Africana Studies at Lehigh

The purpose of the Africana Studies Program is to engender in Lehigh students and intellectual appreciation of the life and culture of people of African descent worldwide, especially in the United States, thereby enriching the Lehigh curriculum and increasing the relevance of a Lehigh education to a culturally diverse society and world. In the best tradition of a liberal arts education, Africana Studies expands all Lehigh students’ critical understanding of their own heritage in interaction with other cultures.
 
The major and minor in Africana Studies constitute an interdepartmental and comparative program of study for undergraduates who wish to integrate the insights and methods of several disciplines to understand the history, culture, social, and political experience of people of African descent globally. The Africana Studies curriculum encompasses two intended lines of inquiry: (1) the diverse influences in Africa and the African diaspora that have shaped African American culture, and (2) the variety of ways that the African American experience has shaped and been shaped by American culture.