Black Studies Major

Why study Black studies at Geneseo?

The major is designed for students who want to understand why Black lives matter from an interdisciplinary standpoint. Our country is dealing with the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow, confronting the devastation of mass incarceration, and understanding recent events in the light of white supremacy. Students are looking for ways to act, challenge, and organize, and student activists and students of color often turn to Black studies faculty for allies, information, support, and a sense of belonging.

By working closely with faculty advisors, students design an individualized program of courses and internship experiences, drawing knowledge from the humanities, the sciences and social sciences, the arts, and other fields that will help prepare them to face the challenges of living in an increasingly global and diverse world.

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Program Options

• BA in Black Studies
• Minor in Africana Studies

Additional Options

• Edgar Fellows Honors Program

Program Highlights

• Black studies faculty, courses, and programming are central to Geneseo's priority to become a non-racist campus
• Regularly offered courses include Black Lives Matter; Black Humanities: The 1619 Project; The History of Black Joy; and Hip Hop, which features an annual symposium
• Performance as Social Change is a microcredential program for students interested in exploring the critical role arts-based performances play in facilitating and advancing social change
• The department has a strong tradition of study abroad: Ghana, Senegal, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Cuba, Oxford, London, Iceland, and Madagascar
• Geneseo has connections with Kwame Nkrumah University in Ghana and recently hosted Ghanaian scholars