PVAMU New African American Studies, One of Few at HBCUs
Prairie View A&M University’s African American studies courses were designed to allow HBCU students to “make sense of the Black experience.”
By Aswad Walker | Defender Network | Word In Black
This post was originally published on Defender Network
(WIB) – Prairie View A&M University has recently become the only HBCU in Texas with an African American Studies program. Thanks to a $1 million initiative, Enhancing the Humanities at PVAMU, students have the option to major or minor in African American studies in addition to school’s more traditional offerings in the arts and sciences, education, agriculture, engineering and nursing.
“A part of the HBCU experience for many students is a journey to self-identification, Blackness, and trying to understand the Black experience better,” said PVAMU’s Director and Associate Professor of AAS Jeanelle Hope, Ph.D. “[African American Studies] provides students with the language to understand the world around them and an opportunity to engage key theories, concepts and methods that seek to make sense of the Black experience and amplify our narratives.”
Funded in part by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, an anonymous contribution, and a matching grant, the new Bachelor of Arts in AAS Program will prepare the emerging generation of leaders to communicate effectively, think critically, research and examine any field of work through a comprehensive cultural lens.
