To apply, submit Temple’s online graduate application along with an application fee of $60.
Applicants must have completed their bachelor’s degree. A degree in a related field is preferred; however, all applications will be considered.
Candidates will be asked to submit the following along with their application.
Submit official transcripts from every college and university you have attended.
The applicant’s official transcripts must show formal course-based exposure to and education in an area that the Admissions Committee judges to be closely related to Africology and African American Studies. A master’s degree in American Studies, Black Studies, Ethnic Studies, History with a concentration in African or African American Studies, or other content areas with a concentration in African or African American Studies is required.
Submit three letters of recommendation from faculty and professionals.
Letters of recommendation are preferred from college/university professors who have taught or worked with the applicant in her/his major or minor area of concentration.
In approximately 500 to 1,000 words, describe your specific interest in the PhD program in Temple’s Department of Africology and African American Studies; a clearly articulated research goal as it relates to Africology and African American Studies; your future career goals; your academic and research achievements; your community service activities; and an explanation of exceptional circumstances.
Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) general test scores are required. A combined minimum score of 297 on the verbal and quantitative sections is expected.
A current professional résumé is required.
Submit a writing sample that demonstrates your ability to conduct research and write a scholarly paper relevant to the discipline. The paper should be no more than 20 pages in length and fully referenced according to a professional, scholarly style manual.
A student who has earned the Africology and African American Studies MA from Temple University can use all 30 of their credits earned toward the Africology and African American Studies PhD.
A student who enters the Africology and African American Studies PhD program with an MA in African American Studies from one of the African American Studies master’s-granting programs other than Temple—including Brown University, Clark Atlanta University; Cornell University; Harvard University; Indiana University Bloomington; Michigan State University; Northwestern University; Ohio State University; University at Albany, SUNY; University of California, Berkeley; University of Massachusetts Amherst; University of Pennsylvania; University of Wisconsin and Yale University—may apply for advanced standing. The maximum number of advanced standing credits awarded is 18.
A student who enters the Africology and African American Studies PhD program with an MA degree in an area other than African American Studies may apply to have up to six (6) credits considered for credit toward the PhD.
Official electronic transcripts must be sent via an email to afam@temple.edu. Original transcripts can be mailed to the following address.
Temple University College of Liberal Arts
Dept. of Africology and African American Studies
Attn: TJ Cusack
808 Gladfelter Hall
1115 W. Polett Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19122-6089
Applicants who earned their baccalaureate degree from an institution where the language of instruction was not English, with the exception of those who subsequently earned a master’s degree at a U.S. institution, must report scores for a standardized test of English that meets these minimum requirements.
For questions about admissions, contact the admissions coordinator in the Department of Africology and African American Studies.
Phone: 215-204-8491
Email: afam@temple.edu
