Black Studies

College of Ethnic Studies
Dean: Tomás Almaguer

Department of Black Studies
EP 103
415-338-2352/1054
Chair: Dorothy Tsuruta

Faculty

Professors—Head, Nobles, Obenga, Richards, T'Shaka, Yansane

Associate Professor—Tsuruta

Lecturers—Aaron, Cavil, Goddard, Hubbard, Tyron, Vincent, Wobogo

Programs

B.A. in Black Studies
Minor in Black Studies

Program Scope

The Black Studies Department at San Francisco State University was the first Black Studies Department established on a four-year college campus in the United States. The birth of Black Studies at SFSU in 1968 was, in fact, inspired by student-led opposition to the then Western intellectual hegemony and racist scholarship that characterized the limitations found in traditional approaches to college education.

Every student should know about the unparalleled and unmatched contributions African and African American people have made to human civilization. These contributions include the formulation of the first system of government for a territorial state; creation of the foundations of science, mathematics, and advanced technology; the first written script, the foundations of philosophy and psychology; the building of the great pyramids and such modern inventions as the first electric light filament, the cotton gin, the first gas mask, the double effect evaporator, and the first design of a three stage rocket capable of interstellar flight. In studying Black studies, students are able to learn about, critique, and be inspired by the accomplishments of African men and women who shaped and are shaping the moral conscience, artistic genius, scientific and technical achievements, and political activism of their time.

The Department of Black Studies at SFSU has continued to be in the vanguard of the intellectual discourse pertaining to domestic and global freedom and development of African people throughout the world. The maturation of the discipline has resulted in new and innovative alternatives to the traditional paradigms of oppression and exclusion. In addition to learning aspects of human history that have been hidden and/or stolen, when students study Black studies they learn how to recognize and challenge intellectual hegemony and racist science. The discipline of Black studies not only provides students with the experience of challenging traditional Western orthodoxy, but also gives them an opportunity to explore new and alternative paradigms and theories. In Black studies, students acquire and develop an appreciation for both the origins of knowledge, the philosophy of science, and the politics of knowing. Students develop a social character and personal outlook that gives them the ability to contribute to the well-being of themselves and humanity. The Black Studies curriculum is designed to address the needs of the African and African American community as a classroom where lessons can be learned and taught. The discipline of Black studies prepares students to not only understand the world they live in but to see where the world is wanting and to have the ability and the desire to make it better.

All students majoring in Black studies are required to complete a program consisting of core courses and electives with emphases in the areas of the humanities and behavioral and social sciences. The core courses (27 units) provide the students with an appreciation of the historical development and intellectual foundation of the discipline as well as the critical knowledge base, intellectual skills, and methodological techniques essential to the field of Black studies. The courses offered in the emphases (twelve units each) allow the student to gain a deeper intellectual grasp of the field within one of two important emphases.

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN BLACK STUDIES

On-line course descriptions are available.

The Bachelor of Arts in Black Studies includes basic core courses (27 units), an area of emphasis (12 units), and electives on advisement (6 units).

MINOR PROGRAM IN BLACK STUDIES