African American studies will be available in US high schools as an Advanced Placement course for the first time, starting in the 2023-24 school year.
Designed to be taught over 28 weeks, the course covers 79 topics that range from early African kingdoms to how Jim Crow laws impacted African Americans after Reconstruction as well as the achievements of Black Americans in science, music and art.
Topics are divided in four major units: “Origins of the African Diaspora,” “Freedom, Enslavement and Resistance,” “The Practice of Freedom,” and “Movements and Debates.”
The course has been criticized by some conservatives, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as having “a political agenda.” The College Board recently announced that the course will be changed but did not immediately say how.
AP course in African American Studies brings Black history to life for these Tulsa students
“The updated framework, shaped by the development committee and subject matter experts from AP, will ensure that those students who do take this course will get the most holistic possible introduction to African American Studies,” the board said.
Read the previously released curriculum for the course below.
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