--- title: "AP African American Studies Tutoring — DBQ & Project" slug: ap-african-american-studies-tuition subject: "AP African American Studies" category: "History" url: https://www.apcourses.net/ap-african-american-studies-tuition --- # AP African American Studies Tutoring Online AP African American Studies tutoring: four units, source-based DBQ and SAQ practice, and the individual research project from question to defence. > AP African American Studies is an interdisciplinary AP course that examines the experiences of the African diaspora through primary and secondary sources. It was piloted in 60 schools in 2022-23 and around 700 schools in 2023-24 before becoming a full course in the 2024-25 school year, with its first AP exam in May 2025. It runs through four units, from the Origins of the African Diaspora to Movements and Debates, and it develops historical, literary, visual and data-analysis skills together. What makes the assessment distinctive is the Individual Student Project: three weeks of independent research, marked by the teacher against the College Board rubric and confirmed by one exam-day validation question. Together they are 10% of the AP score. ## At a glance - Category: History - Typical year group: Grades 10–11 - Exam length: 2 hours 45 minutes - Units in the College Board CED: 4 - Group course: not running for this subject this year (1-to-1 tuition only) ## Pricing - Single lesson (90 min): €63 — full refund if you are not satisfied after the first lesson. We do not offer free trial lessons. Payment is required before your first lesson. - 10-lesson package: €616 (€62 per lesson) - 20-lesson package: €1,205 (€60 per lesson) - This subject is taught 1-to-1 only this academic year; no group course runs for it. Lessons in the 10- and 20-lesson packages can be split freely across any AP subjects. ## Units 1. Origins of the African Diaspora (~900 BCE–16th century) — exam weighting 20–25% 2. Freedom, Enslavement, and Resistance (16th century–1865) — exam weighting 30–35% 3. The Practice of Freedom (1865–1940s) — exam weighting 20–25% 4. Movements and Debates (1940s–2000s) — exam weighting 20–25% Exam weightings as published by College Board in the Course and Exam Description. ## Exam at a glance - **Format**: Multiple choice (60 questions), a project validation question, and four free-response questions: three SAQs and one DBQ - **Calculator**: Four-function calculators permitted, handheld or the Desmos in Bluebook - **Major topics**: Origins of the diaspora, enslavement and resistance, the practice of freedom, movements and debates - **Tested skills**: Source analysis, thesis and context in the DBQ, and independent research in the Individual Student Project ## What it tests AP African American Studies is not a chronology exam. It asks whether a student can take a poem, a painting, a data table or a historical document and say what it argues, how it is constructed and how far it can be pushed. Three-fifths of the score comes from multiple-choice sets built on a shared source, and the free-response section asks for a document-based argument and three short source-based answers. The course also asks for work no exam can assess: the Individual Student Project, an independent research project worth 8.5% of the score, plus a 1.5% validation question on exam day. A student who leaves the project until the spring is carrying a tenth of their grade into the last weeks of the year. ## Where students lose marks - Using fewer than three sources in the DBQ, which is a scored requirement in its own right, on top of the separate thesis, context, sourcing and outside-evidence points. - Stating a thesis the sources do not support, or hiding the tension between sources instead of making it the argument. - Treating the course as a history course and skipping the poem, the painting and the data table, which are all sources in their own right. - Starting the project late, so the validation question on exam day asks about research that was never finished. ## How tutoring helps - A reading method per source type — poem, visual, statistical table, historical document — practised from Unit 1. - DBQ writing marked against the College Board rubric each week, so thesis, context, sourcing and outside evidence are separate habits. - SAQ technique with timed practice, because three short answers share one section with the DBQ. - Project supervision from research question to thesis to oral defence, aligned to the College Board rubric. - A study plan weighted towards Unit 2, which carries the heaviest exam weight. ## Compared with A Level and IB AP African American Studies has no direct A Level or IB equivalent. It resembles an interdisciplinary humanities course more than a single-subject qualification: history, literature and visual analysis are studied together, and the assessment includes an independently researched project. UK and EU students taking A Level History or IB History and the Americas will find Unit 1 familiar and the research-assessment expectations unfamiliar; students coming from a literature or art background tend to be stronger on source reading than on the historical narrative and need help organising argument. ## Who this suits - **Good fit**: Year 12 students interested in history, sociology, ethnic studies, law or international relations, and students who want a research project on their transcript. - **Exam sprint**: Students who already know how to write an argument from sources and need the DBQ rubric, the SAQ technique and the project structure. - **Approach with caution**: Students who want a single-subject exam with no project and no independent research component. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can this course be taken outside the United States? Yes. The content is American history, but AP exams can be sat anywhere in the world. The Individual Student Project is marked by a teacher, so your school's AP coordinator has to be involved; we plan that step as part of the preparation. ### Who marks the project? Your teacher marks the Individual Student Project against the College Board rubric; College Board AP readers mark the exam-day validation question. Together they are 10% of the score. ### Do I need AP US History first? No, there is no prerequisite. The two courses feed each other: AP US History gives the chronological spine, this course gives the diasporic perspective and interdisciplinary source analysis. ### How much of the grade is the project? The Individual Student Project is worth 8.5% of the AP score and the exam-day validation question a further 1.5%, so 10% in total. ## For parents The project needs a school teacher to mark it. That is the first thing to sort out, because it sets the calendar: the research question has to be chosen early enough for the written work and the defence to happen before the exam. ## Related AP subjects - [AP US History Tuition](https://www.apcourses.net/ap-us-history-tuition) - [AP World History: Modern Tuition](https://www.apcourses.net/ap-world-history-tuition) - [AP English Literature and Composition Tuition](https://www.apcourses.net/ap-english-literature-tuition) ## Contact Free intro call: https://www.apcourses.net/contact All 32 AP subjects: https://www.apcourses.net/ap-tuition Pricing: https://www.apcourses.net/pricing