The Department of Gender and Race Studies at The University of Alabama has as its objective to produce research and educate the society about the complexity of the social, literary, historical, political, and economic dimensions of society; to reflect, offer, and contribute multiple perspectives and voices to the intellectual communities of Alabama as well as national and international scholarly communities; and to engage through its course offerings with the experiential understanding of the local African American communities in Alabama, the lives of women in society, and Sociological perspectives regarding cultural, historical, social, political, and economic issues.
Programs
The Department of Gender and Race Studies offers the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in African American studies as well as minors in African American studies, Sociology, and in Women's Studies. The major and minor in African American studies encourage students to use a variety of approaches to study the complex issues that arise in society in connection to the lives of African Americans, and to apply these findings to the analysis of the society. The Women's Studies minor is designed to provide knowledge of the roles and status of women in historical and contemporary society, to conduct and encourage research and writing by and about women, and to offer skills and information to advance our understanding as a society as a whole. The Sociology minor is designed to provide students with a detailed knowledge of the complex historical and contemporary social conditions that determine how we live together in a society. The courses in Sociology consider the social facts of human existence, addressing contemporary issues such as housing, education, employment, and health, among topics.
Faculty
Chair
- McKnight, Utz
Professors
- Utz McKnight
- Ariane Prohaska
Associate professors
- KT Ewing
- Purvis, Jennifer
- Sara-Maria Sorentino
Assistant professors
- Gallagher, Megan
- Briana Royster
- Erin Stoneking
- Brooke Thomas
Adjunct assistant professors
- Austin, Gregory
- Elizabeth Bennett
- Juan Black
- Mahalia Crawford
- Garrett Gilmore
- Nabila Madubuko
- Elizabeth McKnight
- Joshua Tobias
Courses
A basic outline of the diversity and complexity of the African-American experience in the United States: the early academic and social concerns of Black Studies advocates; the changes in the field's objectives that arise from its connections to contemporary social movements for Black Power, women's liberation and multiculturalism; and its major theoretical and critical debates.
Introduction to the scientific study of human social behavior.
An interdisciplinary course examining the roles of women in patriarchal society, with emphasis on how factors such as race, class, gender, and sexuality contribute to the oppression of women and ways they can be challenged through feminist critical practices.