Information for Students & Alumni

Why African American Studies?

QUESTION: What can you do with a degree in African American Studies?
ANSWER: The sky is the limit!

The Office of Career Services at Northeastern offers some helpful information on what you can do with a degree in African American Studies.

• African American Studies is an excellent major for training your reading, writing and analytical skills. These skills are useful and valuable no matter what profession you pursue.
• Because African American Studies relates to numerous other fields, the number of required courses for the major is relatively small to allow maximum flexibility. This allows students to take advantage of the field's interdisciplinary nature, by taking courses in other fields, or by pursuing a double major, combined degree, or a minor in another subject.
• Graduate and professional schools like African American Studies majors because they know that African American Studies students pursue a rigorous course of studies.
• By combining study in African American Studies with experiential learning through co-op, study abroad and/or Dialogue of Civilizations, you can get practical experience that will give you greater flexibility after you graduate.

African American Studies is a truly global and interdisciplinary degree. College graduates with African American Studies degrees have become doctors, lawyers, entertainers, politicians, public health professionals, diplomats, professors, astronauts, journalists, engineers, artists, poets, executives, entrepreneurs, and more! Here is a select listing of some notable African American Studies majors:

• Mae Jemison, astronaut and first woman of color to travel into space
• Sanaa Lathan, actress
• Thelma Golden, museum director
• Angela Bassett, actress
• Aaron McGruder, political cartoonist
• Gloria Naylor, novelist
• Claudia Thomas, first Black female Orthopedic surgeon in the US
• Lisa “Sista Souljah” Williamson, rapper and activist
• Judge Richard Roberts, lawyer and judge
• Carl Andrews, New York senator
• Vince Carter, professional basketball superstar
• Anita Wells, clinical psychologist
• Marc Morial, director of the Urban League; former New Orleans mayor and senator
• Jendayi Frazer, Senior Director of African Affairs at the National Security Council
• Rochelle Brown, producer of “Emeril Live”
• Nicole Childers, executive producer of National Public Radio (NPR)
• Ethelbert Miller, poet, author, and professor
• Jill Nelson, novelist and freelance journalist
• Antoinette Jackson, Habitat for Humanity board chair
• Peter Bouckaret, emergency director for Human Rights Watch
• Joseph Brown, catholic priest, author
• Cheryl Sanders, pastor of Third Street Church in Washington, DC