Is the African Diaspora a concept or an actual geographical location? Is it singular or are there multiple African diasporas? What does diaspora have to do with the multi-lingual, multicultural continent of over fifty countries that make up Africa? What impact has Africa and its diaspora(s) had on the so-called “white” West and its development as a site of tremendous wealth and privilege? AAS 202 engages these questions by exploring the long historical, economic, and political relationships between "the West" (e.g., United States, Britain, France, and Germany) and selected countries in Africa and the diaspora (e.g., Jamaica, Haiti, Brazil, Mali, Liberia, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Africa). Topics include: pre-colonial African empires; the Middle Passage; child soldiers; public health; conflict minerals; slavery and resistance; migration; empire, colonialism, and post-colonialism; twentieth-century freedom movements; religion; and popular forms of cultural expression.