History

The Department of Pan-African Studies (PAS) traces its origins to the campus unrest of the late 1960s. The first "Black Studies" courses were offered in Summer 1969 in response to the "demands" of African American students and their community allies. After hiring a small complement of faculty, the Department itself was established formally in 1973. Although many "Black Studies" programs soon disappeared, PAS survived as a small Department through the 1970s and 1980s due to the dedication of its faculty, students, and community supporters. In 1990-1991, then President Donald C. Swain approved a "Plan to Enhance the Department of Pan-African Studies" which enabled the Department to expand its faculty and strengthen its programs.

Today, PAS is the only Black Studies Department in Kentucky with a comprehensive undergraduate curriculum, evolving graduate programs, and a strong commitment to research and service. As a result, an April 1997 external evaluation concluded that PAS ranked in the top 10 percent of "Black Studies" programs in the nation.

The Department of Pan-African Studies Today

The department of Pan-African Studies (PAS) fosters the multidisciplinary study of the societies and cultures of Africa and persons of African ancestry past and present, throughout the world. To this end, PAS offers an extensive program of study, including undergraduate major and minor and, ultimately, graduate programs focusing on Africa and the Diaspora. This program of study seeks to:

1. Give students a broad understanding of the history, societies and cultures of the African world;
2. Equip students to apply Pan-Africanist scholarship to the analysis of and engagement with contemporary social and cultural issues; 
3. Prepare students for the workforce or for graduate work in Pan-African Studies and/or related fields;
4. Add an inter-cultural dimension to other academic programs.

Ten faculty members hold full or joint appointments in the Department of Pan-African Studies with areas of specialization that include the art, religion, literature, popular culture, geography, health, history, anthropology, education, sociology and political science of the African world.

As scholars, the faculty of the Department contributes to the creation of new knowledge and the development of new methodologies emerging from Pan-African experiences and formulations of m eaning. The Department is committed to sharing this knowledge through teaching and research, and applying it through service in the local, state, regional, national and international communities. PAS aspires, as its ultimate goal, to become a Department of national and international distinction.

Career Opportunities in Pan-African Studies

PAS majors have career options quite similar to those of students with baccalaureate degrees in the humanities and social sciences and a PAS minor often enhances the employability of students who major in other fields.

Increasingly, PAS majors are also finding career opportunities specific to the discipline itself. Such opportunities are most common in social, cultural and educational agencies/organizations, and in business and international affairs initiatives that concern people of color. Other PAS graduates choose to pursue graduate degrees. Programs in Education, Social Work, Law and the liberal arts, including advanced work in Black Studies, are the most common choices.