In Fall 2019, Flagler College’s Department of Humanities will offer a minor in African-American Studies. It is a 21-credit interdisciplinary minor with courses on the peoples of African descent in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. It will encourage academic study of the diverse peoples and cultures of the African Diaspora. This minor’s study of the African-American experience will help generate critical thinking skills through broader application to the global black experience.
The required 21 hours will include one, three-credit core course on African-American history. The remaining 18 hours will be evenly split between three elective categories, requiring six hours in art, literature and communication, six hours in history and six hours in social sciences. This multidisciplinary study will offer a range of theoretical approaches to questions of history, race, culture, identity, diversity and society. The minor will also build upon existing courses offered by Flagler faculty.
Part of what makes this minor important at Flagler is the opportunities it provides for courses to incorporate the rich history of St. Augustine, allowing professors to extend their education outside of the classroom.
“The physical landscape of St. Augustine – from Fort Mose to Lincolnville to the ‘slave market’ and the myriad historical markers in our downtown Plaza de la Constitución – gives faculty a chance to bring the community into the classroom and vice-versa, which underscores the centrality of the African-American experiences in understanding contemporary culture,” said Dr. Michael Butler, Kenan Distinguished Professor of History.
The African-American Studies minor will allow students the unique opportunity to study history in a new light by building on the history of St. Augustine. This academic area of study is intended to develop an informed campus dedicated to thoughtful stewardship of the remarkable heritage of St. Augustine with its vibrant cultures and history.
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About Flagler College
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Flagler College is a small private, independent college located in St. Augustine, Fla. The college offers 33 majors, 39 minors, and a master’s degree in Education of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Flagler College has an enrollment of about 2,500 students, as well as an offsite campus in Tallahassee, Fla. U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review regularly feature Flagler as a college that offers quality education at a relatively low cost. A Flagler education is less than half the cost of similar private colleges, and competitive with many state universities. A relatively young institution (founded in 1968), Flagler College is also noted for its historic beauty. The centerpiece of the campus is the former Hotel Ponce de Leon, a National Historic Landmark opened in 1888 by railroad pioneer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler. For more on Flagler College, visit flagler.edu.
