AFROAMER 101 — INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
3 credits.
Delve into the origins of African American Studies as an academic discipline and explore its early forms. Examine how African Americans have contributed to the understanding of the African American experience, both historically and in the present day. Analyze current struggles of the Black community for freedom, justice, and humanity.
AFROAMER/AMER IND/ASIAN AM/CHICLA/FOLKLORE 102 — INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE US ETHNIC AND AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIES
3 credits.
Introduction to comparative ethnic studies, examining race, ethnicity, and indigeneity within the United States. Includes perspectives from African American, American Indian, Asian American, and Chican@ and Latin@ studies.
AFROAMER 151 — INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY AFRO-AMERICAN SOCIETY
3 credits.
Survey of the characteristics and problems of African Americans in contemporary society.
AFROAMER 154 — HIP-HOP AND CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN SOCIETY
3 credits.
The aesthetic and political evolution of hip-hop culture and its relationship to contemporary social issues.
AFROAMER 155 — THEY: RACE IN AMERICAN LITERATURE
3 credits.
The evolution of stereotypes. The literary manifestations of the assumptions black and white American writers hold toward members of the opposite race.
AFROAMER 156 — BLACK MUSIC AND AMERICAN CULTURAL HISTORY
3 credits.
Examines the interaction between African American musical culture and its historical context, with an emphasis on the period from 1920 to the present.
AFROAMER 199 — DIRECTED STUDY
1-3 credits.
Directed study projects as arranged with a faculty member.
AFROAMER/AFRICAN 220 — HIPHOP, YOUTH CULTURE, AND POLITICS IN SENEGAL
3 credits.
Explores how HipHop, a quintessential manifestation of African American culture, is adopted and adapted by African youth to fight for social justice and democracy in their local contexts, while at the same time constructing a diasporic African sensibility and "cultural citizenship" that transcends boarders and oceans. Beginning with the history, culture, and politics of HipHop in the U.S., we compare and contrast HipHop's development in Africa with specific attention to Senegal. Explores the the youth culture and politics in Senegal and the ongoing process of cross-cultural flows and hybridity.
AFROAMER/GEN&WS 221 — INTRODUCTION TO BLACK WOMEN'S STUDIES
3 credits.
This course will provide students with an overvview of the field of Black women's studies.
AFROAMER/GEN&WS 222 — INTRODUCTION TO BLACK WOMEN WRITERS
3 credits.
An introduction to the writings of Afro-American women from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. Fiction, autobiography, non-fiction prose, and poetry will be read and discussed.
AFROAMER 225 — INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN AMERICAN DRAMATIC LITERATURE
3 credits.
Introduction to the history of African American theater and major African American playwrights and actors.
AFROAMER 227 — MASTERPIECES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE
3 credits.
Analysis of major works of African American fiction, drama, poetry and autobiography. Attention given to historical, cultural and biographical contexts.
AFROAMER 231 — INTRODUCTION TO AFRO-AMERICAN HISTORY
3 credits.
Survey from the African beginnings to the present day. Focus on slave trade and slavery; major black figures of the past; social, economic, and political trends within the black community.
AFROAMER/AFRICAN 233 — GLOBAL HIPHOP AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
3 credits.
Critical interrogation of the relationship between HipHop and social justice. What is "HipHop," what is "social justice," what is their relationship, how can HipHop can be an effective force for social justice, and what obstacles mitigate against this potential? Discussions will develop familiarity with important concepts in Black studies and social theory such as race and colonialism, imperialism and hegemony, structure and agency, identity and strategic essentialism. Consider the race/class/gender dimensions of weekly topics, acquire a broader familiarity with HipHop activism, and develop new conceptual tools and critical thinking skills.
AFROAMER/ART HIST 241 — INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE
3 credits.
Examines the rich heritage of African arts and architecture as they shape and have been shaped by the histories and cultural values (social, political, religious, philosophical, and aesthetic) of African peoples, both past and present, on the continent where humanity began. It includes an historical overview of selected artistic traditions from different parts of the continent from 26,000 BCE to the 21st century and thematic/cultural case studies: artists and aesthetics; textiles, decorative, and personal/body arts; architecture; and individual artists.
AFROAMER/ART HIST 242 — INTRODUCTION TO AFRO-AMERICAN ART
3 credits.
Historical survey of African American art. Beginning with the African heritage and concluding with creativity of the 1970's, examine the evolution of African American art. Attention to the aesthetic sensibilities of diverse styles as well as the social significance of Black art within the art arena.
AFROAMER/ANTHRO/C&E SOC/GEOG/HISTORY/LACIS/POLI SCI/SOC/SPANISH 260 — LATIN AMERICA: AN INTRODUCTION
3-4 credits.
Latin American culture and society from an interdisciplinary perspective; historical developments from pre-Columbian times to the present; political movements; economic problems; social change; ecology in tropical Latin America; legal systems; literature and the arts; cultural contrasts involving the US and Latin America; land reform; labor movements; capitalism, socialism, imperialism; mass media.
AFROAMER 265 — AFRICAN-AMERICAN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
3 credits.
Autobiographies of major African Americans studied in depth to locate the constants and variables in the Black American experience. Focus on the variety of individual responses to conditions in the United States.
AFROAMER/GEN&WS 267 — ARTISTIC/CULTURAL IMAGES OF BLACK WOMEN
3 credits.
Cultural images by and about Black women; feminine creativity in the arts within their historical, cultural, social, and political contexts.
AFROAMER 270 — SELECTED TOPICS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
1-3 credits.
Introduction to a historical and/or contemporary topic concerning the African American experience. Explores key factors of African American experiences that impact current society.
AFROAMER 271 — SELECTED TOPICS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE
3 credits.
Introductory level course on specific topics in African American culture.
AFROAMER 272 — RACE AND AMERICAN POLITICS FROM THE NEW DEAL TO THE NEW RIGHT
3 credits.
Survey of the decisive role played by race in American politics, 1932-present. Focus on origins and accomplishments of "the Second Reconstruction"; Black Power and white backlash; contemporary racial politics and issues.
AFROAMER/HIST SCI 275 — SCIENCE, MEDICINE, AND RACE: A HISTORY
3-4 credits.
Surveys the medical and scientific constructions of categories of race, placing the development of racial theories in a broad social and political context. Pays particular attention to the importance of racial science in slavery and colonialism.
AFROAMER/AFRICAN/ANTHRO/GEOG/HISTORY/POLI SCI/SOC 277 — AFRICA: AN INTRODUCTORY SURVEY
4 credits.
African society and culture, polity and economy in multidisciplinary perspectives from prehistory and ancient kingdoms through the colonial period to contemporary developments, including modern nationalism, economic development and changing social structure.
AFROAMER/AFRICAN/HISTORY/POLI SCI 297 — AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN LINKAGES: AN INTRODUCTION
4 credits.
Analysis of retention of African elements in African-American oral, written, and material culture. Social, cultural, and political issues regarding race, self-definition, and self-determination in both Africa and North America will be examined.
AFROAMER 302 — UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES IN AFRO-AMERICAN HISTORY
3 credits.
In-depth treatment of a key theme in black historical studies.
AFROAMER 303 — BLACKS, FILM, AND SOCIETY
3 credits.
Study of the interpretations of the African American past conveyed via theatrical films and television; relationship to other images of blacks found throughout the popular culture; relationship to societal trends.
AFROAMER/DANCE/MUSIC 318 — CULTURAL CROSS CURRENTS: WEST AFRICAN DANCE/MUSIC IN THE AMERICAS
3 credits.
The influence of traditional West African dance/music heritage in historical, artistic, social contexts in the development of new hybrid forms of music/dance created by cross-pollination of cultures of Africans, Europeans and indigenous peoples in the New World.
AFROAMER/ASIAN AM/DANCE/FOLKLORE 319 — AFRO ASIAN IMPROV: FROM HIP HOP TO MARTIAL ARTS FUSION
3 credits.
An Afro Asian perspective provides a lens through which intersections between Asian American and African American dance and martial arts are studied and practiced. Asian American and African American movement genres provide tools to explore dance fusion, choreography, and improvisation, to create dances informed by African American and Asian American legacies of struggle, innovation and transformation, while cognizant of historical forces of oppression and racism. Building connections through respectful communication with others are learned through dance practice, discussion and writing about concepts learned through readings, videos, and guest artist visits. Engagement with dance as a cultural vehicle for creative problem-solving and risk-taking occurs through guided class or smaller group activities.
AFROAMER/HISTORY 321 — AFRO-AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1900
3-4 credits.
Survey of African American history from 1900 to the present. Topics covered include segregation, the Civil Rights Movement, the political, social and cultural changes of the late 20th century, and the Obama presidency.
AFROAMER/HISTORY 322 — AFRO-AMERICAN HISTORY TO 1900
3-4 credits.
Survey of African American history from its roots in Africa to the end of the 19th century. Topics considered include the slave trade, the political and cultural practices of enslaved communities, forms of resistance, Reconstruction, and systems of segregation.
AFROAMER/GEN&WS 323 — GENDER, RACE AND CLASS: WOMEN IN U.S. HISTORY
3 credits.
Historical interplay of racism and sexism in the lives of Black and White women of different class backgrounds in the United States.
AFROAMER/GEN&WS 324 — BLACK WOMEN IN AMERICA: RECONSTRUCTION TO THE PRESENT
3 credits.
Explores African American women's experience from waning days of slavery to present. Topics include slavery, emancipation, reconstruction, segregation, migration, urban and rural poverty, civil rights, nationalism, feminism and sexual politics.
AFROAMER/GEN&WS 326 — RACE AND GENDER IN POST-WORLD WAR II U.S. SOCIETY
3 credits.
Assesses how race and gender (as well as socio-economic status, age, sexuality, region, etc.) shaped the experiences and options of African Americans, especially women, in U.S. society from WW II to the present.
AFROAMER/GEN&WS 333 — BLACK FEMINISMS
3 credits.
Uses an interdisciplinary framework to interrogate core assumptions, arguments, and silences in past and present black feminist thought.
AFROAMER 337 — THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
3 credits.
Black literature and culture during the 1920's. Focus on unique Black literary expression of era, historical background, esthetics, polemical essays.
AFROAMER 338 — THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT
3 credits.
Focuses on the notion of blackness as it is developed in the poetry and drama of key figures of the 1960s Black Arts Movement. Emphasizes the emergence of a critical discourse specific to a "new" black aesthetic.
AFROAMER/HISTORY 347 — THE CARIBBEAN AND ITS DIASPORAS
3-4 credits.
Surveys the history of the Caribbean from the 15th century to the present. Emphasizes the importance of colonialism, commodity-based capitalism, globalization, slavery, and forced labor for the modeling of the region's social, economic, cultural, and political structures. Pay particular attention to the resilient, creative and resourceful ways in which Caribbean people have responded to these adverse conditions. Examine the circumstances that have shaped migrations from the region to the United States and Canada during the 20th and 21st centuries. Study how these diasporic communities have created social spaces in these two countries that have remained closely linked to the Caribbean through economic, political, and filial networks.
AFROAMER/GEN&WS 367 — ART AND VISUAL CULTURE: WOMEN OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA AND AFRICA
3 credits.
Art and visual culture by/or pertaining to women throughout the African Diaspora and Africa. Though the focus is on 10th century art by black women, it will go into visual culture (art objects, photographs, images, dress, culturally-coded representation) concerning black women historically.
AFROAMER/HISTORY 393 — SLAVERY, CIVIL WAR, AND RECONSTRUCTION, 1848-1877
3-4 credits.
African-American slavery and its impact on mid-19th century social, political, and economic life; the causes, course, and consequences of the Civil War; the rise and fall of postwar Reconstruction and non-racial citizenship; the impact of these histories on contemporary American society.
AFROAMER/RELIG ST 404 — AFRICAN AMERICAN RELIGIONS
3 credits.
Explores the varieties of African American religious expressions from the colonial era to the present with emphasis on racism and resistance, marginalization and resilience, creative expression and the continued influence of Africa and the Caribbean.
AFROAMER/AFRICAN 413 — CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AND CARIBBEAN DRAMA
3-4 credits.
A critical study of the major works.
AFROAMER/LEGAL ST 435 — CIVIL RIGHTS: POLICING, PRISONS, VOTING, HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT
3-4 credits.
Exploration of civil rights. Question what it means to discriminate (on the basis of race, sex, national origin, religion, and disability), how we might investigate and detect acts of discrimination, and the legal constraints on governmental efforts to remedy discrimination in employment, housing, and voting. Explore the intersection of government power and civil rights. Examine how the government targets groups during times of national crisis. Consider what constitutes acceptable conditions of incarceration for prisoners. Finally, learn police use-of-force doctrine, and discuss the challenge of protecting both officer and civilian safety.
AFROAMER 456 — SOUL MUSIC AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN FREEDOM MOVEMENT
3 credits.
Focus on the place of music, musicians and the music industry in the African American Freedom Movement from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. Emphasis on the role of the black church, the organizing tradition, and the transition from Civil Rights to Black Power.
AFROAMER 469 — INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES IN THE ARTS
1-4 credits.
Guest artists will offer interdisciplinary courses on topics appropriate to their specializations.
AFROAMER 501 — 19TH CENTURY AFRO-AMERICAN LITERATURE
3 credits.
Historical and critical analysis of the poetry, fiction, and drama of 19th century African American writers. Also focuses on the essays of major African American intellectuals such as W.E.B. DuBois and Anna Julia Cooper.
AFROAMER/POLI SCI 519 — AFRICAN AMERICAN POLITICAL THEORY
3-4 credits.
Explores a range of theories that African Americans have drawn upon to cope with and ameliorate their political circumstances in the United States within the specific parameters of political theory.
AFROAMER/HIST SCI/MED HIST 523 — RACE, AMERICAN MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH
3 credits.
Provides historical perspectives on current dilemmas facing black patients and health care professionals.
AFROAMER 525 — MAJOR AUTHORS
3 credits.
Intensive literary criticism of the works of selected authors. Emphasis on fiction, but non-fiction when appropriate. Works of one or two authors.
AFROAMER/ED POL 567 — HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN EDUCATION
3 credits.
An examination of the social, economic, political, and cultural issues influencing the education of Black Americans from the early nineteenth century to the 1960s.
AFROAMER 621 — SLAVERY AND CAPITALISM IN THE UNITED STATES
3 credits.
Addresses the relationship between slavery and capitalism in the British North American colonies and the United States of America. Drawing on recent scholarship that explores how slavery and capitalism are independent systems, examines how the labor of enslaved people affected the development and growth of wage labor; the impact of the growth and dominance of capitalism as an economic system on the institution of slavery; and the experiences of enslaved people.
AFROAMER/GEN&WS 624 — AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN'S ACTIVISM (19TH & 20TH CENTURIES)
3 credits.
Examines Black women's struggles for racial justices; reconsiders conventional notions of leadership, politics and protest. Topics include abolitionism, anti-lynching campaigns, woman suffrage, labor movement, club movement, cultural expressions, civil rights protest, Black feminism/womanism, poverty and welfare rights, environmental racism, etc.
AFROAMER/GEN&WS 625 — GENDER, RACE AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
3 credits.
This course focuses on the emerging field of gender studies in the scholarship on the post-World War II civil rights movement in the United States.
AFROAMER/HISTORY 628 — HISTORY OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES
3 credits.
Civil rights history from 1930-1970. Legal, historical and economic origins of the civil rights movement. Study of the movement's impact on United States culture, politics, and international relations.
AFROAMER 631 — COLLOQUIUM IN AFRO-AMERICAN HISTORY
3 credits.
Research and discussion of topics in African American History.
AFROAMER 669 — INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES IN THE ARTS
1-4 credits.
Guest artists will offer interdisciplinary courses on topics appropriate to their specializations.
AFROAMER 671 — SELECTED TOPICS IN AFRO-AMERICAN HISTORY
3 credits.
An intensive analysis of specific historical themes in African Americans' experiences.
AFROAMER/ENGL 672 — SELECTED TOPICS IN AFRO-AMERICAN LITERATURE
3 credits.
An intensive analysis of specific themes in the Afro-American experience. Subjects vary with instructor.
AFROAMER 673 — SELECTED TOPICS IN AFRO-AMERICAN SOCIETY
3 credits.
An intensive analysis of specific societal themes in African Americans' experiences.
AFROAMER 675 — SELECTED TOPICS IN AFRO-AMERICAN CULTURE
3 credits.
An intensive analysis of specific cultural themes in African Americans' experiences.
AFROAMER/GEN&WS 677 — CRITICAL AND THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN BLACK WOMEN'S WRITINGS
3 credits.
Analyses and interpretations of literary works by black women writers through historical, philosophical, political, feminist, and other contemporary critical methods.
AFROAMER/GEN&WS 679 — VISUAL CULTURE, GENDER AND CRITICAL RACE THEORY
3 credits.
Examines tensions between visual and verbal representations that variably construct and negotiate power relations in racialized human experience.
AFROAMER 681 — SENIOR HONORS THESIS
3 credits.
Mentored individual research and study for students completing a thesis in an Honors program.
AFROAMER 682 — SENIOR HONOR THESIS
3 credits.
Mentored individual research and study for students completing a thesis in an Honors program.
AFROAMER 691 — SENIOR THESIS
2-3 credits.
Mentored individual research and study for students completing a senior thesis.
AFROAMER 692 — SENIOR THESIS
2-3 credits.
Mentored individual research and study for students completing a senior thesis.
AFROAMER 699 — DIRECTED STUDY IN AFRO-AMERICAN STUDIES
1-6 credits.
Advanced directed study projects as arranged with a faculty member.
AFROAMER/ED POL/HISTORY 712 — EDUCATION AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
3 credits.
Explores the historical relationship between education and the African American freedom struggle from the early twentieth century to the present. Topics include school segregation, desegregation, and resegregation; high school and college student activism; Black Power; civil rights protest strategies and tactics, and the role of the federal government.
AFROAMER 790 — RESEARCH AND THESIS
1-12 credits.
Mentored individual research and study for students completing a Master's thesis.
AFROAMER/ART HIST 801 — HISTORIOGRAPHY, THEORY AND METHODS IN VISUAL CULTURE
3 credits.
Focuses on the knowledge, theories, and methods that are fundamental to the transdisciplinary discipline of Visual Cultures. Develops skills in critical reading, research, analysis, writing, and oral presentation.
AFROAMER/ART HIST 802 — VISUAL CULTURES: TOPICS IN VISUAL CULTURES
3 credits.
Content will vary to facilitate in-depth engagement with a particular topic in Visual Culture. Topics will be pursued with analytic attention to gender, sexuality and race.
AFROAMER/AFRICAN 813 — CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AND CARIBBEAN DRAMA
3 credits.
Historical and critical study of the classics of contemporary African and Caribbean literary drama written in English. Thematic issues include the African encounter with Europe, postcolonial disillusionment and the betrayal of ideals, and also stylistic matters as the relationship(s) between traditional drama and other performance forms, and modern drama written in European languages. Considers theories and critical approaches to understanding the cross-continental drama traditions and their contexts. Examines the long histories of cultural, performance, and theatrical relationships between Africa and the Caribbean and how the relationships have been shaped by race and economics, past and present. Considers and questions conventional claims made by others and your own assumptions; stimulates analytical thinking about identity.