Undergraduate Major
Majors in African Languages and Literature are required to take the following:

	Study of an African language: three years of one language or two years of one language and one year of another
	African 201 Introduction to African Languages and Literature or
	African 210 The African Storyteller or
	African 211 The African Autobiography
	African 402 Theory of African Literature
	African 501 Structure and Analysis of African Languages
	Two additional courses chosen in consultation with the Undergraduate Advisor
	One African Studies course outside the Department.

Honors in the Major
Requirements for Honors in the Major are the following:

	Study of an African Languages: three years of one language or two years of one language and one year of another
	African 201 Introduction to African Languages and Literature or
	African 210 The African Storyteller or
	African 211 The African Autobiography
	African 501 Structure and Analysis of African Languages
	African 402 Theory of African Literature
	Two 400 or 500 level courses to be chosen in consultation with the Honors Advisor
	Two 900 level Seminars
	Senior Honors Thesis
	Study Abroad

Majors and Honors Majors in the Department of African Languages and Literature are encouraged to participate in one of the study abroad programs to Africa. Programs sponsored by the UW-Madison include Egypt, Morocco and Senegal. Other programs are available through different institutions. See Office of International Studies and Programs.

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M.A.
Course requirement of 24 credits with no grade below a B in coursework.

Two years of an African Language (not counted in 24 credit total)

	African 402: Theory of African Literature, 3 credits
	African 501: Structure and Analysis of African Languages, 3 credits
	African 575: Methods of Teaching African Languages: Theory and Practice, 3 credits
	African 702: African Verbal Stylistics, 3 credits
	Three to four courses from the department curriculum, 9-12 credits
	One to two seminars, 3-6 credits
	Thesis Proposal
	Thesis

Approval Procedure for Thesis and Dissertation Proposals

The M.A. thesis proposal shall be approved by the candidate's thesis committee no later than four semesters after the candidate first enrolls in the program. The Ph.D. dissertation proposal shall be approved by the candidate's dissertation committee no later than four months after all preliminary examinations have been successfully completed.

The candidate's committee, which shall include a minimum of two members from the Department of African Languages and Literature, shall meet with the candidate at least once for the purpose of discussing the merits of the proposal and suggesting any changes.

The Proposal shall be made available for a period of two weeks for faculty to register comments or propose changes.
Committee members shall sign and date the proposal when they deem it acceptable.
(Approved Spring 2001)

Please refer to the UW-Madison Graduate Areas of Study

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Ph.D.

	One year of a major African language beyond second year level taught in this department.
	Two courses to be chosen in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies and the Supervisor.
	Two seminars
	Non-African Language
	Minor (a minimum of l2 credits outside the Department upon approval of the graduate advisor)
	Dissertator Proposal
	Preliminary Examinations
	Dissertation (Please see Approval Procedure for Thesis and Dissertation Proposals)

Preliminary Examinations

Preliminary examinations will be set no more than once each semester of the academic year. There will be no examinations during the summer session.

The student will select one of two general categories for these examinations: (a) linguistics or (b) literature/oral traditions. In addition, there will be one examination on literature for linguistics students and one linguistics examination for literature students.

After these two (2) examinations have been taken, students will spend no more than one semester to write and orally defend their dissertation proposal.

All faculty will evaluate the preliminary examinations. A three-member committee chaired by the student's advisor will evaluate the dissertation proposal. All faculty will have access to it and be free to comment on the proposal. The advisor will report to the department on the results of the dissertation proposal defense. (paragraph revision April 11, 2002)

Preliminary examinations may be retaken once if the student fails all or any part of them.

Students are not eligible to take the preliminary examinations until they have satisfied the departmental foreign language requirement of their doctoral program, completed their Minor, and cleared their record of all Incompletes.

Admission to Candidacy: Official admission to candidacy for the PhD degree occurs when the student has (a) passed the preliminary examinations, and (b) defended his/her dissertation proposal.

(Approved March 2002)

Please refer to the UW-Madison Graduate Areas of Study

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Ph.D. Minor
Students who are pursuing a Ph.D. in other departments may obtain a minor in African Languages and Literature. The requirements are:

	a minimum of 12 credits in African Languages and Literature at the graduate level including:
	African 402 Theory of African Literature
	African 501 Structure and Analysis of African Languages
	one seminar
	one other course chosen in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies
	a reading proficiency in an African language
	a GPA of 3.5 or better in the courses taken for the minor field

This page last updated: January 10, 2008

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