21:014:111,112 Introduction to Africana Studies (3,3) Examination of the historical experiences of Africa and the African diaspora. Based in the social sciences and using multimedia; comparative study of other world cultures is included. A two-semester course required of all Africana Studies majors and minors. Designed primarily for first-year students and sophomores.

21:014:113 Introduction to Caribbean Studies (3) The Caribbean--crossroads of the world--is more than a tropical region filled with palm trees, exotic people, and resorts. In this discussion-based interactive course we will explore the history of the Caribbean, its geography, literary and cultural productions (music/film//food/religion), and its intellectual traditions. Together, we will reflect on major issues including: colonialism; economic intradependence and interdependence; culture and language; regional, national, and ethnic identity; and independence and sovereignty. We will also connect the events of the past to current events to help explain the political, social, and economic status of the countries of the Caribbean and their relationship to and with the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Emphasis will be given to understanding contributions of Caribbean studies to the exploration of contemporary issues in our interconnected world.

21:014:180 History of African-American Education (3)

The controversy around how best to educate people of African descent in North America has both challenged and benefited this community from their time of enslavement to the present. Consequently, it is fitting that we study the rich and troubled history of Africans in America and their experiences within the American educational system. The pursuit of education by African Americans has been fraught with struggle and inequality, in the midst of their achievement and scholarly impact. Yet, it is widely agreed and understood that the education of African Americans is critical to empowerment and liberation for their community and future generations. Despite 400 years of bondage and political, social, economic and educational repression, African Americans have exercised agency, self-determination, academic excellence and ingenuity while holding significant roles in creating effective and equitable approaches for educating their community. In addition, the best practices that have emerged from African American education have served as a beacon for the educational excellence across this country.

21:014:200 Core Topics in Africana Studies (3) Selected topics are offered each semester and chosen to represent a wide range of disciplines.

21:014:220 Black Political Thought (3) Focuses on the writings of recent political thinkers such as Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Fanon, Castro, Nkrumah, and Sekou Toure, in an attempt to draw forth ideas of universal political relevance; examines ways in which ideas from each of the black areas represented differ according to their own political situations.

21:014:250 History of Hip-Hop (3) Hip-Hop is one of the few cultures that can simultaneously promote wasteful consumerism, misogyny, homophobia, and violence, while also developing multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, multi-faith, and multi-class alliances. This course will chart the birth and maturity of Hip-Hop culture, considering its impact on contemporary national dialogues about race, gender, sexuality, class, politics, and religion. The course content will trace the historical origins of Hip-Hop from the mid-1960s into the present, drawing on a host of written, audio, and visual sources.

21:014:255 Race and Gender in American Film (3) Analyzes the ways in which ethnic identity is represented in American film over the past 10 years and to what particular effect. Although this course will focus particularly on the traditional interlocked representations of African Americans and European Americans in classic American films, it will also analyze the representation of other ethnic groups.

21:014:256 Caribbean Literature (3) This course introduces students to some of the primary canonical writers and texts of Caribbean literature from the mid-twentieth century to the present. Reading widely from the literature of the Spanish, French, and English-speaking Caribbean, we shall investigate the common themes, as well as the dissimilarities, that emerge in the writings from these ethnically and linguistically diverse societies. Students will become familiar with influential Caribbean arts movements and be able to define key words and terms associated with literature of the Caribbean.

21:014:258 Philosophy and the Black Experience (3) Philosophical analysis of issues arising from the African diaspora, e.g., freedom and slavery, racial integration, racial separatism, racism, and the philosophies and values of cultures of the African diaspora.

21:014:301 African Cultural Retentions in the Americas (3) Reviews the cultural and adaptation process made by blacks in the Americas from the era of the Atlantic slave trade to the present, using an interdisciplinary base of history, anthropology, literature, and music; introductory focus on traditional African culture; identification and importance of Africanisms, which have helped to shape both the historic and contemporary identities of blacks in the United States, Brazil, Haiti, Surinam, and the West Indies.

21:014:302 Special Topics in Black Studies (3) Selected topics are offered each semester and chosen to represent a wide range of disciplines. African-American and African subject areas include economic development, women's roles, film history, literary genres, social institutions, and urbanization.

21:014:303 Topics in Black Studies (3) Selected topics are offered each semester and chosen to represent a wide range of disciplines. African-American and African subject areas include economic development, women's roles, film history, literary genres, social institutions, and urbanization.

21:014:304 African Literature (3) An introduction to the basic themes and genres of modern African literature, encompassing a variety of literary and expressive media: poetry, art, films, novels, music. Topics include immigration, gender, nationalism, as well as the blending of traditional and modern cultures within African societies.

21:014:305 Black Women in the United States (3) Roles of black women in family life, the workplace, politics, literary and artistic achievement, education, and the struggle for women's rights; incorporates both fictional and nonfictional works to chronologically illuminate the major themes in black women's history and contemporary issues.

21:014:306 Comparative Race Relations: South Africa and the United States (3) Chronological and interdisciplinary study of the major themes in the history of race relations in South Africa and the United States; systematic comparisons of slavery, frontier expansion, and the roots of enduring racism, with assessments of their long-term effects on social relations in both countries. Examines, comparatively, black rights struggles against apartheid, Jim Crow segregation, and impediments to full democracy.

21:014:312 Caribbean Politics (3) The Caribbean, a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-racial region is both politically diverse and politically fragmented because of its colonial and post-colonial histories. Not only does the Caribbean have states that are autonomous, independent, intentionally dependent and nominally socialist, but the region is one of the most democratic in the world. Together, we examine the colonial history of the Caribbean, through a critical comparative politics lens, to help explain the political circumstances of select states. We review different forms of political government, assess the utility of Caribbean regional organizations and analyze the impact of Chinese, Taiwanese and the Russian presence in the region. We also evaluate the continued relationships with Europe and the U.S. Lastly, we assess the current and future political opportunities and challenges to Caribbean states.

21:014:358 Comparative Literature of Africa and the Caribbean (3) This course compares the literature of Africa and the Caribbean. It assumes that, in the African and Caribbean context, "literature" must by necessity, encompass both the written and the oral narrative. Through a variety of literary and expressive media--written and spoken-word poetry, films, novels, music--it explores the common themes, histories and cultural influences that link these two areas of the world. Central themes include colonization and decolonization, as well as the conflict between, and the blending of, the traditional and modern cultures of African and Caribbean societies. Not open to first-year students.

21:014:360 African Diaspora Sexualites (3) Examines the role and representation of sexuality, particularly LGBT sexuality, in the African diaspora. It provides an historical dimension to representations of African diaspora sexualities, and problematizes the view that contemporary African diaspora sexual identities are shaped in and by the West. Course materials include fiction, film, legal rulings, and critical analysis.

21:014:364 Education and Social Change in the Black Diaspora (3) Education and social change in the African-American community; issues as they affect the content, function, and impact of education: pedagogy, pedagogical styles, busing, accountability, community control, and alternative school systems.

21:014:370 Women's Literature of the African Diaspora (3) Focuses on intersecting issues of gender and race in the novels of black women from across the African global community--known as the "diaspora." Some of the founding questions shall be: Is there such a thing as "diaspora literature," particularly in the case of black writers of various nationalities and cultures? Moreover, is there an identifiable tradition of black women's literature, distinctly different from black men's literature? What are the ramifications--literary, political, or otherwise--of conclusions either way? Readings will necessarily encompass an analysis of contemporary issues in feminist and black nationalist discourses.

21:014:371 Internship (3) Prepares students for careers in the United States and abroad that require a comprehensive understanding of people of African descent gained through work experience in an organization or company.

21:014:388 Survey of Black Political Economy (3) Exploration of political initiatives that impact on the economic status of the black community; responses developed by the community to economic problems. Analyses of approaches to black economic development: black capitalism, ghetto industries, and community-owned businesses. Not open to first-year students.

21:014:389 Psychology and Values of the African American (3) Background information of various theories, concepts, and psychological definitions; emphasis on the black experience viewed in a historical context, with consideration given to the formation of self-concepts and sources of strength in the survival of the black psyche.

21:014:390 Islam in the African-American Experience (3) Analyzes the way in which Islam and black identity have been interpreted, internalized, and lived by American-born Muslims of African descent. Looks at the origins of the African Muslim presence in the West, but focuses on the 19th- and 20th-century Muslim-American experience.

21:014:396 The African-American Community (3) Patterns of development that characterize African-American communities in large urban areas of the United States; structure and organization of these communities in terms of their responses to the larger culture; distinctive problems affecting black communities and initiatives adopted to overcome them.

21:014:404 Race and Ethnicity in Latin America and the Caribbean (3) This course introduces students to the ways race and ethnicity have shaped societies across the Americas from colonial times to the present. Students will examine the complex and historically changing meanings of the concepts of race and ethnicity in Latin America and the Caribbean. While the primary focus of the course is on those of African descent in Latin America and the Hispanophone Caribbean, we also explore issues related to race and racism among indigenous populations, as well as Latinxs in the United States. Each week we will explore the experiences and struggles of these populations through the following disciplinary and topical lenses: history, sociology, and anthropology; the politics of identity; politics and social movements; space and place; family; media representation; gender; sexuality; religion; literature and poetry; visual arts; and music. We address the forms of racialized oppression that have shaped and continue to shape the regions. Students will develop a deeper understanding of the struggles of marginalized groups against social, economic, and political exclusion, and the forms of protest and social movements that have emerged from organizing around shared values and common interests in order to enhance power and quality of life.

21:014:405 Race, Ethnicity, Space, Place, Exclusion, Confinement, and Transformation (RESPECT) (3) How have racial and ethnic inequalities in housing and neighborhood development become hallmarks of many U.S. cities? This course focuses on the complex and often misunderstood topics of race and racism from a spatial perspective, paying particular attention to the effects of interlocking systems of oppression on the economic restructuring and spatial transformation of urban African-American communities. However, we will not just examine the built environment of such communities. People shape and are shaped by the places they physically occupy. We, therefore, also delve into the narratives and everyday experiences of racialized city dwellers through various fields and forms: the social sciences (e.g., sociology, economics, political science, geography), the humanities (e.g., literature, history, anthropology) and media (e.g., music, photography, television, film, podcasts). We will think critically about the uneven development of US cities through three different lenses: Exclusion, Confinement and Transformation. They represent three crucial and intersecting moments in the physical development of US cities, and the social, economic and political lives of their inhabitants. We will cover topics such as: residential segregation, the development of the ghetto and ethnic enclaves, environmental racism, crime, justice, policing, urban protest, social movements and gentrification.

21:014:406 Racism and American Government (3) This course investigates how the United States government has created and maintained a nation organized along racial lines. It begins by analyzing how racism was a crucial element in American political development. Next, it focuses on how the federal government created racial categories and consequently rewarded and punished individuals based upon these racial classifications. Finally, it considers how racial justice can be achieved within this context.

21:014:411 Research and Methods (3) Interdisciplinary research is a central foundation in African American and African (or Africana) Studies. Understanding the most pertinent issues of Black identity around the world requires a multilayered approach. How, for example, could we understand African American civil rights activism without economics, psychology, race, history, philosophy, religion, gender, and national laws? This course is an introduction to the foundational research and writing practices that shape Africana Studies and each of its interconnected disciplines. Together we will interrogate and challenge traditionally accepted social, political, and cultural knowledge in several academic disciplines by expanding their boundaries. As a community of scholars, we will employ the methods of several pioneering researchers to craft our own projects. Drawing on archival material, interdisciplinary methods, and Africana theory, you will formulate your own critical questions and answers as you think about specific issues of ethnicity, race, class, gender, spirituality, nationality, social and political justice, education, public health, or public representation.

21:014:412 Senior Seminar (3) Interdisciplinary study highlights both the methodological and theoretical approaches supporting research in the field. Prerequisite: Senior status or permission of instructor. One-semester culminating experience for African American and African studies majors.

21:014:495,496 Individual Study in Black Studies (3,3) Independent reading or research under the direction of a faculty member.