Lively dancing in West Africa

The Graduate Certificate in African Studies is awarded to students at the graduate level at the University of Wisconsin–Madison to certify advanced training in African studies. It is awarded by the African Studies Program and the Graduate School.

Application for Graduate Certificate in African Studies

  • Contact Aleia McCord, assistant director and advisor, at aleia.mccord@wisc.edu.
  • Submit the application form for the Graduate Certificate in African Studies and obtain the approval and signature of the major professor. After the student has completed the requirements for the graduate certificate in African studies, the African Studies Program director or designate will inform the major department that the student has earned the certificate.

Information about funding through the African Studies Program is available from our website. We also encourage our students to explore funding options available through the Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS) Awards Office.

  • Complete at least 12 credits of African Studies Program core courses or extended core courses taught by an African Studies Program faculty member.
  • Graduate credit is available only for courses numbered 300 or higher.
  • Maintain a grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale).
  • Fulfill the requirements for a master’s or doctoral degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
  • Include 9 credits outside the major department. No more than 3 credits will count from the major department.
  • Complete at least one graduate-level seminar in African studies with a grade of AB or better. It may be in the major field.

Additional terms

  • Include no more than 3 credits of directed reading and research or independent reading (AFRICAN 699 Directed Study, AFRICAN 999 Independent Reading and Research). No thesis/dissertation credits (AFRICAN 990 Thesis) may be included.
  • Only one course in a single language may count toward the certificate, but two languages courses count if they are in different African languages.
  • Note: All African Cultural Studies courses may count toward the graduate certificate within the limits set by the distribution requirements described above.
  1. Regional expertise: advanced knowledge of the societies and cultures of the region through in-depth understanding of the principal historical, social, political, cultural and scientific forces and conditions that have given rise to the unity and diversity in the region today.
  2. Multi-disciplinarity: analyzing contemporary political, economic, and cultural realities in the region from at least two disciplinary perspectives, ideally including humanities, social sciences and sometimes natural science approaches.
  3. Depth of knowledge: advanced knowledge of particular facets of life in the region by taking courses on particular sub-regions or countries, by studying a regional language, or by taking at least two courses on the region in one discipline
  4. Research and methods: Students must demonstrate the ability to conduct interdisciplinary research that shows knowledge of research methodologies, demonstrates analytical skills, and the ability to articulate and elaborate research findings.

Faculty: Professors Adell (Afro-American Studies), Alonso (Gender and Women’s Studies and the School of Medicine and Public Health), Anderson (Global Health),  Bartlett (Educational Policy Studies), Block (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Brown (African Cultural Studies), Bunn (Anthropology), Burchell-Sajnani (African Cultural Studies), Callaci (History), Chavas (Agricultural and Applied Economics), Christensen (Animal Health and Biomedical Sciences), Conway (Pediatrics), Conway (Communication Arts), Dima (French and Italian), Diop (Real Estate and Urban Land Economics), DiPrete Brown (Human Ecology, Global Health Institute),  Drewal (Art History/Afro-American Studies), El Nossery (French and Italian), England (African Cultural Studies), Ferrick (International Agriculture Programs), Foltz (Agricultural and Applied Economics), Garoon (Community and Environmental Sociology), Goldberg (Pathobiological Sciences), Gomez (Medical History and Bioethics), Grant (Sociology), Gray (Communication Arts), Gunasekaran (Food Engineering), Haq (Medicine and Public Health), Hark (Design Studies), Hawkins (Curriculum and Instruction), Ipsen (Gender and Women’s Studies and History), Jacobs (Environmental Studies), Jasper (Consumer Science), Kawaoka (Global Health Institute), Keller (Medical History and Bioethics), Kendall (Director, Educational Policy Studies), Klug (Law), Kodesh (History), Ladson-Billings (Curriculum and Instruction), LaGro (Urban and Regional Planning), Larson (Biological Systems Engineering), Lindsay (Gender and Women’s Studies and Political Science), Madureira (Spanish and Portuguese), McCord (African Studies), McFarland (Anthropology), Mitman (History of Science), Mustafa (African Cultural Studies), Naughton (Geography), Nesper (Anthropology) , Nimis (African Cultural Studies), Ntambi (Biochemistry), Okwumabua (Pathobiological Sciences), Olaniyan (African Cultural Studies and English), Ozdogan (Afro-American Studies), Palmer (Journalism and Mass Communication), Patz (Global Health Institute), Pickering (Anthropology), Popkewitz (Curriculum and Instruction), Radano (African Cultural Studies and Music), Reed (Animal Science), Rosin (Integrative Biology), Royston (African Cultural Studies), Ruark (Environmental Studies), Sager (Interior Architecture), Sapega (Spanish and Portuguese), Schauer (Global Health Institute), Seidman (Sociology), Sethi (Population Health Sciences), Siraj (Infectious Disease), Songolo (Library), Straus (Political Science), Sweet (History), Tanoukhi (English), Tanumihardjo (Global Health Institute, Nutritional Sciences), Tefera (Surgery), Thompson (African Cultural Studies), Treves (Environmental Studies), Tripp (Political Science/Gender and Women's Studies), Tupesis (Global Health Institute), Turner (Geography), Ventura (Environmental Studies), Wilcots (Astronomy).