| Advantages
The Master of Liberal Arts in Africana Studies offers the following
advantages:
- advanced analytic knowledge of the African Diaspora
- advanced preparation for employment in which knowledge of cultural
diversity important
- a combination scholarly knowledge of the Black experience and
applied skills
- an entrée to a Ph.D. program
- overall, enhancement of high-level employability and career
advancement
Program Requirements: Option I
- Total required hours: 33
- 30 hours from the approved course list
- 21 hours must be in Africana Studies courses
- 9 in approved outside electives
- one elective course must be in research methods
- at least 15 hours must be at the 6000 level
- 4 hours may be at the 4000
- Satisfactory completion of a written comprehensive examination
- Thesis and defense (3 hours)
Program Requirements: Option II
Option II is designed to allow students to include, within
the 33 credit hours for the MLA, a graduate certificate focusing
on skills intended to enhances employability and career advancement.
The certificate is selected by the student, with the help of the
Student Advisor, consistent with the student's career goals. The
student must meet the admission requirements of the particular
certificate program he/she chooses to include in the MLA degree,
and must go through the normal admissions procedure for that program.
Possible certificates include but are not limited to: Addictions
and Substance Abuse, Community design and Development, Geriatric
Social Work/Clinical Geriatric, Marriage and Family Counseling,
Museum Studies, Public Management, and Health Management and Leadership.
- Total required hours: 33
- 30 hours from the approved course list
- 15 hours must be in Africana Studies courses (this option may
include an internship)
- 15 hours of Graduate Certificate in an approved outside program
(this option includes electives tied to the Graduate Certificate)
- one elective course must be in research methods
- at least 15 hours of the total must be at the 6000 level
- Satisfactory completion of a written comprehensive examination
- Thesis and defense (3 hours)
Basic Program Procedures
Both AFA options require the student to work closely with an assigned
advisor. Students who select Option II may also be expected to work
with an advisor within the Certificate program. Prior to registration
for the second semester, the student must, with the assistance of the
Graduate Advisor, form a thesis committee consisting of three faculty
members. One member of the committee must be from outside the Department
- Option II students are encouraged to select the outside thesis committee
member from the Certificate program. The student must submit in writing
to the Chair of Africana Studies a signed Statement of Intent to focus
on a particular concept, theme, idea, or area of emphasis leading to
the comprehensive exam and the thesis. This statement must be approved,
dated, and signed by the Department Chair, the MLA Graduate Director,
and the thesis committee chair and made a part of the student's record.
Subsequent courses selected for study are expected to center around
this stated focus. Variation from the focus must be approved. With
the guidance and approval of the thesis committee chair, the student
will write a proposal for thesis research or internship. The proposal
must be approved by the thesis committee before the student proceeds
to thesis research and writing.
The Comprehensive Exam
This essay exam, based on the student's graduate curriculum,
is taken after completion of all or nearly all of a student's course
work and before undertaking the internship or thesis research.
The examination, offered three times per year at stated intervals,
is comprised of questions prepared and evaluated by the student's
Thesis Committee. The MLA Director must approve the application
and the areas of study to be examined.
The Thesis
The thesis is a comprehensive academic project involving
formalized methodology, research, analysis, and oral and written
presentations. It focuses on a topic mutually agreed upon by the
student, the thesis committee, and the MLA Director. The data on
which the thesis is to be based may be obtained by pure academic
research (library, archival, ethnographic, survey, etc.) or by
applied research. The latter may occur through an internship project
(see "The Internship" below). Once the topic of research
(applied or pure) is agreed upon the student writes a research
proposal that includes establishing a research question or hypothesis,
research methodology, and purpose and significance of research.
The thesis is written at the culmination of the research.
The Internship (process not yet formalized)
The internship consists of the student working on a semester-long
project at a community, corporate, university, or government entity.
The internship entity will be identified by the student with the
help of the MLA Director and the thesis committee. The internship
will include, on the one hand, service to the entity, and on the
other hand, the collection of data for the purpose of writing the
thesis. The student will negotiate with the contact person at the
internship entity to work on a project of mutual benefit. Based
on mutual understanding of what the internship entails, the student
writes a research/internship proposal under the guidance of the
thesis committee.
The Thesis Defense
The candidate for the MLA degree will defend the thesis
at the time set by the MLA Director, who will also chair the defense.
The defense will follow a standard format and is open to all faculty
and graduate students.
Admission Requirements
- University Requirements (see Graduate Catalog
for details)
To be considered for admission, first-time graduate or transfer
students must:
- have earned a bachelor's degree or equivalent
from a regionally accredited university
- earned a grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) while
registered as an upper-division baccalaureate student
- submit two official transcripts (if not a USF graduate)
- submit a Graduate Application for Admission, or International
Graduate Student Application Form
- pay a $30.00 non-refundable Application Fee.
- (International students may have additional requirements.)
- Additional Masters of Liberal Arts Admission Requirements
Students must submit the following:
- three letters of reference - two should be from academic referees
and one form a prominent non-academic community member
- an academic writing sample of no less than five pages
Additional Africana Studies Admission Requirements
- a Graduate Record Exam (GRE) combined score of at least 1050
(the GRE score is evaluated in relation to other components of
the total application package)
- an interview with the Chair of Africana Studies
- a statement of purpose which addresses the following point:
(1) the social background of the applicant; (2) the link between
the applicants undergraduate experience and the decision to do
graduate work in Africana Studies; and the applicants career
and personal goals.
The student may be required to take extra undergraduate courses
before admission.
Requirements are subject to revision. Check with Africana Studies office
(813) 974-2427 for most current requirements. |
Graduate Catalog