principles of Social Organization II. 3 cr. G.

Advanced study of elements of normative theory such as justice, equality, freedom, and obligation in societal construction and reconstruction in Africa and the Diaspora. Prereq: grad st; Africol 705(P)

708 (808) (effective 01/25/2010) Critical Literary Theory I: Cultural Roots of Africological Literary Theory. 3 cr. G.

Exploitation and oppression as primary sources of Africological literary theory; cultural components include identity, enemy, objective, strategy, and tactics. Prereq: grad st

712 (effective 09/02/2010) Political Economy: Conceptual. 3 cr. G.

Advanced analysis of varieties of conceptual frameworks in the literature of political economy. Prereq: grad st

799 Graduate Independent Study. 1-3 cr. G.

Independent work supervised by a member of the graduate faculty. Retakable w/ chg in topic to 9 cr max. Prereq: grad st; cons instr.

808 Critical Literary Theory I: Cultural Roots of Africological Literary Theory. 3 cr. G.

Exploitation and oppression as primary sources of Africological literary theory; cultural components include identity, enemy, objective, strategy, and tactics. Prereq: grad st

818 Race Matters: Government and Politics in Latin America and the Caribbean. 3 cr. G.

Presence, role, status, situation, and conditions of Afro-Americans (Afro-Latins and Afro-Caribbeans) in the Americas, from the federal republic of Mexico to the Argentine republic. Prereq: grad st

834 Seminar on Slavery. 3 cr. G.

Culture and political economy of slavery; historical context for American slavery; slavery as political and economic issue; social-psychology of slavery; persistence of slavery's legacies. Prereq: grad st

836 Comparative Social Institutions in African World Communities. 3 cr. G.

Origins, nature, and functioning of social institutions in African world communities; continuity and change; development of community and cultural identities of Africans and their descendents; theoretical/analytical approaches. Prereq: grad st

837 Memory and Tradition: Identity-Making and Memory in the African Diaspora. 3 cr. G.

Role of memory and tradition in forming collective and individual identities in the African Diaspora; symbolic value and functional aspects; focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Prereq: grad st

840 (effective 09/02/2010) Healing Traditions in the African Diaspora. 3 cr. G.

Advanced study of healing traditions, practices, and rituals throughout the African Diaspora. Prereq: grad st

845 (effective 01/25/2010) Race/Ethnicity and the Psychology of Oppression. 3 cr. G.

Psychological processes involved in creating and sustaining oppressive societies; emphasis on the role of racism societally and the impact of oppression on individuals and groups. Prereq: grad st

851 (effective 09/02/2010) African-American Literary Theory and Criticism. 3 cr. G.

An intensive study of historical and contemporary trends in African-American literary criticism and theory. Prereq: grad st

852 Folklore in the African World: (Subtitled). 3 cr. G.

A close scrutiny of a particular forms of folk literature of people of African descent. Retakable w/chg in topic to 6 cr max. Prereq: grad st.

862 Development of African-American Children in Urban and Rural Areas. 3 cr. G.

Developmental processes facing African-American children, including identity development and racial socialization, impact of environment, notion of "a single African-American identity;" theories and methodological approaches. Prereq: grad st

865 The Quest for Pan-Africanism. 3 cr. G.

History and future motion of movement to create a united Africa; political, economic, and social barriers to unification; united Africa in the global community. Prereq: grad st

880 (effective 01/25/2010) Seminar on Issues in Africology: (Subtitled). 3 cr. G.

Research seminar on issues of interest in Africology. Prereq: grad st.