Major Requirements

Students who have declared a major or minor in one of RCD's areas of concentration prior to Fall 2022 can choose to follow the new major requirements, consistent across the concentrations, listed here below, or they can follow the previous major requirements.

It is currently possible to major in three (3) of our areas of concentration:

• Africana Studies
• American Studies
• Race, Colonialism and Diaspora Studies

Each major requires the completion of ten courses amounting to at least thirty (30) credits.

Students are expected to work closely with their advisors and faculty to design thoughtful, historically grounded, and interdisciplinary courses of study. Areas of concentration are intended to serve as a focal point for broader comparative work.

• Requirement 1 (One introductory course):
  RCD 50, Introduction to Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora
   
• Requirement 2 (One methods course):
  RCD 150, Methods in Studies of Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora
   
• Requirement 3 Three advanced (one hundred-level) courses that focus on your major/area of concentration, at least one of which must be an RCD Research Seminar
   
• Requirement 4 Three or four courses that are grounded in interdisciplinary methodologies, or are drawn from a diversity of disciplines, that substantively engage topics related to race, colonialism, or diaspora
   
• Requirement 5 (One or two capstone courses):
  Students may choose:
  a) senior honors thesis (two semesters);
  b) senior special project (one semester), plus a fourth course in Requirement 4; or
  c) an optional course such as an advanced research course or independent study that advances the area of concentration, plus a fourth course in Requirement 4.
  
  Departmental approval required.

Download RCD Majors' Checklist

Additional Policies on Major Requirements

• AP Courses may not count toward RCD majors
   
• A grade of C or better is required for a course to count toward the major
   
• Courses taken pass-fail may not count toward the major
   
• An RCD major who is also a major in another department or program may count up to three courses from those major(s) toward the concentration requirements.
   
• Transfer Courses: Transfer courses may count towards the third or fourth requirement above, but not as an alternative to either RCD 50 or 150, the RCD’s introductory and methods classes. No more than four transfer courses may count toward any RCD major. Approval to count transfer of credit courses toward the any RCD major must be granted by the Department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies, via petition.
   
• Study Abroad: Study abroad can offer valuable opportunities to reflect on social and political questions from new vantage points, and can helpfully decenter the US, or bring questions of colonialism and diaspora into new focus.  Still, students majoring in RCD will need to work carefully with their advisers prior to going abroad in order to ensure that they will be able to complete their major. Study abroad courses must be pre-approved for departmental credit by the Transfer-of Credit process through SIS, and then petitioned to count toward specific major requirements. In general, coursework completed abroad may count towards the third or fourth requirement above, but not as an alternative to either RCD 50 or 150, the department’s introductory and methods classes. And no more than four courses taken abroad can count toward any RCD major.
   
• Internships: One internship, thoughtfully engaged with a student’s academic focus and concentration, may count toward the major with the approval of the advisor and by petition of the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Such internships must be supervised by an RCD core or affiliated faculty, and may only be used to count toward the fourth requirement above. Students wishing to undertake an internship for credit toward their major must apply in advance.
   
• Independent Study: One independent study may count towards the third or fourth major requirements, but not as a replacement for RCD 50, RCD 150, or the Advanced RCD Research Seminar. Independent studies must be completed under the direction of a core or affiliated RCD faculty in order to count toward the major. Approval to count an Independent Study toward the major must be granted by the Department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies, via petition.
   
• ExCollege: One ExCollege course may count toward the fourth requirement for the major, but only with the approval of the advisor and by petition of the Director of Undergraduate Studies. No more than one ExCollege course will count toward an RCD major.