Program Description

In alignment with the Lasallian mission “to identify inequity and exclusion created by society, and actively respond not merely with charity, but with courage, creativity, and compassion,” Black Studies at La Salle focuses on the Black diaspora in the Americas and responds to “deficit, difference, and dependency theories of Black people’s supposed inferiority” by emphasizing Black agency and anti-racist frameworks and scholarship.

Why Take This Minor?

This minor enables students to explore important issues such as systemic racism, social justice, health and wellness, education, intersectionality, and cultural contributions, as they relate to members of the Black diaspora in the Americas. Black Studies can complement any major by broadening and deepening their knowledge of the Americas as well as equipping students with tools to help them address issues of systemic racism and social inequities and enable them to be agents of change in the global society.

Required for Graduation

• Courses 
  • 6
• Credits
  • 18

Student Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate familiarity with the histories and experiences of the Black diaspora in the Americas
• Recognize, identify, and explain societal and cultural contributions of the Black diaspora in the Americas
• Recognize, identify, question, and examine systemic forms of racism, oppression, and erasure and their impacts and create responses and solutions.
• Acquire and apply information, frameworks, and theories that respond to and dismantle “deficit, difference, and dependency theories of Black people’s supposed inferiority.”
• Define and explain intersectionality and apply this framework to understand and analyze the experiences of individuals and groups as they relate to systems, institutions, and power structures
• Recognize, identify, and explain connections between the Black diaspora in the Americas
• Recognize, identify, and define anti-racist and social justice theories and frameworks and apply them to current issues to promote justice and equity and become agents of social change

Minor Requirements

Six courses are required for the Black Studies Minor.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Introductory/Survey Course
HIS 337	African-American History	3
or BLKS 111	Introduction to Black Studies
Courses related to the Black Studies in Latin America
Select one to two of the following:		3-6
BLKS 250	Music, Lit, & Cult Latin Amer.
SPN 270/370	Special Topics
SPN 480/481	Seminar
SPN 480/481	Seminar
Courses related to Black Studies in the US
Select three to four of the folllowing:		9-12
EDU 274
HIS 315	Fiery Trial: Civil War
HIS 337	African-American History
PHL 303	American Philosophy
PHLT 280	Special Topics
PHLT 489	Race, Ethnicity, And Public Health
REL 350	Theology and Racism
REL 353	Social Justice and Community Organizing
SOC 262	Dynamics of Race and Ethnicity in Contemporary Societies
Total Credits		15-21

Special topic courses that may be periodically offered that relate to Black Studies may also be counted toward the minor with the director’s approval. 

Contact Information

Luisa Ossa, Director
ossa@lasalle.edu
Hayman Hall 234
215-951-1213