01-02 LS&A Bulletin

Courses in CAAS (Division 311)

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CAAS 103. First Year Social Science Seminar.: (Cross-Area Courses); Only first-year students, including those with sophomore standing, may pre-register for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of instructor. (3). (SS). (Cross-Area Courses). May not be included in a concentration plan.; This seminar introduces first-year students to the intellectual community of social scientists working in the field of Afroamerican and African studies. The topic of the seminar varies term to term.
CAAS 104. First Year Humanities Seminar.: (Cross-Area Courses); Only first-year students, including those with sophomore standing, may pre-register for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of instructor. (3). (HU). (Cross-Area Courses). May not be included in a concentration plan.; This seminar introduces first-year students to the intellectual community of humanities scholars working in the field of Afroamerican and African studies. The topic of the seminar varies term to term.
CAAS 108 / HISTART 108. Introduction to African Art.: (African Studies); (4). (HU). (African Studies). May not be included in a concentration plan.; Building on a concept developed by Rubin in his ART AS TECHNOLOGY, (ed. by Zana Pearlstone) the study seeks to demonstrate the relationship between art production, on the one hand, and environmental and cultural factors, on the other hand.
CAAS 111. Introduction to Africa and Its Diaspora.: (4). (HU). (R&E). May not be included in a concentration plan.; Introduces basic concepts and methods involved in the study of Africa and its Diaspora. This team-taught course takes a multimedia, interdisciplinary approach using maps, cultural artifacts, films, art, music, archival documents, literary texts, and key scholarly readings from both the humanities and social sciences. Prerequisite to the CAAS concentration and minor.
CAAS 200(105). Introduction to African Studies.: (African Studies); AAS 111. (3; 2 in the half-term). (SS). (R&E). (African Studies).; An interdisciplinary introduction to the history and cultures of Africa. The course surveys Africa's prehistoric past, the rise and development of early African states, and African achievements from the medieval period to the present. Throughout, attention is given to changing perspectives and approaches in the field of African Studies.
CAAS 201(100). Introduction to Afro-American Studies.: (African-American Studies); AAS 111. (3; 2 in the half-term). (SS). (R&E). (African-American Studies).; This course provides an interdisciplinary overview and introduction to the area of Afro-American Studies. Historical, political, sociocultural, and behavioral perspectives are brought to bear on the analysis of the Black American experience. Specifically, the course intends to (1) Introduce students to the corpus of knowledge characteristic of the Afro-American Studies disciplinary perspective; (2) Consider salient issues, debates and critiques in the area; (3) Survey the Black American experience with emphasis on current social, political, and economic developments; and (4) Encourage the development of greater insight into the Black American experience.
CAAS 202(200). Introduction to Afro-Caribbean Studies.: (Afro-Caribbean Studies); AAS 111. (3). (Excl). (R&E). (Afro-Caribbean Studies).; An introductory course focusing on key issues in Afro-Caribbean studies. The specific topic is determined by the instructor.
CAAS 203. Issues in Afro-American Development.: (African-American Studies); AAS 111. (3). (SS). (African-American Studies).; An inter-disciplinary course concerned with issues currently critical to the development of the Black community along various dimensions, including the economic, political, social and educational aspects.
CAAS 204. Cultural History of Afro-America.: (African-American Studies); AAS 111. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; A survey course on the cultural traditions of the Black experience in America. The course treats Black literature, religion, philosophy, music, theatre, and art as well as the social psychology behind these expressions as they emerge out of the Black response to American conditions.
CAAS 205. Introduction to Black Cultural Arts and Performance.: AAS 111. (3). (HU). May be elected for credit twice.; Introduces students to the theories, practices, and histories of selective art forms connecting Africa and its Diaspora. It explores the performance elements of Black artistic forms such as music, dance, film, poetry, and art, as well as the social, political, and historical impact of these cultural expressions globally.
CAAS 206. Issues in African Studies.: (African Studies); AAS 111. (3). (Excl). (African Studies).; An introductory course focusing on key issues in African Studies. The specific topic is determined by the instructor.
CAAS 214 / HISTART 214. Introduction to African-American Art.: (African-American Studies); AAS 111. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; Serves as a support course for students in American art and culture studies and as a foundation course for studies in African American and Africana studies. Lecture course, using traditional methodology of the discipline, and includes class discussion and slides to survey art by African Americans, covering the mid-19th century to the present.
CAAS 230 / HISTORY 274. Survey of Afro-American History I.: (African-American Studies); AAS 111. (3). (SS). (African-American Studies).; A survey of the events, patterns, ideologies and cosmologies in Black history from the sixteenth century in West Africa to the end of the American Civil War.
CAAS 231 / HISTORY 275. Survey of Afro-American History, II.: (African-American Studies); AAS 111. (3). (SS). (African-American Studies).; Continuation of CAAS 230. 1865 to present.
CAAS 232 / FILMVID 232. Survey of African American Cinema.: (African-American Studies); (3). (HU). (R&E).; This course examines the history and aesthetics of African American film making form the silent era to the present. Films are analyzed within their socio-cultural contexts, with particular attention to how race and identity interact with class, gender, and sexuality. We consider the link between film and other forms of Black popular culture.
CAAS 241 / WOMENSTD 231. Women of Color and Feminism.: (Cross-Area Courses); AAS 111. (3). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses).; Provides an exposure to the main feminist issues confronting women of color by comparing women of color communities and their feminisms.
CAAS 246(446) / HISTORY 246. Africa to 1850.: (African Studies); (3). (SS). (African Studies).; The course is an introduction to the peoples and cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa. It begins with a survey of the origins of man and early African civilizations and concludes with the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
CAAS 247(448) / HISTORY 247. Africa Since 1850.: (African Studies); AAS 200 recommended. (3). (SS). (R&E). (African Studies).; This is the second part of a two-course introduction to central themes in Sub-Saharan African history. It deals with the abolition of the slave trade, European imperialism, underdevelopment, nationalism and de-colonialization.
CAAS 274 / ENGLISH 274. Introduction to Afro-American Literature.: (African-American Studies); AAS 111. (3; 2 in the half-term). (HU). (African-American Studies).; By surveying poetry, narratives – fictive and autobiographical – prose essays, and drama produced by Black writers over the course of their presence in America, we attempt to investigate the nature of these authors' imaginative responses to Afro-American peoples' situation in a society simultaneously both hostile to and keenly dependent upon their presence.
CAAS 303 / SOC 303. Race and Ethnic Relations.: (African-American Studies); An introductory course in sociology or AAS. AAS 201 recommended. (4; 3 in the half-term). (SS). (R&E). (African-American Studies).; This course examines the history and problems that racial minorities have faced in the U.S. by surveying the experiences of groups such as African Americans, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Native Americans, and Asians. The social history of the groups is discussed as well as the social problems confronting it.
CAAS 321 / SOC 323. African American Social Thought.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3). (SS). (African-American Studies).; This course seeks to understand, interpret, and critique different schools of social thought on the social condition and social character of African Americans.
CAAS 322 / NRE 335. Introduction to Environmental Politics: Race, Class, and Gender.: (Cross-Area Courses); (4; 3 in the half-term). (SS). (Cross-Area Courses).; Analyzes the role of race, gender and class in defining environmental issues and environmental action.
CAAS 326. The Black American Family.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3). (SS). (African-American Studies).; This course examines the historical and contemporary structure and functioning of Black families in America. Emphasis is placed on understanding and the survival mechanisms which developed and persisted in adverse circumstances.
CAAS 327 / PSYCH 315. Psychological Aspects of the Black Experience.: (African-American Studies); One course in psychology or Afroamerican and African Studies. AAS 201 recommended. (3). (SS). (African-American Studies).; An examination of the unique and consistent patterns in attitudes of Black Americans toward themselves and the external community. Emphasis is placed on age-sex-status differences and on temporal changes. Attention is directed toward causes and consequences for individuals and for the larger group.
CAAS 331 / PSYCH 316. The World of the Black Child.: (Cross-Area Courses); One course in psychology or Afroamerican and African Studies. (3). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses).; An analysis of the socio-cultural and institutional forces which influence the socialization and development of Black children; examines the child's perception of these forces and implications for the educational experience.
CAAS 332 / NRE 336. Environment and Inequality.: (Cross-Area Courses); (4). (SS). (R&E). (Cross-Area Courses).; This course explores the relationship between environment and social inequality. It focuses on American urban environments. The course examines how educational experiences impacts occupational and social class outcomes.
CAAS 333. Perspectives in Afro-American History.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (4; 3 in the half-term). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; A seminar-like course emphasizing a theoretical approach to Black historical inquiry. An attempt is made to group the meaning and implications of various developments in Black history.
CAAS 334 / HISTORY 365 / AMCULT 336. Popular Culture in Contemporary Black America.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3). (HU). (African-American Studies).; Through an examination of popular culture, this course critically reassesses the relationship between Black politics and cultural forms emerging from within African-American communities, the commodification of those forms, and representation of Black images in mass media. Beginning with post war jazz, we explore the African-American roots of rock and roll, the development of blaxploitation films, and the shifting, ideological meaning of hair and dress styles.
CAAS 335 / AAPTIS 335 / RELIGION 310. African-American Religion Between Christianity and Islam.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (4). (HU). (African-American Studies).; A study of African-American Religion, as a phenomenon that develops out of the experience of enslaved Africans in the Americas, and its dialectical relationship with the supertradition of Christianity, on the one hand, and Islam, on the other, studied diachronically from the 18th through the 20th centuries.
CAAS 336 / HISTORY 336 / WOMENSTD 336. Black Women in America.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3). (SS). (African-American Studies).; This course examines the condition of Black women in America from an historical and contemporary perspective. The main theme of the course is the peculiarity of the social, economic, and political situation of Black women, in comparison to African American males and white American males and females.
CAAS 338 / ENGLISH 320. Literature in Afro-American Culture.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3). (HU). (African-American Studies).; This course is designed to examine the various ways in which literature and culture have interacted in the Afro-American experience of the New World. Shifting emphases shed light on a variety of issues: slave autobiography, frontier and colonial cultures, women's issues, and contemporary or popular narratives.
CAAS 339 / LING 339. African American Languages and Dialects.: (African-American Studies); Ling. 210 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; This course is an introduction to the languages and dialects of people of African ancestry living in the New World. Special attention is paid to the historical origins of these languages, their present day diversity, and the social and political factors related to their current status.
CAAS 340 / AMCULT 340. A History of Blacks in American Film.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies). Laboratory fee ($15) required.; A history of the portrayal of Blacks in American films between 1915 and 1970, with special emphasis on the relationship of Black and American popular culture.
CAAS 341 / THTREMUS 222. Introduction to Black Theatre.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3; 2 in the half-term). (HU). (African-American Studies).; A beginning course in Black theatre, acquainting students with origins, developments, current trends and the significant contributions of African-Americans to the theatre of Western civilization and to the theatre of Black America.
CAAS 342 / THTREMUS 233. Acting and the Black Experience.: (African-American Studies); Permission of instructor (brief interview). AAS 201 recommended. (3). (HU). (African-American Studies).; An introductory acting course approached from a consideration of African-American dramatic themes and topics, using primarily texts from African-American playwrights.
CAAS 348 / DANCE 358. Dance in Culture: Origins of Jazz Dance.: (Cross-Area Courses); (3). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses).; An exploration of jazz dance through movement, as it relates to African-American vernacular dance, the African diaspora, and American culture as a whole.
CAAS 355 / HISTORY 355. Health and Illness in African Worlds.: (African Studies); AAS 200 recommended. (4). (Excl). (African Studies).; Changes in disease, epidemiology, and health and healing practices in African continental and Atlantic worlds from the fifteenth century, as Africans encountered new forms of medicine, slavery, colonialism, epidemic, famine, and war. Designed for concentrators in History and Afroamerican and African Studies and/or students seeking careers in medicine, public health, and medical anthropology.
CAAS 358. Topics in Black World Studies.: (Cross-Area Courses); (3). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses). May be repeated for a total of six credits.; Selected topics in Black World Studies which focus on introduction to Africa, to the Caribbean, to North America, and to South America. Specific focus is determined by instructor and indicated in the current Time Schedule.
CAAS 360. Afro-American Art.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3). (HU). (African-American Studies).; A description and analysis of the origins, nature, and legitimacy of Black American art. Discussion of relationship of Black art to other aspects of Black cultures. Attention is given to African origins, transition to America, the impact of slavery, and the Harlem Renaissance as background to understanding contemporary American art.
CAAS 361. Comparative Black Art.: (Cross-Area Courses); AAS 360. (3). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses).; Black American art compared to its parent African art and to other art forms in the African diaspora. Attention is given in particular to the art of Brazil and Haiti.
CAAS 370 / HISTART 350. Special Topics in African American Art.: (African-American Studies); Upperclass standing, and AAS 108 and 214. AAS 201 recommended. (3; 2 in the half-term). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; Lecture course focus on a theme, topic, media, or subject. Artists, aesthetics, cultural contexts, style are reviewed and discussed.
CAAS 380 / HISTART 360. Special Topics in African Art.: (African Studies); Upperclass standing, and AAS 108 or 214. AAS 200 recommended. (3; 2 in the half-term). (Excl). (African Studies).; This course is designed to address in-depth, narrow-focused or comparative treatments of topics that are corollary to the regular African Art courses.
CAAS 384 / ENGLISH 384 / AMCULT 406. Topics in Caribbean Literature.: (Afro-Caribbean Studies); AAS 202 recommended. (3). (Excl). (Afro-Caribbean Studies). May be repeated for a total of six credits.; The course considers a range of topics in the study of Caribbean literature. It raises questions concerning the canon of texts to be studied, the cultural construction of Caribbean literature, race, and ethnicity.
CAAS 385 / ENGLISH 385. Topics in African Literature.: (African Studies); AAS 200 recommended. (3). (HU). (African Studies). May be repeated for a total of six credits.; This course considers a range of topics in the study of African literature. It raises questions concerning the canon of texts studied, the cultural construction of African literature, race and ethnicity.
CAAS 394. Junior Seminar.: (Cross-Area Courses); Upperclass standing or permission of instructor. (4). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses). May be repeated for a total of eight credits.; An intensive seminar on specialized topics in Afroamerican, African, and/or Caribbean Studies.
CAAS 396 / NRE 396. History of Environmental Thought and Activism.: (Cross-Area Courses); (3). (Excl).; This course uses a race, class, and gender approach to examine the history of American environmental activism (1850-Present). It identifies the major period of environmental activism among the middle class, white working class, and people of color.
CAAS 400 / MUSICOL 457. The Musics of African Americans.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. Musical background preferred. Undergraduates only. (3; 2 in the half-term). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; An explication of the development of the Afro-American musical traditions from African and Afro-American folk origins to Black American music in the twentieth century. Topics include blues, jazz, contemporary popular music, and art music.
CAAS 403. Education and Development in Africa.: (African Studies); AAS 200 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African Studies).; Interdisciplinary course surveying the role of education and social change. Introduces the student to the key elements of the educational system and examines the impact of education on economic and political development. Tradition and reform in African education and cultural values in transition are explored.
CAAS 405 / ANTHRCUL 400. Field Studies.: Junior standing. II in West Africa. (8). (Excl).; Fieldwork conducted in West Africa, teaching students techniques, methods, and analytical procedures in anthropology, archaeology, and ethnology in real field conditions.
CAAS 406 / ANTHRCUL 401. Archaeology Laboratory Studies.: Junior standing; concurrent enrollment in Anthro. 400. II in West Africa. (6). (Excl).; Training in core archaeological processing of excavated remains – restoration, description, drafting, as well as cataloging.
CAAS 408. African Economies: Social and Political Settings.: (African Studies); AAS 200 recommended. (4; 3 in the half-term). (Excl). (African Studies).; A study of factors which contribute to current economic conditions in Africa: the problems and the potential for change, traditionalism and modernism in African economics, colonial economics, colonial economic policies. Uses case studies of representative countries.
CAAS 410. Supervised Reading and Research.: (Cross-Area Courses); Permission of instructor. (1-6). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses). (INDEPENDENT). May be repeated for credit with permission of the concentration advisor.; Arrangements may be made for adequately prepared students to undertake individual study under the direction of a departmental staff member. Students are provided with the proper section number by the staff member with whom the work has been arranged.
CAAS 413. Theories of Black Nationalism.: AAS 111, and one 200-level course, AAS 200, 201 or 202. (3). (Excl).; This course analyzes the political, social, and artistic movements promoting ideas and practices of national independence, nation-building, and national identity basin in shared racial histories for people of African descent. It explores the theories of Black nationalism promulgated across different periods and regions of Africa and the Diaspora.
CAAS 415 / ANTHRCUL 412. Traditional African Kingdoms.: (African Studies); Anthropology 101 or 222. (3; 2 in the half-term). (Excl).; This course examines through use of ethnographic and ethno-historical materials the cultural and social transformations underlying the development of kingdoms in traditional African settings.
CAAS 418 / POLSCI 419. Black Americans and the Political System.: (African-American Studies); Two courses in political science. AAS 201 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; Focuses on the status of Blacks in the American political system. Analyzes the capacity and the capability of the political system for negotiating the internal conflicts involving Black/white relationships.
CAAS 422 / ANTHRCUL 411. African Culture.: (African Studies); Junior standing. AAS 200 recommended. (3; 2 in the half-term). (Excl). (African Studies).; A survey of the processes and patterns of socio-cultural, political, and economic development in Africa before the period of European colonial rule.
CAAS 425. Politics of Black Movements in America.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; This course analyzes several Black protest movements. It concerns leaders of movements, political environments, and concepts of freedom and liberation. Relevant questions are: Who joined the movements, and why? What were the costs and benefits of the movements? What were the goals of the movements? What tactics and strategies were used to realize these goals?
CAAS 426. Urban Redevelopment and Social Justice.: (Cross-Area Courses); (3). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses).; An exploration of explicit and subtle connections between people, land, and power in cities. Stresses the effects of these linkages upon emerging (and ongoing) developmental efforts.
CAAS 427 / ANTHRCUL 427 / WOMENSTD 427. African Women.: (African Studies); One course in African Studies, anthropology, or women's studies. AAS 200 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African Studies).; The active roles African women play in their communities as these have changed from pre-colonial to contemporary times are discussed critically through the themes of autonomy and control of resources, esp. land, labor, income, education, and political authority.
CAAS 434 / SOC 434. Social Organization of Black Communities.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; Course analyses and interprets Black communities in the U.S. Specifically the origins and development, competing theories, unique characteristics and institutions, and contemporary problems of Black communities are to be examined.
CAAS 440 / FILMVID 440. African Cinema.: (African Studies); AAS 200 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African Studies). Laboratory fee ($35) required.; A critical and interdisciplinary look at the development of African cinema from its inception in the 1960s, at the height of the sociopolitical upheavals experienced by many nations in the transition from colonialism to independence, to the recent phase of introspection and diversification.
CAAS 442 / FILMVID 442. Third World Cinema.: (Afro-Caribbean Studies); AAS 202 recommended. (3). (Excl). (Afro-Caribbean Studies). Laboratory fee ($35) required.; The interrelationships and disruptions between dominant cinema practices and Third World and marginal cinema on the level of aesthetics, production, economic, social and cultural history. Cinema as ideological practice; the formulation of new approaches to film practice sympathetic to the cultural specifications of the producing nations.
CAAS 444 / ANTHRCUL 414. Introduction to Caribbean Societies and Cultures, I.: (Afro-Caribbean Studies); Junior standing. (3). (Excl). (Afro-Caribbean Studies).; A survey of the peoples and cultures of the Caribbean with emphasis on Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad, and Guyana. Analysis of class, race relations, cultural pluralism, ethnicity, population movements, and economic development.
CAAS 448 / HISTORY 448. Africa Since 1850.: (African Studies); AAS 200 recommended. (3). (Excl). (R&E). (African Studies).; This is the second part of a two-course introduction to central themes in Sub-Saharan African history. It deals with the abolition of the slave trade, European imperialism, underdevelopment, nationalism and de-colonialization.
CAAS 449 / POLSCI 459. African Politics.: (African Studies); AAS 200 recommended. (4; 3 in the half-term). (Excl). (African Studies).; A comparative survey of the African states and territories, with primary emphasis on the process of decolonization, the continued dependent status of African states, obstacles to change, and alternative strategies of development.
CAAS 450. Law, Race, and the Historical Process, I.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; This course studies the legal experience of Blacks in the U.S. from the period of colonial North America to the beginning of the modern Civil Rights era. It reviews such subjects as the law of slavery and the slave trade, the Constitution and the Black status in the antebellum period, Constitutional and legislative developments during Reconstruction and thereafter.
CAAS 451. Law, Race, and the Historical Process, II.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 and 450 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; This course is a continuation of Law, Race and the Historical Process I (CAAS 450). It covers the period of time from the beginnings of the modern Civil Rights movement to the present.
CAAS 452. Education of the Black Child.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; Deals with crucial questions in the education of Black children in the United States. Emphasis is laid on theoretical frameworks of growth and on the analysis of the social, cultural, political and economic forces which act to influence the learning experiences of Black children.
CAAS 453. Culture, Class, and Conflict in Southern Africa.: (African Studies); AAS 200 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African Studies).; A broad overview and detailed exploration of society, economy, and polity in Southern Africa. The major focus of the class is on conflict: its roots, its forms, and its impact. This cross-disciplinary course is concerned with both the historical background and the contemporary situation.
CAAS 454 / ANTHRCUL 453. African-American Culture.: (African-American Studies); One introductory course in the social sciences. AAS 201 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; This course examines the Afro-American as one example of how humans live. It places distinctive Black behavior within its social context and its history.
CAAS 455. Seminar on Project and Research Planning.: (Cross-Area Courses); Upperclass standing. (3). (Excl).; This seminar is concerned with the design and implementation of research projects on topics relating to the African diaspora. Highly recommended for Honors students in AAS.
CAAS 457 / ECON 476. Political Economy of Black America.: (African-American Studies); Econ. 101. AAS 201 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; Focuses on the economic life of African Americans in the U.S., including the role of economics in the social construction of race, and the relationship between the evolution of the U.S. economy and the changing status of African Americans.
CAAS 458. Issues in Black World Studies.: (Cross-Area Courses); (3). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses). May be repeated for a total of six credits.; A generally comparative study of the nature, evolution, and implications of the Black experience in Africa, North America, the Caribbean and Latin America. Specific focus is determined by instructor and indicated in current Time Schedule.
CAAS 459 / ANTHRCUL 451. African-American Religion.: (African-American Studies); One introductory course in the social sciences. AAS 201 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; This course examines the nature of religion in the lives of humans, within the framework of culture, and as a pervasive social institution. Focus on character of religion in the history and lives of Afro-Americans.
CAAS 461. Pan-Africanism, I.: (African Studies); (3). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses).; An in-depth examination of the writings of Pan-Africanists and a critical analysis of the revolutionary thrust toward independence and the unification of the African continent.
CAAS 464 / MUSICOL 464. Music of the Caribbean.: (Afro-Caribbean Studies); AAS 202 recommended. (3). (Excl). (Afro-Caribbean Studies).; This course introduces the Caribbean as an area comprising many distinct cultures. The major body of the course proceeds by areas zoned musically for our purposes, and by musical type. We search for social, legislative, and economic factors that operate in favor of musical appropriation and against the continuity of individual traditional styles. Reggae, calypso, soca, pan, ritual, and European music are analyzed through their political and social implications. Theories on the aesthetics of Black music, formulated by Roger Abrahams, Henry Louis Gates and Paule Marshall form the core of the analyses.
CAAS 465. Dynamics of Afro-American Music.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. Junior standing. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; Examines the dynamics of change in Afroamerican music, focusing on new directions in music aesthetics within their social and political contexts.
CAAS 466. The Music of Africa.: (African Studies); (3). (Excl).; This course consists of a survey of the major music cultures of North, South, East, West, and Central Africa. The student studies the characteristics of the various types of music that are selected for study as well as the functions of these musics in their respective societies.
CAAS 470 / FILMVID 470. Cultural Issues in Cinema.: (Cross-Area Courses); (3). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses). Laboratory fee ($35) required.; An exploration of developments in the cross-cultural use of media – from Hollywood feature films to ethnographic documentaries, from Caribbean liberationist literature to African allegories of Colonialism, from indigenous use of film and video to Black Diasporan "oppositional" film practice.
CAAS 476 / ENGLISH 478. Contemporary Afro-American Literature.: (African-American Studies); Permission of instructor. AAS 201 recommended. (3; 2 in the half-term). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; A study of literature written by Afro-Americans from World War II to the present. Wright, Yerby, Baldwin, Brooks, Hayden, Jones, Lee, and Cleaver are among the writers discussed.
CAAS 477 / NRE 477. Women and the Environment.: (Cross-Area Courses); Junior standing. (3). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses).; The course explores the relationship between women and the environment in industrialized and developing countries. It explores issues of race, social class, poverty, power, control and natural resource and abuse. Aid and international development is also analyzed in the context of women's access to resources.
CAAS 478 / LACS 400 / HISTORY 578. Ethnicity and Culture in Latin America.: (Afro-Caribbean Studies); AAS 202 recommended. (3). (Excl). (Afro-Caribbean Studies). May be repeated for a total of six credits.; This course explores various aspects of ethnicity and culture in Latin America and the Caribbean from historical and anthropological perspectives.
CAAS 486. Communication Media in the Black World: Print Media.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; This course studies the Black experience in mainstream mass media, Black media, and special interest media in the context of the Black struggle for equality.
CAAS 489 / ENGLISH 479. Topics in Afro-American Literature.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201, 274 and/or 338 strongly recommended. (3; 2 in the half-term). (Excl). (African-American Studies). May be repeated for a total of six credits.; Following a sequence of introductory and mid-level classes, students may elect this advanced-level seminar in Afro-American Literature. From year to year topics may include the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts movement or the Slave Narrative as well as thematic, or generic approaches.
CAAS 490. Special Topics in Black World Studies.: (Cross-Area Courses); Junior standing. (1-2). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses). May be repeated for a total of six credits.; A mini-course seminar on specialized topics in Afroamerican, African, and/or Caribbean studies.
CAAS 495. Senior Seminar.: (Cross-Area Courses); Upperclass standing or permission of instructor. (4). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses). (Capstone Course). May be repeated for a total of eight credits.; An intensive seminar on specialized topics in Afroamerican, African, and/or Caribbean Studies.
CAAS 510. Supervised Research.: (Cross-Area Courses); Graduate standing or permission of instructor. (1-6). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT). May be repeated for credit with permission of the concentration advisor.; Arrangements may be made for adequately prepared students to undertake individual study under the direction of a departmental staff member. Students are provided with the proper section number by the staff member with whom the work has been arranged.
CAAS 521 / SOC 521. African American Intellectual Thought.: (African-American Studies); Senior standing. AAS 201 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; This seminar explores the research and policy debates constructed by African American scholars on the "Negro Problem." The objective is to ascertain how these social analyses and intellectual arguments framed definitions of and solutions for the social condition of the African American community throughout the twentieth century.
CAAS 533 / AMCULT 533 / HISTORY 572. Black Civil Rights from 1900.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African-American Studies).; Afroamerican history as reflected in political, economic, cultural, religious, and civil rights protest movements from the 1890's to the 1960's, with a brief introductory review of the post-Reconstruction period beginning with 1877.
CAAS 558. Seminar in Black World Studies.: (Cross-Area Courses); Graduate standing or permission of instructor. (3). (Excl). (Cross-Area Courses). May be repeated for a total of six credits.; An "interrogation of knowledge systems" approach to selected problem areas in the study of the Black experience in North America, Caribbean and Latin America, and in Africa. Specific area and issue are determined by instructor and indicated in current Time Schedule.
CAAS 595 / HISTORY 595. Topics in African History.: (African Studies); AAS 200 recommended. (3). (Excl). (African Studies).; This course is meant to examine an aspect, to be designated in the section title, of topics in African history.

Graduate Course Listings for CAAS.

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