01-02 LS&A Bulletin

Courses in CAAS (Division 311)

CAAS 403. Education and Development in Africa.: (African Studies); AAS 200 recommended. (3). (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).; 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).; 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. (3; 2 in the half-term). (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). (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).; 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).; 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). (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). (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). (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). (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). (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). (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). (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). (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). (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). (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. (3). (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). (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). (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). (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). (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). (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).; 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). (African-American Studies). Rackham credit requires additional work.; 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). (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). (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). (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 465. Dynamics of Afro-American Music.: (African-American Studies); AAS 201 recommended. Junior standing. Music. CAAS 400/401, and permission of instructor. (3). (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).; 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). (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). (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). (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). (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). (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 490. Special Topics in Black World Studies.: (Cross-Area Courses); Junior standing. (1-2). (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 502 / SOC 502. The Sociological Analysis of Contemporary Racism.: (Cross-Area Courses); Introduction to sociology and AAS 303; Graduate Standing. (3; 2 in the half-term).
CAAS 510. Supervised Research.: (Cross-Area Courses); Graduate standing or permission of instructor. (1-6). (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 519 / POLSCI 619. African Americans and the Politics of Race.: (African-American Studies); Graduate standing and permission of instructor. (3).; This seminar in African American Politics is designed to explore in each weekly session a particular conceptual issue that is inherent in the political process. In these sessions we will probe the issue in both its historical antecedents and its contemporary manifestations. And we will look at the intellectual debates and scholarly treatments surrounding these issues particularly where such insights exist.
CAAS 521 / SOC 521. African American Intellectual Thought.: (African-American Studies); Senior standing. AAS 201 recommended. (3). (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; 2 in the half-term). (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 557 / MUSICOL 557. The Music of Black Americans.: (African-American Studies); Graduate standing. (3; 2 in the half-term).; 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 558. Seminar in Black World Studies.: (Cross-Area Courses); Graduate standing or permission of instructor. (3). (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 564 / MUSICOL 564. Music of the Caribbean.: (Afro-Caribbean Studies); Graduate standing. (3).; 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 575 / HISTART 610. Methodology of African Art.: (African Studies); Graduate standing and permission of instructor. (3; 2 in the half-term).
CAAS 594 / NRE 594. Research for Environmental Justice.: (Cross-Area Courses); Introductory Statistics and Regression. Graduate standing. (3).; Using a merged data base from the Department of Natural Resources on toxic waste, students determine if toxic waste sites and polluting industries are disproportionately found in low-income and minority communities. This seminar will focus on graduate students with quantitative skills – skills to allow them to do sophisticated data analysis.
CAAS 595 / HISTORY 595. Topics in African History.: (African Studies); AAS 200 recommended. (3). (African Studies).; This course is meant to examine an aspect, to be designated in the section title, of topics in African history.
CAAS 596 / NRE 596. History of Environmental Thought and Activism.: (Cross-Area Courses); Senior or Graduate Standing. It is highly desirable for students to have taken differential and integral calculus. (3).; Introduction to techniques of risk benefit analysis as applied to water resource and environmental engineering. Techniques of multi-objective water resource planning, the engineering-political interfaces, and political bargaining and decision making are also discussed.
CAAS 611 / HISTART 611. Topics in African American Art.: (African-American Studies); Hist. of Art 478 and graduate Standing. (3; 2 in the half-term).
CAAS 612 / HISTART 612. Special Topics in African Art.: (African Studies); Graduate standing and permission of instructor. (3; 2 in the half-term
CAAS 615 / ANTHRCUL 612. Seminar on Problems in African Ethnology.: (African Studies); Graduate standing and permission of instructor. (3; 2 in the half-term
CAAS 616 / ANTHRCUL 611. Seminar on Contemporary African Societies.: (African Studies); Graduate standing. (3; 2 in the half-term
CAAS 629 / HISTORY 629. Studies in African History.: (African Studies); (3; 2 in the half-term). May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.; This readings course introduces graduate students to the major literature in the field.
CAAS 630 / HISTORY 666 / WOMENSTD 666. Race, Class, and Gender in Latin America.: (Afro-Caribbean Studies); Graduate standing. (3; 2 in the half-term; Provides an overview of major themes in Latin American history (colonial to the present), organized around the reading of recent works that examine aspects of race, class, and gender. We draw on the writings of anthropologists, sociologists, literary critics and historians, examining the relational character of the concept of ethnicity, connections between race and class, and social construction of gender in different settings.
CAAS 642 / ANTHRCUL 614. Caribbean Societies and Cultures II.: (Afro-Caribbean Studies); Graduate standing and permission of instructor. (2
CAAS 651 / POLSCI 659. Proseminar in Governments and Politics of Africa.: (African Studies); Graduate standing. (3).; This seminar explores important debates in the study of African politics, introducing the "canon" or conventional wisdom as well as new perspectives. Practical research problems as well as substantive issues.
CAAS 665 / NRE 665. Research Methods: Traditional and New Grassroots Environmentalism.: (Cross-Area Courses); Graduate standing. (3).; This course explores the differences and similarities between traditional environmental politics and the politics of the new grassroots sector. Students examine some qualitative social science methods that can be used to enhance our understanding of activism in various types of environmenmtal groups.
CAAS 679 / POLSCI 679. International Relations of Africa.: (African Studies); Graduate standing. (3).; A survey of the relations of African states with each other and with the Middle East, Western Europe, the Socialist States, North America, the Indian sub-continent, the Caribbean and other developing areas. The course will also examine the participation of African states in international economic and political organizations. Problems of dependency and decolonization will also be covered.
CAAS 687 / HISTORY 687. Studies in Black History.: (Cross-Area Courses); Graduate standing; seniors with permission of instructor. (3; 2 in the half-term).
CAAS 695 / HISTORY 695. Studies in the Comparison of Historical Cultures.: (Cross-Area Courses); Graduate standing. (3; 2 in the half-term
CAAS 699 / HISTORY 699. Afro-American History: Interpretations and Methodology.: (African-American Studies); AAS 230 and 231; permission of instructor. (3; 2 in the half-term).
CAAS 781 / HISTORY 781. Seminar in Black American History.: (African-American Studies); Graduate standing. (3; 2 in the half-term
CAAS 786 / HISTORY 786. Seminar in African History.: (African Studies); Graduate standing. (3; 2 in the half-term
CAAS 798 / HISTORY 798. Seminar in Comparative Studies in History.: (Cross-Area Courses); Graduate standing. (3; 2 in the half-term
CAAS 828 / DOC 828. Human, Economic, and Community Development.: (Cross-Area Courses); Doctoral standing and Graduate standing. (3).
CAAS 846 / POLSCI 846 / DOC 846. Poverty, the Underclass, and Public Policy.: (Cross-Area Courses); Doctoral standing. (3).; This seminar examines the nature and extent of poverty in the U.S., its causes and consequences, and the antipoverty effects of existing and proposed government programs and policies. Topics include relationships among labor market changes, family structure changes, and social welfare policies. One goal of this course will be to encourage doctoral students to undertake research in this area.

University of Michigan | College of LS&A | Student Academic Affairs | LS&A Bulletin Index | Department Homepage

Queried: 9:58 AM EST on Fri, Apr 13, 2001

This page maintained by LS&A Academic Information and Publications, 1228 Angell Hall

Trademarks of the University of Michigan may not be electronically or otherwise altered or separated from this document or used for any non-University purpose.