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Curriculum |
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All students will be required to take six core courses. Three of the core courses correspond to our tracks. We also require our students to take three introductory, interdisciplinary courses: one covering the diaspora, a second dealing with the concept of memory, and a third focused on conceptual methodologies. The first three core courses will be taught by core African American Studies faculty; the second three will be taught (either independently or in teams) by African-American Studies faculty and faculty from related fields. The six core required courses, then, are: 1. Conceptual Methodologies; 2. Diasporic Theory and Diaspora Tropes; 3. Memory Studies; 4. Black Historiography; 5. Black Expressive Arts; and 6. Black Social and Political Thought.
AF_AM_ST 315 Urban Education (1): Problems of urban education; special attention to prospects for reforming urban school systems.
AF_AM_ST 401 Conceptual Methodologies (1): Generic concepts that are recurrently deployed in African American studies, concepts developed specifically in the context of African American/African Diaspora studies, techniques of conceptual critique, analysis, and argumentation.
AF_AM_ST 410 Black Feminist and Black Queer Studies (1): Team taught course stages a series of dialogues between US black feminist theory and black queer theory through the discussion of such topics as the legacy of slavery; activism; work, family and self-esteem; body politics, i.e. sexuality, reproduction, HIV/AIDS, popular culture representation; appropriations and alliances.
AF_AM_ST 425 Race, Poverty, and Public Policy in America (1): Students will develop an in-depth understanding of the scope of poverty in America and consider competing theories on its causes. Students will read work that theorizes the role of racial stratification in the creation and perpetuation of economic marginalization, with special attention given to ethnographic work on the everyday lives of poor families.
AF_AM_ST 430 Black Women in 20th Century America (1): This course is designed to explore and analyze the “script” of black women’s lives in twentieth century America. It places the “scripted” lives in historical context in order to deepen our understanding of the myriad forces (political, economic, social, cultural and intellectual) and events (migration, war, civil rights and feminist movements) that shape the challenges and opportunities that impeded and facilitated their struggles for self-realization and freedom.
AF_AM_ST 432 Black Feminist Theories (1): Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach with readings drawn from history, sociology, drama, and popular culture, this course provides an in-depth survey of major constituent elements of (U.S.) Black Feminist Theory(ies).
AF_AM_ST 440 Slavery and Abolitionist Discourse (1): This course will investigate the rise of abolitionist discourse in the West; that is, the ways in which resistance to chattel slavery has been thought and written about. We will discuss the evolution of the terms of the debates surrounding slavery from the latter part of the 18th century to the late 19th Century, including some attention to the philosophical discourse of “natural rights” and its dissemination.
AF_AM_ST 441 History of Black Women in the Diaspora (1): The objective of this reading seminar is to uncover a more inclusive history by examining Black women, individually and collectively, locally and in Diaspora, in all their rich diversity, from the era of slavery through the modern era’s ongoing quest for human rights and dignity for all. To counter prevailing assumptions and constructions of the monolithic Black woman, the course interrogates and challenges definitions of Black women by probing categories of difference, including ethnicity, religion, class, sexuality, migrant/immigrant status.
AF_AM_ST 442 Africans in Colonail Latin America (1): Historiography of Africans and their descendents in Latin America, from early colonial times to abolition. Focuses on a series of historical problems affecting Africans, including the realities of slavery, free black life, gender and sexuality, culture, and questions of identity formation.
AF_AM_ST 443 Queer Looks…On Black Visual Culture (1): This course takes up issues in both Black Studies and Queer Studies that focus upon various understandings of “queer looks” (e.g. as a noun/verb phrase, adjective/verb).
AF_AM_ST 444 Civil Rights/Black Liberation (1): This course is intended to familiarize graduate students with scholarship on what many historians have termed ‘the long civil rights movement.’ Beginning with the labor activism of the 1930s and the global wars of the 1940s, we will treat United States civil rights struggles as part of the broader anti-colonial upheaval of the 20th century.
AF_AM_ST 445 Historicizing Race in Latin America (1): This graduate seminar offers a survey of the principle themes, sources, methods and arguments animating scholarship on race, sexuality, and modernity in Latin America.
AF_AM_ST 448 Africans in Colonial Latin America (1): Explores the history of African-descended people throughout Latin America during the period from 1492 to 1800, emphasizing the varied experiences of slavery and freedom, the emergence of race and colonial categories of difference, and the gendered lives of racialized colonial subjects.
AF_AM_ST 475 Genealogy of Racism as a Concept: Deconstruction and Governmentality (1): The aim of this course is to interrogate the histories and logics of racism as a concept since its formulation and formation during the early 20th century. In considering the significance of racism as a concept, it critiques the discursive traditions in which racism has been traditionally narrated as a historically self-evident object of moral condemnation or political critique.
Related Courses
ANTHRO 490 Topics in Anthropology (1): Presentations by department faculty on contemporary topics of importance to the development of anthropology. May be repeated for credit with change of topic.
ART_HIST 486 Studies in African Art (1): Content varies. Recent offerings include the African mask, art and gender in Africa, rock art, art of the Yoruba, the institutional contexts of African art, and African-American art and Africa.
COMP_LIT 481 Studies in Literary Theory (1): Central issues of criticism, exemplified by the writings of major theorists.
ECON 425-1,2 Theory of Economic Development (1)(1): Theories of economic development and growth. Includes both the macroeconomic aspects of long-term patterns of economic growth and the micro-economic structure,performance,and problems of developing economies.
ENGLISH 465 Studies in Colonial and Postcolonial Literature (1): Content varies. Colonial and postcolonial literatures of Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and other formerly colonized cultures, with attention to theoretical accounts of colonial and postcolonial culture.
ENGLISH 471 Studies in American Literature (1): Content varies. Samples: Henry James; historical backgrounds of colonial literature; Whitman.
ENGLISH 481 Studies in Literary Theory and Criticism (1): Topics in literary theory and theories related to the study of Anglophone literature and culture, focusing on issues of methodology and interpretation. Content varies.
HDSP 451 Topics in Human Development and Social Policy (1): Topics may vary. May be repeated for credit with change of topic.
HISTORY 405 Seminar in Historical Analysis (1): Topics vary.
HISTORY 450-1,2 General Field Seminar in African History (1)(1): N/A
HISTORY 492 Topics in History (1): N/A
PHIL 466 African Philosophy Seminar (1): Analysis of philosophical discourse on Africa. Ethno-philosophical approaches to African thought, critics of ethnophilosophy. Oral and written intellectual traditions in Africa.
PHIL 467 Seminar in Critical Race Theory (1): Advanced philosophical work relating to theories of race, racism, and racial identity.
POLI_SCI 490 Special Topics in Political Science (1): Investigation of topics of current interest to students and faculty not covered by other offerings.
PSYCH 486 Stereotyping and Prejudice (1): Analysis of the psychological causes and consequences of stereotyping and prejudices with a focus on recent developments in the field of social psychology.
SOCIOL 440 Stratification, Race, and Gender (1): Issues in current research and theory in stratification, race, and gender. Content varies. May be repeated for credit with change of topic. For graduate students.
THEATRE 545 Seminar: Studies in Drama (1): Content varies. May be repeated for credit with change of topic.
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