A recent edition of the “MTSU On the Record” radio program shed some light on a unique multicultural learning opportunity at the university: the Africana Studies Program.

Dr. Louis Woods

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Louis Woods, director of the Africana Studies Program at MTSU and an associate professor of history, first aired Nov. 14 on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and www.wmot.org. You can listen to their conversation above.

MTSU’s Africana Studies major is the first to be offered in the region and the only one in Tennessee that offers a choice of a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science degree.

Academic topics include the history and culture of people of African descent along with race relations, political institutions and socioeconomics. Africana Studies majors can enroll in a study-abroad class in the west African nation of Senegal.

“Linguistically, culturally, Africa is a lot more diverse than most parts of the world,” said Woods, “definitely more diverse linguistically than Europe.

“There are countries like Nigeria that have a range in languages from … as little as 125 to (as many as) 250.”

You can learn more about MTSU’s Africana Studies Program at its website, www.mtsu.edu/programs/africana-studies.

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, visit the searchable “Audio Clips” archives at www.mtsunews.com.

For more information about “MTSU On the Record,” contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

MTSU students gather on the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, for a photo during a spring 2016 trip to civil rights sites in Alabama organized by the university’s Africana Studies Program. (Photo courtesy of MTSU Africana Studies Program)