Georgetown University, the highly rated research institution in Washington, D.C., announced that it will offer an African American studies major beginning this fall. The university has offered a minor program in African American studies since 2003. The new major includes 10 courses and offers concentrations in language, literature, arts, and culture or in history, behavioral science, and social inquiry.
Robert J. Patterson, an associate professor of English and African American studies and director of the African American studies program, states that “we want the students to have a breadth and depth of knowledge to ensure that they have a balance between the humanities and the social sciences. The major also will prepare students with research skills and questions of methodology that we don’t offer in the minor.”
Dr. Patterson is the author of Exodus Politics: Civil Rights and Leadership in African American Literature and Culture (University of Virginia Press, 2013). He is a graduate of Georgetown University and holds a Ph.D. in African American literature and cultural studies from Emory University in Atlanta.
