African-American Studies Course Descriptions

Introduces the major disciplines and topics that comprise African American studies; provides orientation to faculty, institutional, and community resources; and serves as a foundation for subsequent course work and a research project in the field.

Ideologies and selected aspects of the black community. Focus on twentieth-century urban black experience and institutions of America. Provides basic information and a framework for further study of the black diaspora and interrelations in black/white America.

(Same as Music 115.) Critical and analytic study of jazz idioms from the turn of the century to the present, including the blues, ragtime, Dixieland, swing, bop, and modern jazz. Emphasis on such figures as Armstrong, Ellington, Parker, Monk, and Coleman.

(Same as Sociology 247.) Relations between and within groups; conflict and cooperation in light of a number of models of social interaction. Application of principles to racial, religious, and ethnic minorities.

Major factors affecting health care and service delivery within the African American community.

An overview of African-American literature prior to 1900. Students will read and examine writings by major contributors to each period in the genres of fiction (short story and novel) essay, poetry, and narratives of enslavement. Students will write four five-page critical essays.

An overview of African-American literature since 1900. Students will read and examine writings by major contributors to each period in the genres of fiction (short story and novel) essay, poetry, and narratives of enslavement. Students will write four five-page critical essays.

Designed to introduce the student to the music associated with the so-called Harlem Renaissance. The course will examine African American and American works, composers, and performers referred to in the famous essays and controversies of this important period.

(Same as Religion 320WR.) Development of religion among African Americans; trends and tendencies.

(Same as Religion 326.) Spiritual transformations involving worship, magic and healing, ritual, and aesthetic performance in black speech, literature, music, and drama; and spiritual uses of biblical themes to empower social-political movements.

An introduction to the history and contemporary issues of South Africa designed to prepare students for their summer internship in Cape Town.

(Same as History 338.) Examines the experiences of African Americans from the emergence of the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the end of the Civil War. Emphasizes social and cultural history and interpretation of race, class, and gender.

(Same as History 339.) Examines African American history from 1865 to the present. Emphasizes regional, gender, and class distinction within African American communities, and the ways in which industrial transformations shaped African American life, thought, and resistance.

(Same as Political Science 346.) Comprehensive examination of African American politics and its critical influence upon the American political system: civil rights and black power movements; voting rights act, and redistricting; African American political participation, attitudes, and governance.

Survey of the development of African American art.

Wide range of topics pertinent to the African American experience. Among topics that have been offered in the past are: Black Political and Social Movements, Afro-Centric Cultures and Human Services, Black Images in American Film, Black Families, Education and the Black Community, and Social Psychological Perspectives on Black Men and Women in the United States.

Aspects of African American history and culture are the subject of in-depth reading and study for a semester. In collaboration with a faculty member, a major conceptualizes and completes a research project based upon a mutually agreed upon reading list. Opportunities for directed reading exist in such disciplines as history, sociology, literature, art history, music, religion, and health. Permission of the instructor is required.

This course surveys and analyses the factors shaping the U.S. response in the 20th and 21st centuries to human rights, domestically and globally.

This course will explore the development of international law, international consciousness and U.S. foreign policy on the two distinct but often related issues of war crimes and genocide during the late 19th and throughout the 20th centuries.

Wide range of topics pertinent to the African American experience. Among topics that have been offered in the past are: Black Political and Social Movements, Afro-Centric Cultures and Human Services, Black Images in American Film, Black Families, Education and the Black Community, and Social Psychological Perspectives on Black Men and Women in the United States.

Spring. Multidisciplinary in nature, the readings of the senior seminar reflect the centrality of the historical and cultural contributions of African Americans to American history and culture.

Every semester. Variable credit with a maximum credit of eight hours. Prerequisite: approval of adviser and the director of undergraduate studies. Open to majors and minors writing honors thesis.

Every semester. Variable credit with a maximum credit of eight hours. Prerequisite: approval of adviser and the director of undergraduate studies. Open to majors and minors writing honors thesis.