College of Liberal Arts
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AADS Major

The AADS major requires twenty-four semester hours of AFR coursework, including at least 15 hours of upper-division AFR coursework. The following courses are required:   

  • AFR 303. Introduction to Black Studies
  • Three upper-division courses (at least nine semester hours) chosen from one of the following tracks*:
    • Theory
    • The Arts
    • Policy
    • Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Six additional semester hours of AFR coursework
  • AFR 375. Community Internship - taken in the fall of one's senior year
  • AFR 376. Senior Seminar - taken in the spring of one's senior year

*A course list with each track is available below. Coursework used towards Tracks and Additional Hours must cover at least two geographical regions of the African diaspora, identified as Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States.

Course Lists are for informational purposes only. They do not replace department or university catalog requirements, and are not a substitution for official advising. Please contact our department advisor, Lucy Vélez, lucy.velez@austin.utexas.edu, for any major advising questions.

Prior Year Degree Requirements and Course Lists 

2016-18 AADS Degree Requirements

2018-20 AADS Degree Requirements

2020-22 AADS Degree Requirements

Additional information is available in the university catalog.

Upper and Lower-Division Courses

36 hours of upper-division coursework are required to graduate. To enroll in upper-division courses you must have completed at least 60 total hours (includes transfer courses).

  • The first digit of a course number indicates the credit value of the course in semester hours. Courses numbered 201 through 299 have a value of two semester hours; 301 through 399, a value of three semester hours; and so on.
  • The last two digits indicate the rank of the course: if 01 through 19, the course is a lower-division course; if 20 through 79, an upper-division course; if 80 through 99, a graduate course.

For example, AFR 317D is a 3-credit, lower division course; and AFR 374D is a 3-credit, upper division course.

GPA Requirement

Undergraduate students must maintain at least 2.0 GPA to remain in good academic standing and to graduate. You can use the GPA Calculator to calculate your GPA.

Interactive Degree Audit

Degree audits can be run for any undergraduate degree plan and are a great way for students to track their degree requirements and progress. Find more about how to run a degree audit and run one yourself here.

University/College Requirements

Signature Courses. 
UGS Signature Courses (UGS 302 and UGS 303) are maintained by the School of Undergraduate Studies. These courses are restricted to first-year students. If you need to satisfy this requirement beyond your first year, you will need to contact their office for assistance with registration.

University Core and Liberal Arts Core Course List.
Lists courses that satisfy the Natural Science, Cultural Expression, Human Experience, & Thought, and Social Science requirements for the B.A., Plan I degree.

Foreign Language.
As a College of Liberal Arts student, you need intermediate level proficiency in a foreign language. Many AADS students choose to satisfy their foreign language requirement by completing YOR 601C: Introduction to Yoruba and YOR 611C: Intermediate Yoruba.