The Center for Afro-American Culture began in the fall of 1969 as a response to the
agitation on the part of African American students and faculty in the late 1960s. Dr. Daniel
Burrell directed the center until 1971 when it became the Department of Afro-American
Studies and an academic unit of the College of Letters and Science. It was not until 1978
that the department was approved by the Regents to grant a bachelor's degree in the major.
Up until 1978 the department offered mainly freshman and sophomore level classes in
conjunction with other departments like African American history, literature, composition,
economics, politics, and other current issues facing the African American community. The
culture of Africa itself was included for study within the curriculum whenever possible with
courses such as several levels of the Swahili language.
The following information is edited from Frank A. Cassell, J. Martin Klotsche, and
Frederick I. Olson, The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: A
Historical Profile, 1885-1992 (Milwaukee: UWM Foundation, Inc., 1992:
Afro-American Studies reflects the growth and development of a community of scholars and
students who share a professional and intellectual commitment to the rigorous, systematic,
theoretical and empirical enquiry into the range of phenomena that constitutes the
substratum of Black people's life experiences and structures the context as well as the
content of their life prospects.
The B.A. in Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee fosters a
sound analytical and empirical knowledge of the life histories and prospects of African
Americans. It scrutinizes objects, actions and events affecting the well-being of Blacks
in America, and in regions of the world with the largest concentrations of Black people --
Africa, North and South America, and the Caribbean. Additionally, the B.A. in
Afro-American Studies educates students in the best traditions of the liberal arts and
sciences, and makes a significant contribution to knowledge pertaining to the past,
present and future roles of Blacks in structuring qualitatively as well as quantitatively
the actualities and possibilities of life in their society.
These goals are achieved through a framework of carefully crafted requirements. Every
student in Afro-American Studies is required to take at least one course each in logic and
statistics. Majors must also gain a sense of the foundations of African American Studies,
regardless of their areas of concentration. They are thus required to take one course in
the Political Economy of African America and one on the Culture and Society of African
America. The student may then elect to concentrate one of two options: Option A (The
Political Economy of African America) or Option B (The Culture and Society of African
America.) In either case, 24 credits are required to complete the major.
Students can also minor in Afro-American Studies. The purpose of the minor is to expose
students to a range of concepts, theories and phenomena that ground the discipline of
African American Studies. Students are required to take 18 credits to complete the
minor.
Through its curriculum, the department prepares students for career opportunities in
government, teaching, business, the professions, and social services. In doing so,
Afro-American Studies lay a foundation for advanced studies not only in the discipline of
African American Studies (Africology), but also in such fields as economics, politics,
sociology, history, English, law and public administration. Some graduates have become
lawyers and physicians, and others have pursued careers or studies in library science,
theology, and psychology.
The department is dedicated to lending its expertise on issues affecting the African
American community in particular and the general population. Faculty members serve on the
boards of organizations such as the Ko-Thi Dance Company, and are active members of other
social, political, economic and religious institutions/associations.
In 1994, the department was renamed the Department of Africology to "more accurately
[reflect] the department's curriculum, the teaching and research interest of the faculty, as
well as the distinctiveness and scope of the discipline it names", according to UWM Faculty
Document 1907, which approved the change.
