Black Studies Minor

Engaged Learning

The Black Studies minor at Loyola offers students the opportunity to study the histories, cultures, and politics of African descended peoples in disparate parts of the world through a range of disciplinary approaches. The program aims to provide a stimulating combination of intellectual rigor, cultural experience, and community engagement through its course offerings and programming. Students are encouraged to participate in various events throughout the semester that address aspects of the Black experience, including those ranging from our local New Orleans community to global Black Diasporas. A close, collaborative connection with the New Orleans community and a commitment to helping students connect with global networks and realize the real-world implications of this field of study is one of the central goals of Black Studies at Loyola.

About Black Studies

Mission: The Black Studies program strives to be an umbrella organization under which courses and programming exploring the experiences of African descended peoples come together to help build a community of students, scholars, and community members dedicated to the promotion of intellectual engagement and social justice. As an interdisciplinary program constituting diverse methodologies and intellectual thought, and rooted in historic demands for engagement with the study of Black experiences, Black Studies provides a transnational approach to illuminate the histories, cultures, and experiences of Black people across the globe. Foregrounding people of African descent not simply as subjects but also as producers of knowledge, pursuing a minor in Black Studies allows students to focus on areas that complement and augment their major fields of study; expand the horizons of their academic interests; and think critically about the world and their place in it. Black Studies seeks to sponsor and cosponsor intellectual, social, and community-oriented events that contribute to and enrich the intellectual and cultural life of the Loyola community at large.

Students in Black Studies courses can expect to:

• Learn the methodologies and critical interventions of the field of Black Studies.
• Engage the scholarly work of people of African descent as producers of knowledge, not simply subjects of study.
• Better understand the role that local, national, and global movements for racial equality have played in challenging racial and social injustice.
• Cover issues that discuss the socio-historical experience of people of African descent.
• Discuss how race is a socially constructed, hierarchical phenomenon.
• Discover how social institutions encourage expectations of racially appropriate behavior that maintain racial hierarchies.
• Take an intersectional approach to show how race interacts with other social statuses (ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, social class, religion, ability, etc).
• Recognize how this knowledge leads to social justice in the present.
• In addition to course offerings, students declaring a minor in Black Studies are encouraged to take part in the events offered throughout the semester that address aspects of the African Diasporic experience.

In the past, students and faculty associated with the program have participated in the following:

• Black History Month film festival and the New Orleans Afrikan Film Festival
• Distinguished Lectures (eg. The writers Maya Angelou, Maryse Condé, and Sefi Atta)
• Theater Performances addressing African Diasporic experiences
• These events provide opportunities for students and faculty to associate with and get to know each other and offer valuable and enjoyable ways to experience the richness and diversity of Black experiences.

Course Offerings Information

Students can use the course section search on the (LORA) system to find courses that are eligible for the Black Studies Program or schedule a meeting with program Director(s) to discuss courses that will satisfy the minor. Before declaring a Black Studies minor, please contact the program Director(s).

Black Studies Contact Information

Office: Bobet 424 or Bobet 425
Phone: (504) 865-2565 or (504) 865-3078

Participating faculty includes:

• >Patricia Boyett (Co-Director)
• Dawson McCall (Co-Director)
• Cody R. Melcher
• Sheryl Kennedy Haydel
• Bentley Anderson, S.J.