The Department of Africana Studies is in the School of Arts and Humanities with such departments as Latin American & Latino Studies, Women's Studies, History, Philosophy, Music, English, and Journalism. Students can major or minor in Africana Studies, and/or combine this major with other majors, such as Early Childhood Education. Courses taken in Africana Studies can also fulfill the College's GEN. ED. distribution requirement in historical studies, comparative culture, the arts, or literature.

Africana Studies is a body of knowledge that records, describes, and analyzes the experience of Africans and people of African descent in all parts of the world, but especially in Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean. Africana Studies appraises the past, examines the present, and seeks to shape the future by highlighting the cultural, historical, philosophical, and political contributions of Black people in Africa and throughout the African diaspora. As such, Africana Studies offers an interdisciplinary major leading to a B.A. degree. The courses are grouped into five sequences: African-American, community and urban; Afro-Caribbean; African; and Arts and Languages. The Department also participates in the interdisciplinary programs in Latin American & Latino Studies, Political Science, Sociology, History, Philosophy and Women's Studies.