The Master of Professional Studies (African and African-American Studies)degree program is intended primarily for students interested in specializing in scholarly work--teaching, research, or creative arts--in some facet of the discipline of Black studies. The graduate program affords an opportunity for structuring a program of study to meet the specific interests of its own students as well as students from other fields who select a minor concentration in either African or African American studies. The curriculum reflects a multidisciplinary and comparative approach to the experience of African peoples throughout the world.

Degree candidates take a major concentration in either African or African American studies and a minor concentration in the area not selected for the major or in another graduate field. After the first semester the student forms a Special Committee to supervise his or her program. A thesis proposal must be submitted at the end of the first year of graduate study. The Africana Studies and Research Center encourages each student to develop a thesis selected from a range of topics and based on library research, creative work, field study, or internship.