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Introductory Courses
100. Introduction to
Afro-American Studies. (4). (SS).
This course introduces and provides a general overview of the
area of Afroamerican Studies. It employs a multi-disciplinary
perspective which combines elements from conventional historical, political, sociocultural, and behavioral orientations in the analysis
of Afroamerican culture and institutions. The course format is
a lecture-discussion with three weekly lectures. Students meet
with GSIs once weekly to discuss course readings and lectures.
The course will be supplemented by guest lecturers, selected CAAS
colloquia, films, and special projects. WL:4
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Historical Perspectives
230/Hist. 274. Survey
of Afro-American History I. (3). (SS).
This lecture/discussion course surveys major themes, events, and personages in the history of Africans and people of African descent
in the Americas, and in particular North America, though the end
of the American Civil War. The survey begins on the African continent, follows captive Africans across the Atlantic, and then traces the contours of the struggle against slavery. Themes to be covered
include: slavery and slave resistance; African-American culture;
free Blacks, North and South; Black participation in the abolitionist
movement; and the role of African Americans in the Civil War.
Students will read a variety of texts, including examples of Black
testimony as well as the work of contemporary cultural and social
historians. Assignments include in-class examinations and a comprehensive
final, short essays, and class presentations. Cost:2
WL:1 (Scott)
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336/WS 336. Black Women
in America. (3). (SS).
As an exploration of African-American women in the twentieth century, this course seeks to consider varieties of experience – including
class, sexuality, and region – as it provides an historical framework
for analyzing overarching issues facing contemporary Black women
in the United States. We will also discuss Black women's relationships
to both interracial and broader communities. In particular, we
will assess how the nexus of race, gender, and class have influenced
Black women's work, activism, political involvement, and creative
output. Whereas this course is structured as a history course, it takes an interdisciplinary approach to Black women's lives:
readings will draw from literature, sociology, women's studies, psychology, film studies, and legal theory. The method of instruction
combines lecture and discussion. Successful completion of this
course is contingent upon regular attendance, active participation, and appropriate preparation for each class meeting. Additional
requirements included completion of short written assignments
and a research paper. Cost:2
WL:1 (Mitchell)
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446/Hist. 446. Africa
to 1850. (3). (SS).
See History 446.
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Politics, Economics, and Development
408. African Economies:
Social and Political Settings. (4). (Excl).
A study of the factors which contribute to current economic conditions
in Africa: the problems and the potential for change; traditionalism
and modernism in African economics; colonial economics; and colonial
economic policies. Uses case studies of representative countries.
Cost:2 WL:1
(Twumasi)
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426. Urban Redevelopment
and Social Justice. (3). (SS).
Section 001 – Urban Redevelopment and Social Justice – Can We
Have Both? A Seminar for Future Professionals. Taught from the perspective of a registered architect, this course is organized
around topical issues of design, professionalism, and equity in
urban resources development. Intended primarily for students with
non-architectural backgrounds, the course seeks to provide a spirited
exploration of the explicit (and subtle) connections between people, land, and power in our cities and the specific effects of these
linkages upon contemporary urban rebuilding. In the main, our
explorations are aimed at providing a broadened philosophical
understanding of the "Who?" and "Why?" of
contemporary urban redevelopment policies – particularly as such
policies impact on the emerging "central city." A seminar
format will be followed, combining formal and informal lectures, slide presentations, selected case studies, selected readings, and a series of student-generated workshops. Continued active
class participation and the preparation of a thirty-minute audio
cassette tape for presentation near the end of the term are basic
course requirements. Ongoing class dialogue will be augmented
periodically with urban field trips and invited guests. WL:4
(Chaffers)
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449/Poli. Sci. 459. African
Politics. Prior or concurrent study of the Third
World; Poli. Sci. 465 is recommended but not required. (3). (Excl).
See Political Science 459.
(Widner)
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450. Law, Race, and the
Historical Process, I. (3). (Excl).
Law defines the status and prospects of Blacks, occupies a key
role in Black ideological debates and organizational activity, and reflects the dominant crises in United States and world history.
This course covers the period from the initial interaction between
Blacks and the processes of law in colonial North America to the
beginnings of the modern Civil Rights era. It reviews the law
of slavery and the slave trade, the Constitution and the status
of Blacks in the ante-bellum period, Constitutional and legislative developments during Reconstruction, and the legal
circumstance of Blacks in the era of Jim Crow segregation. Cost:4 WL:1
(Woods)
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Literature and the Arts
108/Hist. of Art 108.
Introduction to African Art. (4). (HU).
See History of Art 108.
(Quarcoopome)
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214/Hist. of Art 214.
Introduction to African-American Art. (3). (Excl).
See History of Art 214.
(Patton)
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274/English 274. Introduction
to Afro-American Literature. (3). (HU).
See English 274. (Gunning)
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342/Theatre 233. Acting
and the Black Experience. Permission of instructor
(brief interview). (3). (HU).
See Theatre and Drama 233.
(Jones)
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360. Afro-American Art.
(3). (HU).
This course: (1) introduces students to West African cultures
and their relationships to Afro-American culture; (2) develops
on a broad level an Afrocentric aesthetic point of view; (3) encourages
greater insight and exploration into the arts of African and Afro-American
people and the spirits and realities that motivate the "arts,"
and (4) creates a living vehicle for understanding and resolving
problematic cultural patterns which disturb, confuse, and cancerize
our historic and contemporary lives. Cost:2
WL:1 (Lockard)
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384/Engl. 384/Amer. Cult.
406. Topics in Caribbean Literature. (3). (Excl).
May be repeated for a total of six credits.
See English 384. (Gikandi)
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465. Dynamics of Afro-American
Music. Junior standing. (3). (Excl).
Section 001 – Beyond Bebop: Black Music of the 1960s. The
1960s introduced new directions in jazz, establishing musical
styles that metaphorically reflected the world turmoil from which they emerged. This lecture/discussion course surveys the jazz
music from the late 1950s to the present, carefully examining
it within its surrounding social and political contexts. Throughout the term, we will trace the contemporary legacies of several jazz
instruments. We will explore how the bebop lines of Miles Davis
became the inspiration for trumpeters Lester Bowie and Don Cherry, and how John Coltrane paved the way for such saxophonists as Dewey
Redman and Joseph Jarman. We also will discuss the problems of
listening to avant-garde jazz, using this course to train our
ears so to better understand the musicians' intents and conscious
expansions of musical form and style. Students are encouraged
in their written projects to trace the legacy of a chosen instrument, presenting portions to the class at the end of term. Cost:1
WL:1 (de Jong)
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Times, Location, and Availability
Individual Behavior, Cultural Systems, and Social Organization
303/Soc. 303. Race and Ethnic Relations. An introductory course in sociology
or CAAS. (4). (SS). (R&E).
See Sociology 303. (Bonilla-Silva)
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403. Education and Development
in Africa. (3). (Excl).
This course is designed for: (1) those who plan a career in international
education as teachers or as other specialists; (2) practicing
and prospective teachers who desire to broaden their understanding
of the process and dynamics of educational development in other
cultures, e.g., Africa; and (3) nonspecialists who wish
to understand the problems and ramifications of educational development
upon the development of national resources. For convenience of
treatment, the course will be organized under three broad divisions
of time, i.e., indigenous (traditional), colonial, and national education. Cost:2
WL:1 (Wagaw)
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Times, Location, and Availability
444/Anthro. 414. Introduction
to Caribbean Societies and Cultures, I. Junior standing.
(3). (Excl).
See Anthropology 414. (Owusu)
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452. Education of the
Black Child. (3). (Excl).
This course deals with overlooked but crucial questions related
to the education of Black children in the United States. The area
of primary concern will be public schooling, and the emphasis
will be laid on analyzing the social, cultural, political, and economic forces which act to influence the learning experiences
of Black children. This course will thus consider, on the one
hand, the theoretical framing of ideas about the growth, development, and learning of children in different life settings and styles, and, on the other, the existing structural, socio-political attempts
to find ways and means of relating the philosophy and objectives
of public education to the needs of Black children. In the process, this course examines the defects of present-day educational theories
which are based on empirical data drawn from studies of less than
1% of the population. The course will test for the applicability
and generalizability of such data to other population groups, examine their implications for different cultural systems, and assess what is thus contributed to cognitive variation and performance
and competence in the learning process. Cost:2
WL:4 (Wagaw)
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459/Anthro. 451. African-American
Religion. One introductory course in the social sciences.
(3). (Excl).
See Anthropology 451. (Williams)
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478/LACS 400/Hist. 578.
Ethnicity and Culture in Latin America. (3). (Excl).
May be repeated for a total of six credits.
See History 578. (Caulfield)
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Independent Study and Special Topics
103. First Year Social
Science Seminar. (3). (SS).
Section 001 – Barrel of a Pen: African Politics in Literature.
Africans have lived in an intensely political era since the end
of World War II. They have struggled for independence, charted
plans for decolonization, promoted and suffered the rise of authoritarian
regimes, and debated and experimented with a wide variety of political
frameworks for economic and social development. This course looks
at the central role played by African writers in shaping the politics
of this era. Readings will be selected from the works of writers, men and women, from throughout the continent, including Chinua
Achebe, Ama Ata Aidoo, Ayi Kwei Armah, Mariama Ba, Camara Laye, Ngugi wa Thiongo, and others. Cost:2
WL:1 (Twumasi)
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Times, Location, and Availability
358. Topics in Black
World Studies. (3). (Excl). May be repeated for a
total of six credits.
Section 001 – Economic History of African Americans. This
course will cover the economic history of Africans in America
from the 15th century to the present, with emphasis placed on the historical roots of contemporary African-American life. Students
will leave the class with well-informed opinions on the following
topics: the contributions of African Americans to American economic
development; the economic foundations and legacies of racial slavery
in the United States; the economic significance and meaning of
freedom and citizenship; the economic thought of African Americans; the economic structure of Jim Crow and the responses of African
Americans to it; the economic causes and consequences of the Black
migration to the north; the economics of the Civil Rights Movement; the changing class structure of the Black community; the economics
of Black family structure; markets vs. the state in Black economic
development; an accounting of contemporary Black economic resources;
African Americans in the global economy; and economic strategies
for the future. Cost:2
WL:4 (Whatley)
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410. Supervised Reading
and Research. Permission of instructor. (1-6). (Excl).
(INDEPENDENT). May be repeated for credit with permission of the
concentration advisor.
For students who can show appropriate preparation in courses previously
taken, the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies offers
course credit for independent study. A full-time faculty member
must agree to supervise the undertaking and to meet with the student
during the term. The proposed course of study may not duplicate the material of any course regularly offered by the Center. The
reading and writing requirement should be comparable to that required
in a regular course for the same number of credits; and all the
work must be completed by the final day of class in the term.
After consultation with and approval from a CAAS faculty member, applications for independent study along with statements describing the schedule of readings and of writing assignments must be filled
out. Such applications must be signed by the faculty member involved
and turned in before the end of the second week of the term. It
is therefore advisable to submit applications (available in 200
West Hall) in advance of the beginning of the independent study
term and, upon approval, an electronic override will be issued.
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Times, Location, and Availability
510. Supervised Research.
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.
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