African American Studies 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.
In her essay “Queer and Now,” Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick offers a rumination on the political, epistemological and pedagogical imports of “queer” at that moment: “ That’s one of the things that ‘queer’ can refer to: the open mesh of possibilities, gaps, overlaps, dissonances and resonances, lapses and excesses of meaning when the constituent elements of anyone’s gender, of anyone’s sexuality aren’t made (or can’t be made) to signify monolithically.” This 3 credit hour course, takes up Sedgwick’s suggestion of the possibilities of “queer” to consider the development of queer theory, queer studies, and queer politics. Although this course is organized thematically across a number of disciplines, it also resists a kind of stringent categorization or segmentation- mirroring the energy that has characterized this interdisciplinary field. While paying attention to the seemingly endless possibilities associated with queer theory, this course is profoundly committed to as Sedgwick argues to keep “same-sex sexual expression at “the terms definitional center,” as not to “dematerialize any possibility of queerness itself.”.
During the past decade, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) Americans have achieved various forms of empowerment and visibility in the nation’s political, legal, social, and cultural arenas. However, LGBTQ persons continue to face various barriers to full equality and well-being including employment discrimination, high rates of homelessness among teens, violence, and inadequate access to health care. This 3 credit hour course places will focus on the events emergence of the last decade into a longer history of LGBTQ communities, visibility and politics that begins LGBTQ community in the late nineteenth 20th century and ends in the early twenty-first century. American Culture. During the semester, we will explore the historical development of LGBTQ identities, communities, politics, and cultural production. Together, we will analyze an array of materials including scholarly texts, oral histories, newspapers, films, photographs, art and political ephemera.
Southern/Black/Woman. This demographic descriptor encompasses notable figures - Ida B. Wells, Bessie Smith, Condoleezza Rice, Beyoncé – and millions whose names and individual stories are often marginal to American memory and public policy. This course examines various aspects of Southern Black Women’s lives and labors, pain and pleasures, adventures and adversities from the nineteenth century to the present day. Students will analyze an array of materials including: memoirs/ autobiographies, oral histories, secondary scholarship, census data, paintings, photographs, film, television and music. Using in-class activities, discussion and writing assignments, this course addresses one central question: What can the academic study of Black Women’s experiences in the South reveal about gender, race, class, and sexuality in the United States (past and present)?.
Survey of African American literature from its earliest expressions to the present. In order to identify the aesthetics of the African American literary tradition, the course material includes spirituals, slave narratives, poetry, drama, autobiography, fiction, and nonfiction.
A survey of mainstream Christian expressions of black spirituality as well as other forms of sacred collective consciousness. Study of local churches and theology is encouraged.
A study of the "miseducation" of Africans in America. The course explores education for blacks from West Africa at the middle of the second millennium and early American society to the emergence of the separate school system of the 19th and 20th centuries.
For over 150 years, the Civil War occupies a prominent place in our national memory and has served to both unite and divide Americans. This course will explore the various ways in which Americans have chosen to remember their civil war through reunions, monuments and memorials, histories, literature, film, museums as well as other forms of popular culture. We will examine how memory of the war changed over time as well as the political implications for Civil War memory, the nation, and identity in understanding both historical and contemporary debates.
Role of black Americans in American life from the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century, with emphasis on the institutions and events of the 1800s.
This course introduces students to the major themes, questions, primary sources, monographs, and fiction in regards to slave resistance in the United States and Atlantic World. Specifically, course readings and assignments will revolve around agency and empowerment of enslaved individuals, power relations between masters and enslaved individuals and the various forms of resistance (everyday acts, runaways, rebellions, and marronage).
What are the causes and consequences of bias-motivated crimes? What are the larger social and political contexts? In this class, students will examine how bias-motivated violence receives attention in the media, how and why hate crimes legislation came to be seen as a necessary legal tool to curb crimes based on race, gender, gender identity, religion, and sexual orientation. Students will also explore the opposition to such laws and the degree to which communities are able to respond to incidents of bias-motivated violence. Students will also explore the proliferation of hate groups and the impact of those groups on social and political debates over hate crimes laws.
The field of Black Family Studies is an area that has received very little attention in the last decade. This course will use historical literature to address issues that have impacted Black families in America. Throughout this course, we investigate the various reasons why the majority of Black families are not the traditional units that were prevalent before the turn of the 20th century. A broad perspective will be taken to provide a balanced understanding of gender and the challenges men and women face from patriarchy, racism, mass incarceration, poverty, and economic exploitation. Students will be responsible for reading the assigned text and actively engage in class discussion.
This course offers a critical introduction to the conditions of possibility for modern racial thinking, with particular emphasis on racial slavery and anti-blackness. We will begin with the working assumption that slavery is at the root of the problem of race and racism. In order to excavate this assumption, we will survey debates on 1) the origin and history of race and racism (from the Ancients to the early moderns); 2) the deployment of categories in contested proximity to race (from class to gender); and 3) the development of different conceptual paradigms (from double consciousness to political ontology) to parse the relationship between race and the world. Instead of resolving these debates, our problem-based approach will emphasize that texts are intellectual and political acts whose scope and framing bear on present problematics. In doing so, we will learn to mobilize our readings as theoretical and historical tools in interpreting the contemporary and interrogating our responsibility toward the themes of the class.
This course examines the historical origins and present framework of Black politics, including the civil rights movement, Black political culture, local and community politics, and current and future issues for Black America such as Black imagery in television/film, Black feminism, sexuality, the War on Drugs, the impact of mass incarceration, and modern social justice and protest movements like #BlackLivesMatter. Students will explore questions regarding the history of race in American political life as well as how race has shaped a broader national identity. And evaluate what concepts like “equal treatment under the law” and “liberty and justice for all” mean with respect to the legacy of Black political participation.
A cross-genre survey of African American literature, historical events, and critical movements. Authors may include Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Richard Wright, Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larson, Langston Hughes, and Toni Morrison.
Analysis of inequities of wealth, power, and prestige; major theories of racial and cultural minorities; behavioral correlates of stratification; social mobility.
Students in this course study the development of policies that seek to build a more equitable society in the US. Providing a historical perspective on how social change has occurred in the society, the course also discusses how change has taken place in the last few decades. How have societal institutions changed how the issues of race and gender are addressed since the Civil Rights Movement? How do we apply concepts such as diversity, intersectionality, community, equity, and inclusion throughout US society? The course provides students with an understanding of why these concepts are important, and how social change occurs today.
Feminism understands itself to be fundamentally liberatory - that is, concerned with increasing liberty, particularly (but not exclusively) of women. Feminist political theory often treats freedom within a liberal framework that prioritizes individual rights: for example, the right to control one’s reproductive health, the right to equal pay, or the right not to experience harassment. According to this framework, to be free is to enjoy one’s rights without interference or limitation. The aim of this course is to think about freedom beyond rights. Specifically, we will consider what it means to be a free political actor, whether freedom is the highest political good, whether, and how, freedom is compatible with other values, such as equality and justice, and how different kinds of politics, social norms, and modes of living might affect attempts to increase and experience freedom.
An examination of selected African American topics. May be repeated for a maximum of 18 hours.
An upper level seminar designed to provide students with an in-depth study of major intellectual debates and mvoements that have shaped the politics, history and identities of the people of African descent in the United States and the African diaspura. The course will combine methodologies and concepts from multiple disciplines including, history, political theory, literature, women's studies, sociology, pyschology and philosophy.
An examination of selected African American topics. May be repeated for a maximum of 9 hours.
Study and analysis of issues of diversity as they relate to groups in society and in communication fields. Emphasis is on the media's treatment of various groups in society. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
A historical-critical investigation of African American public discourse from the Revolutionary era to the present, exploring rhetorical strategies for social change and building community. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
This course is designed to provide the student with an overview of race and ethnicity as it relates to health as well as major issues facing the overall health status of our society. This class will provide examples for the application of minority health basic competencies in the field of community health and medical sociology. Topics to be covered include: mental health and individual behavior access to health care, socioeconomic status and racial differences, racial/ethnic group specific health issues. The health care system covers the physician-patient relationship and increasing commercialization in the health care system.
This course will examine the socio-historical perceptions and constructions of Black masculinities in various regions and periods. Students will also examine the social, political, and economic conditions of Black male life in the contemporary period and interrogate representations of Black men and boys in U.S. culture and society in relation to the broader politics of race, class, gender, and sexuality in the post-civil rights era. Specific attention will be paid to the history of ideas and approaches that have shaped and defined our understanding of Black males. Students will be introduced to historical and socio-cultural circumstances that affect Black males and the diverse nature of Black culture. This course will also attempt to heighten awareness and sensitivity to the contemporary problems affecting Black males and thus help discover and evaluate social policies and programs geared towards Black males.
Independent study on any subject pertaining to African-American studies, under the supervision of a professor in the chosen field and/or Director of the program.
An examination of selected African American topics. May be repeated for a maximum of 18 hours.
Women's Studies Courses
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.
Through an examination of women's autobiographical writings, the roles women have assumed in different cultures and periods are considered. Analytical techniques from the study of art, literature and psychology are used to discover issues inherent in women's experiences.
Investigation of the institution of motherhood, the forces shaping it, and the significance of mother-daughter relationships.
Students in the course will consider the description of gender and sexuality in popular culture, with the aim of understanding the relationship between both concepts. The goal is to follow up on the introduction to Women's Studies with more in depth analysis of how gender and sexuality are defined for individuals, in the law, and as a consequence of social change.
Changing topics: for example, women and work, women in the world, social inequality.
What are the causes and consequences of bias-motivated crimes? What are the larger social and political contexts? In this class, students will examine how bias-motivated violence receives attention in the media, how and why hate crimes legislation came to be seen as a necessary legal tool to curb crimes based on race, gender, gender identity, religion, and sexual orientation. Students will also explore the opposition to such laws and the degree to which communities are able to respond to incidents of bias-motivated violence. Students will also explore the proliferation of hate groups and the impact of those groups on social and political debates over hate crimes laws.
This course explores contemporary U.S social movements around gender and racial justice through the lens of social media activism. The multi-faceted online forums that activists have at their disposal today marks a significant break with the past and yet, “using” the media has long been a central tactic for many U.S. justice movements of the late 20th century. Students will be guided through data collection exercises and discursive analysis of the information gathered in order to interrogate the knowledge produced by select social movements through their use of social media overtime. Employing theoretical, historical, and ethnographic arguments at the center of feminist and anti-racist struggles, students will explore the opportunities and constraints of relying on social media and its particular import for what the academy refers to as a “public intellectualism.”.
This seminar's major focus is the impact of law on the status and lives of women.
Examination of the cultural concepts, myths, and experiences of black and white Southern women from a variety of economic and social backgrounds. Special attention is given to the interaction of race, class, and gender in Southern women's lives. Texts include historical studies, autobiographies, biographies, oral histories and novels written by and about women in the 19th and 20th -century South. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
This course examines the historical origins and present framework of Black politics, including the civil rights movement, Black political culture, local and community politics, and current and future issues for Black America such as Black imagery in television/film, Black feminism, sexuality, the War on Drugs, the impact of mass incarceration, and modern social justice and protest movements like #BlackLivesMatter. We will explore questions regarding the history of race in American political life as well as how race has shaped a broader national identity. We will evaluate what concepts like “equal treatment under the law” and “liberty and justice for all” mean with respect to the legacy of Black political participation.
Analysis of inequities of wealth, power, and prestige; major theories of racial and cultural minorities; behavioral correlates of stratification; social mobility.
How do theatre and performance enable or contribute to our ability to understand race and racism? How do contemporary Black theatre artists and playwrights intervene in, redefine, or celebrate notions of Black identity? What are the limits or risks of thinking about race through performance? Students in this course will explore these questions through reading and viewing U.S. American dramatic works from the last 30 years. This course will seek to understand performance and drama as important modes through which African American artists generate and transmit their experience, form community, produce political analysis, and shape the artistic and cultural fabric of the United States.
Students in this course study the development of policies that seek to build a more equitable society in the US. Providing a historical perspective on how social change has occurred in the society, the course also discusses how change has taken place in the last few decades. How have societal institutions changed how the issues of race and gender are addressed since the Civil Rights Movement? How do we apply concepts such as diversity, intersectionality, community, equity, and inclusion throughout US society? The course provides students with an understanding of why these concepts are important, and how social change occurs today.
This course will provide students with an historic and cultural overview of the laws, policies, and politics of gender and sexuality in the United States. In this course, students will understand how law and public policy have had an impact on the lives of marginalized communities in the United States. This course examines how courts have interpreted laws and set policies regarding civil unions and same-sex marriage, privacy and reproductive rights, and discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation in the workplace.
This course will provide the framework to examine how the broad spectrum of queer sexualities are understood. We will investigate stereotypes about masculinity and femininity that govern narratives about race, gender, and sexual orientation. We will explore answers and interpretations to questions of what a “queer” identity is, how gender is constructed, how power operates on sexuality and race, and how the intersection of race and sexuality form a unique positionality for gays and lesbians of color.
Feminism understands itself to be fundamentally liberatory - that is, concerned with increasing liberty, particularly (but not exclusively) of women. Feminist political theory often treats freedom within a liberal framework that prioritizes individual rights: for example, the right to control one’s reproductive health, the right to equal pay, or the right not to experience harassment. According to this framework, to be free is to enjoy one’s rights without interference or limitation. The aim of this course is to think about freedom beyond rights. Specifically, we will consider what it means to be a free political actor, whether freedom is the highest political good, whether, and how, freedom is compatible with other values, such as equality and justice, and how different kinds of politics, social norms, and modes of living might affect attempts to increase and experience freedom.
The history of political thought has long been equated with the history of men’s political thought, with women excluded from the intellectual and public spheres. Yet it would be a grievous mistake to assume that women (including all who identify as such) were not actively engaged in debating issues of gender, sexuality, race, and class before the advent of modern feminism. Indeed, one of contemporary feminist scholars’ greatest tasks has been to recover a long and rich history of ideas and texts written by and about women. This course utilizes primary materials and focuses on women’s contributions to the history of political thought between 1400 and 1914.
Political theory has traditionally associated men with citizenship, public life, and affairs of state, while subordinating or ignoring women’s interests, experiences, and voices. Feminist political theory challenges this imbalance, while also expanding the boundaries of what ought to be considered “political.” Motivated by a concern for inequality in everyday life, feminist political theory seeks to provide a philosophical framework with which to address injustice, while also inquiring about the existential condition of those who identify as women, trans*, or genderqueer. In so doing, feminist political theory pries open the category of “woman” to reveal its complexities, contradictions, and promise. Students will read influential works from contemporary feminist scholars who come from a variety of intellectual traditions and possess differing political commitments. These texts not only disrupt the historic exclusion of women from political theory but also the exclusionary tendencies in some early feminist writing. Topics may include justice, oppression, solidarity, the state, and neoliberalism.
This course explores texts and themes central to the interdisciplinary field of Women's and Gender Studies. Course texts may include theoretical, expository, autobiographical, and fictional writings from early feminism as well as contemporary selections. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
Through the study of key feminist political and theoretical texts on an issue central to contemporary feminism, students in this seminar will develop advanced undergraduate research skills and gain a substantial foundation for further study, including graduate work in this area. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
This course will examine the socio-historical perceptions and constructions of Black masculinities in various regions and periods. Students will also examine the social, political, and economic conditions of Black male life in the contemporary period and interrogate representations of Black men and boys in U.S. culture and society in relation to the broader politics of race, class, gender, and sexuality in the post-civil rights era. Specific attention will be paid to the history of ideas and approaches that have shaped and defined our understanding of Black males. Students will be introduced to historical and socio-cultural circumstances that affect Black males and the diverse nature of Black culture. This course will also attempt to heighten awareness and sensitivity to the contemporary problems affecting Black males and thus help discover and evaluate social policies and programs geared towards Black males.
Courses under this rubric are designed to investigate a particular subject supplemental to regular course offerings. Students in this senior seminar will develop advanced undergraduate research skills and gain a substantial foundation for further study, including graduate work in this area. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
This course will provide students with a writing course in topics important to contemporary feminist theory. Among the topics will be a study of classical texts, such as Antigone,for gender politics, the development of student training in areas of feminist analysis from within the fields of natural science, political science, english, anthropology, rhetoric, art, economics, and American Studies. Demonstrated writing proficiency is a requirement for successful completion of the course. Students will complete at a minimum 5 short papers of from 1-3 pages each, essays derived from course readings and topical assignments, as well as a longer paper of from 7-10 pages. Instructor assessment of student writing and constant feedback is an important part of the course, and students will be asked to develop their own writing through in class assignments as well. Students will read a considerable amount of material in feminist analysis, comment upon this, and engage in classroom discussions on a regular basis.
Students will study the different approaches to the study of sexuality within the framework of the disciplines of Women's Studies and African American Studies. The focus is on understanding how gender and sexuality develop through intersectionality, contemporary popular culture, and/or through policy changes. International research in gender and sexuality studies is also a potential focus of the course.
Independent study on any subject pertaining to Women's and Gender Studies conducted under the supervision of a professor in the chosen field.
Students in this writing seminar will develop advanced undergraduate research skills and gain a substantial foundation for further study. Demonstrated writing proficiency is a requirement for passing this course. This seminar will focus on how issues of gender and race emerge in and shape art and art practices across a range of media. Students will gain the tools to critically engage with a range of such work (including but not limited to visual art, TV, film, music, and theatre); to explore how artists have navigated race and gender and their intersections; and— as artists, audience members, fans, and critics— to develop their own feminist and anti-racist responses to art and popular culture. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
Emphasis is placed on theories and research on the intersectionality of gender, race, and class formations in various historical and geographical contexts. Students explore the interactions between forces of discrimination and domination and their manifestations in different sites, as well as the methods by which to defuse and work toward their elimination.