Certificate in African American Studies

African American Studies is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary field examining the histories, cultures, and political and social engagements of people of African descent in the United States.  Courses offered through the African American Studies certificate program encourage students to explore a broad range of historical and contemporary issues impacting native-born African Americans as well as African, Caribbean, and Afro-Latin American immigrants to the USA.  Our courses address transformations in the social, political, gender, sexual, religious, and ethnic identities of people of African descent; meanings of race and family; social justice movements and activism; literature and cultural expression; and the nature of diaspora in the Black experience. 

Certificate Requirements

1. Students must complete a minimum of 12 credit hours from the approved courses below.

2. Students must complete a minimum of nine upper-division (3000-level and above) credit hours taken from among the approved courses.

3. Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the certificate and must achieve a minimum cumulative certificate GPA of 2.0. All graded attempts in required and elective courses are calculated in the certificate GPA. Courses taken using pass/fail grading cannot apply to certificate requirements.

4. Students must complete all credit hours applying to the certificate with CU Denver faculty.

Required Courses 

• ETST 2155 African American History (3 credits - CU core course)
• 3 approved electives from the list below (9 credits)

ETST 2105 Contemporary African American Issues

ETST 3155 African Diasporas

ETST 3211 Hip Hop Music and Culture 

ETST 3230 African American Family 

HIST 3347 African American History 1619 – Present

ENGL 3750 American Literature After the Civil War 

HIST 4055 The Atlantic Slave Trade: Africa, Caribbean, and the US 

ETST 4220/ENGL 4220 African American Literature  

HIST 4212 Civil War and Reconstruction 

HIST 4225 Urban America: Colonial Times to the Present 

HIST 4308 Crime, Policing, and Justice in American History 

Application Procedure

To sign up for the certificate or to learn more contact Dr. Rachel Harding at Rachel.Harding@ucdenver.edu. Please indicate the student’s name, student ID number, major, and expected degree graduation date.