The African/African-American Studies program, through its high quality courses and special events, offers opportunities for students to engage in interdisciplinary analysis of past and present social, political, economic, and cultural issues that have impacted peoples of African descent in Africa and throughout the Diaspora. It understands that at the foundation of all discourses on race, class, and ethnicity is the fundamental question of what it means to be human and a contributing member of a civil society. As such, it seeks to prepare students of all ethnic backgrounds for effective participation in our fast changing world, by providing them training in diversity and empowering them as informed thinkers.