Professor Kenneth Hamilton, Director
The ethnic studies program offers an interdisciplinary examination of African-American and Mexican-American experiences through the social sciences and humanities. Students receive instruction in important periods of African, Mexican and American history, probing the roots of traditions beginning in early African and pre-Columbian cultures, as well as examining minorities in contemporary U.S. society. This program provides good preparation for graduate work in the social sciences, the humanities and professional schools, as well as jobs and careers in many fields. Education, law, journalism, urban planning, business, social work and politics are a few of the fields for which ethnic studies provides a strong background.
The B.S. degree includes both humanities and social science. A total of 39 credit hours are required to complete the major in African and African-American studies. The same pattern of courses is required as for the B.A. degree , with the addition of six credit hours of required methods courses, three of which may substitute for three hours of supporting courses.
SMU Degree Requirements
An SMU undergraduate degree requires a minimum of 120 credit hours and must include completion of the University’s Common Curriculum , one major and a combination of electives and/or other majors or minors. Completion of certain majors requires more than 120 hours to finish the degree. The credit hours within this curriculum are distributed as follows: