The course of study is determined by students’ home department advisors in consultation with the curriculum committee in the Center for African American Studies. Certificate requirements include completion of AAS 500 (see description below) and two other courses in the Humanities or Social Sciences: (a) whose contents are judged to be devoted primarily to race; or (b) for which they write research papers devoted to race; or (c) which are independent study topics tailored to the student’s interests in race. Additional requirements include participation for one academic year in the Center for African American Studies’ Faculty/Graduate Seminar (see description below).

This interdisciplinary seminar introduces graduate students from many departments to the African-American intellectual tradition. The perspective concentrates on African-America and the African Diaspora, with attention to issues of class and gender as well as race. A broad set of topics, including race, racism, religion, and slavery are discussed. The course presupposes a familiarity with issues in African-American Studies.

The seminar meets bi-weekly throughout the course of the academic year and provides a forum for faculty and graduate students who are committed to intellectual discourse in African American studies. The seminar combines presentations by Princeton faculty and visitors and hosts both established and emerging scholars from institutions throughout the country. The seminar is decidedly interdisciplinary and engages scholarship from multiple fields, perspectives and methodological approaches. We encourage graduate student and faculty participation from the humanities, social sciences, physical and natural sciences, arts and professional schools. Each meeting lasts one hour and twenty minutes. Typically, a paper will be circulated one week prior to meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, the author of the paper will present her work for about 20 minutes. Another participant in the workshop, preferably a graduate student, then has an opportunity to respond to the paper, raising questions and directing the conversation for 10 minutes. For the remaining time, we hold an open discussion about the paper and the presentation.

Each year there are many graduate courses of interest to graduate students and that could count toward the graduate certificate requirement. A sampling from the past few years includes: