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4 credits
Room: TBA
016-570 (sec 01) MTWRR 9:05-9:55
016-619 (sec 02) MTWRF 10:10-11:00
016-668 (sec 03) MTWRF 11:15-12:05
054-972 (sec 04) MTWRF 12:20-1:10
055-070 (sec 05) MTWRF 1:25-215

Younes, M. & Staff

also NES 112

478-126 (sec 01)
478-191 (sec 03)
055-021 (sec 05)
478-173 (sec 02)
054-916 (sec 04)

111, fall; 112, spring. Enrollment limited to 18 in each session. 4 credits each term. AS&RC 111 is prerequisite for 112, or permission of instructor. Letter grade only. AS&RC 112 provides language qualification.
The course provides a thorough grounding in all language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It starts with spoken Arabic and gradually integrates Modern Standard Arabic in the form of listening and reading texts. Emphasis is on learning the language through using it in meaningful contexts. Students who successfully complete the two-semester sequence are able to: 1) understand and actively participate in simple conversations involving basic practical and social situations (e.g., introductions, greetings, school, home and family, work, simple instructions; 2) read Arabic material of limited complexity and variety (e.g., simple narrative and descriptive texts, directions); 3) write notes and short letters describing an event or a personal experience. An important objective of the course is to familiarize students with basic facts about the geography, history, and culture of the Arab world.

AS&RC 122 • Introduction to Yoruba II

4 credits
Room: TBA
016-521 (lec 01) TR 2:30-4:25
067-565 (lec 02) TR 12:20-2:15

Ademoyo, A.

A two-semester beginner’s course in Yoruba Language and Culture. Organized to offer Yoruba language skills and proficiency in speaking, reading, listening, writing and translation. Focus is placed on familiar informal and formal contexts e.g. home, school, work, family, social situations, politics, etc. Course uses Yoruba oral literature, proverbs, rhetoric, songs, popular videos and theatre, as learning tools for class comprehension. First semester focuses on conversation, speaking and listening. Second semester focuses on writing, translation and grammatical formation. Through the language course students gain basic background for the study of an African culture, arts and history both in the continent and in the diaspora. Yoruba language is widely spoken along the west coast of Africa and in some African communities in diaspora. Yoruba video culture, theatre, music and arts have strong influence along the west coast and in the diaspora.

AS&RC 132 • Swahili
(301-964)

4 credits
Room: TBA
TR 10:10-12:05

Nanji, A.

May be used for Language Requirement. Continued study of the basic grammatical formation of the language and the introduction of reading material ranging from songs to short stories. A great many drills are invariably used in this course to help develop the student's comprehension of the language. Swahili tapes are highly utilized during all of these sequences. Prerequisite. Swahili 131.

AS&RC 134 • Swahili
(301-976)

4 credits
Room: TBA
TR 8:40-9:55

Nanji, A.

May be used for Language Requirement. In this sequence of the course more emphasis is placed upon the development of reading ability and the acquisition of writing skills. Students are expected to read and comprehend selected Swahili stories and write compositions on chosen topics. Ample consideration is given to oral practice in the classroom.

AS&RC 205 • African Civilizations Cultures
(067-761)

3 credits
Room: TBA
TR 11:40-12:55

Bekerie, A.

May be used for History Requirement/Satisfies Geographical Breadth Requirement. This course is concerned with the peoples of Africa and the development of African cultures and civilizations from the earliest times to the present day. It focuses on the near modern civilizations of Africa, south of the Sahara, and the ancient civilizations of Egypt and the Nile Valley, and their contributions to the development of the major world civilizations. The course also deals with the socio-political organization of African societies, their kinship systems, cross-cutting ties, rites of passage, gender relations, and arts (including music, dance, folklore, architecture, sculpture, painting, and body decoration).

AS&RC 207 • Black Theatre
(302-164)
also THETR 207 • (553-512)

3 credits
Room: TBA
MW 2:55-4:10

Grady-Willlis, L.

This performance-based course will introduce students to Black Theatre through the interpretation of classic and contemporary plays. Students will read works often overlooked in mainstream theatre and literature courses, while experiencing firsthand the challenges and triumphs of creating theatre together. Students will participate in individual and/or group presentations of dramatic materials. Through dialogue as well as hands-on exploration, students will gain insight into various aspects of performance and production. This course will culminate in a public performance. Students will serve as actors as well as members of the production team.

AS&RC 212 • Intermediate Arabic II

4 credits
Room: TBA
016-717 (lec 01) MTWR 10:10-11:00
016-773 (lec 02) MTWR 1:25-2:15

Younes, M.

also NES 210 (478-812) lec 01; (479-2080) lec 02

113, fall; 212, spring. Enrollment limited to 18 students in each section. 4 credits each term. AS&RC 212 @ provides language proficiency and Option 1. Prerequisites: for AS&RC 113 or NES 113, one year of Arabic or permission of instructor; for AS&RC 212, 113 or permission of instructor. Letter grade recommended.
A sequel to NES 111-112. Continued development of the four language skills through extensive use of graded materials on a wide variety of topics. Increased attention is given to developing native-like pronunciation and grammatical accuracy, but the main focus is on developing communication skills. The student who successfully completes 210 is able to:

1) understand and express himself or herself in Arabic in situations beyond the basic needs;
2) read and comprehend written Arabic of average difficulty;
3) write a letter, a summary of a report, or a reading selection. An appreciation of Arabic literature and culture is sought through the use of authentic materials.

AS&RC 254 • Africa in the 20th Century
(034-966)
also GOVT 254 (029-569) & HIST 254 (012-083)

4 credits
Room: TBA
TR 1:25-2:40

Terretta, M.

1870 marks the beginnings of the West’s political and economic dominance of Sub-Saharan Africa through colonization. Africans did not passively accept Western dominance. The colonial encounter transformed both Africa and the West, as Africans struggled to live under a foreign administration, and Europeans struggled to uphold their hegemony and explain Africa to metropolitan audiences. Westerners misinterpreted most of Africa and continue to do so to this day. As we familiarize ourselves with portions of Africa’s history of late-19^th century to the present, we will remain conscious of the ways in which Africa has historically been portrayed in the West. We will also seek out the ways in which Africans and people of African descent portrayed themselves. In so doing, we will pay particular attention to the post World-War II ideologies that surfaced throughout Africa and the political, cultural, and philosophical writings that emerged in conjunction with nationalist movements.

AS&RC 304 • African American Art
(078-051)
also ART H 377 (062-259)

3 credits
Room: TBA
MW 2:55-4:10

Finley, C.

This course presents a survey of the different forms of visual arts production by African Americans from 1619 to the present. The course begins with an overview of African art and the experiences of the Middle Passage and slavery in relation to African American traditions in the decorative arts (furniture, ironwork, quilt-making, basketry), architecture and archaeology. The core of the course is centered in the 20^th century and today with an examination of the fine arts of painting and sculpture as well as photography, performance, film and video. Special attention to rich periods of artistic production will be studied, including the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement. Slides and films will be used extensively to illustrate topics discussed in addition to original examples of African American art and artifacts in the special collections of the Kroch Library and the Johnson Museum on campus.

AS&RC 312 • Advanced Intermediate Arabic II
(016-822)
also NES 312 (480-949)

4 credits
Room: TBA
MTWR 10:10-11:00

Bakhri, D.

308 fall; 312 spring. 4 credits each term. Limited to 15 students. Fulfills Option 1.
Prereqisite for AS&RC 308 is AS&RC 212 or permission of instructor; prerequisite for AS&RC 312 is AS&RC 308 or permission of instructor. Letter grade recommended.
Students are introduced to authentic, unedited Arabic language materials ranging from poems, short stories, and plays to newspaper articles dealing with social, political, and cultural issues. Emphasis is on developing fluency in oral expression through discussion of issues presented in the reading selections. There is more focus on the development of native-like pronunciation and accurate use of grammatical structures than on elementary and intermediate Arabic. A primary objective of the course is the development of writing skill through free composition exercises in topics of interest to individual students.

AS&RC 320 • Race in US Cinema, 1895-1930
(302-246)
also VISST 320 (560-135) FILM 320 (382-505)

4 credits
Room: TBA
W 10:10-01:10

Wallace, M.

Race and Performance in U.S. Cinema, 1895-1930s. Cultural stereotypes and clichés of blacks as inept and clownish were rife in the illustrated press at the time (the turn of the century) that the earliest films were brief and cheap to produce, allowing for a range and variety of imagery that quickly overwhelmed the most compelling racial stereotypes on stage and in performance. In the teens, as the U.S. film industry began to consolidate Westward in California, there was the emergence of a powerful new set of racial stereotypes mobilized around the perception of slavery as having been most beneficial for all concerned, culminating in such films as Gone with the Wind in 1939. In the meanwhile, in the 20s and 30s, the U.S. film industry remained capable of a modicum of diversity and self-contradiction as black entertainers and peoples of color were becoming internationally famous for their extraordinary gifts as musicians, dancers and performers. Some of the performers in this list would include Jack Johnson, Noble Johnson, Mme. Sul-te-Wan, Bert Williams, Paul Robeson, Fredi Washington, Louise Beavers, Hattie McDaniels, Anna Mae Wong, Nina Mae McKinney, Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker, Ethel Waters.

AS&RC 325 • New Postcolonial Black Literature
(302-268)

4 credits
Room: TBA
TR 10:10-11:25

Anyadike, C.

This course will be devoted to the study of exciting and important new voices of the last decade from the so-called postcolonial societies with a view to highlighting how this body of work has broadened or gone beyond the issues which engaged their predecessors: the colonial experience, imperialism, globalization, culture clash, identity and gender issues. Special attention will be paid to women’s writing, which has benefited from the upsurge of interest in gender studies during the period. Authors to be considered may include Edwidge Danticat, Yvonne Vera, Arundhati Roy, Pamela Jooste, Chimamanda Adichie. By reading representative works of writers close to them in age, students may become well informed about issues important to young people in situations and cultures different from their own.

AS&RC 342 • Topics in Black-World Writing
(035-022)
AS&RC 542 (304-224) COM L (078-989)

4 credits
Room: TBA
TR 1:25-2:40

Adams, A.

Beyond the borders of North America, other long-established Black communities are articulating their own social, cultural, and political forms of Black Diaspora identity and consciousness. What are the histories and shared experiences of Blacks in Europe-in this course, specifically Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands-with those in Canada, the Caribbean and the U.S? How do realities of those Afro-European populations shape their definitions of Black Diaspora? Readings in the course will consist of literary texts as well as autobiographies.

AS&RC 375 • Black Child & Adolescent Devel
(087-039)

3 credits
Room: TBA
TR 8:40-9:55

Wilton, L.

This course will survey Black child and adolescent development and focus on conceptual and theoretical aspects of psychological development within an African Diasporic context. In particular, we explore how Black culture and Black communities have been instrumental in shaping the lives of Black youth. Within this context, we will focus on how social identity (i.e. race, ethnicity, gender, social class, sexuality) and sociocultural factors relate to Black child and adolescent development. Specifically, we will examine the complexities of color in Black children’s experience; socio-historical/-political contexts of Black child/adolescent development; parenting, racial socialization, and education for Black children and adolescents; racial attitudes and socialization in children; Impact of Hierarchical Social Structures on Youth of Color; Black adolescents and Black racial identity development; and contemporary models of psychological development for Black youth.

AS&RC 422 • African Literature
(035-071)

4 credits
Room: TBA
F 2:00-4:25

Anyadike, C.

How do the African writhers use the novel form of literature to explore the cultural, social, and political realities of Africa? What roles do the following play in that exploration: the need to expose the willful distortions resulting from Africa’s defeats in the historic encounters and continuing relationships to the west, in the process empowering Africans as they tell their stories and reflecting on them, to take the control over the terms of African/black being in the world, the continued use of the language of domination for that exploration, the use of orature. Through the combination of lectures, discussions, individual research, class presentations, all centered on selected and recommended texts, this course will encourage students to draw well informed individual conclusions concerning the philosophical and practical dimensions of the African novelists’ search for genuine and sustenable development of African societies. It is therefore expected that the course will prepare students to take informed positions on the question of whether we have the African novel or the novel in Africa.

AS&RC 426 • Rastafari, Race and Resistance
(077-806)
also S HUM 425 (532-464) ART H 425 (045-445)

4 credits
Room: TBA
R 2:30-4:25

Archer-Straw, P.

This seminar focuses on Jamaican artists whose images stem from Rastafarianism. It examines how their cultural expression born out of a clash of European and African civilizations challenged western cultural values and posited new ways of talking about race and spirituality. Rastafarianism is viewed as an aberrant modern paradox, at once a vehicle for racial resistance and a belief system advocating universal equality.

AS&RC 453 • The Archaeology of Slavery
(287-183)
also AMST 453 (302-360) ARKEO 453 (296-024)

4 credits
Room: TBA
M 2:00-4:25

Battle-Baptiste, W.

Material culture and the built environment not only reflect human behavior, but also help archaeologists to recognize the functional and symbolic dimensions of people experiencing life within specific cultural spaces. This seminar is an exploratory effort to provide inter-disciplinary methods for students engaged in the research and analysis of African American life and history. This course will also address the meaning and significance of how material culture enhances the interpretation of black cultural production and African Diaspora theory. The course will cover a variety of former and contemporary African and African American cultural practices as concrete methods for the analysis of life under slavery. An interdisciplinary perspective will be employed through readings, exercises, lectures and discussions pertaining to archaeology, art history, and history of slavery. While plantation societies will be covered, the course will concentrate on issues related to society, culture and identity formation from the view of the enslaved. We will ultimately consider the role of African Diaspora archaeology in the broader discussion of African American culture and identity.

AS&RC 463 • Islam In Global Africa
(088-138)
also AS&RC 663 (088-187)

4 credits
Room: TBA
W 10:10-12:35

Mazrui, A.

It has been estimated that one third of the Muslim population of the world is in Africa and the African Diaspora. This course addresses the historical dimension of Islam in the Black experience examining Global Africa as a whole. Within the African continent, Islam is part of the triple religious heritage which includes rivalry with Christianity and co-existence with African indigenous religions. In the Americas, Islam is up against Western secularism and Christianity. We are concerned with how Islam has affected the politics and cultures of the African peoples worldwide, issue of slavery and Islam, and the interaction between Islam and contemporary ideologies of socialism, nationalism and race consciousness in the Black experience.

AS&RC 469 • Honors Thesis

(4 credits per semester; 8 credit limit)
Room: TBA
Time: TBA

Faculty

Sections:
02-Edmondson (302-412)
03-Bekerie (302-515)
04-Harris (302-599)
06-Turner (302-667)
08-Assie-Lumumba (302-794)
09-Hassan (302-893)
10-Faculty (302-936)

AS&RC 472 • Islands of Globalization
(087-942)
also AS&RC 672 (087-991) ENGL 472 (027-364)
ENGL 672 (027-413)

4 credits
Room: TBA
M 6:30-9:30

DeLoughrey, E.

This interdisciplinary course examines theories of globalization and modernity in relation to the cultural production of the Caribbean and Pacific Islands. By drawing upon diverse fields such as cultural, environmental, literary, and postcolonial studies, we will explore why particular spaces are associated with the production of history and examine how even the smallest islands have contributed to world modernity. We will draw from studies in environmental imperialism to complicate the myth of the isolated tropical isle and place this in a dialogue with contemporary discourses of island tourism. By engaging what Kamau Brathwaite calls the constant "tidalectic" between land and sea, we’ll consider how the history and geography of island spaces help deepen our understanding of home, nation, and transoceanic migration. Derek Walcott’s suggestion that "the sea is history" will be considered in relation to indigenous, creole, and diaspora island literatures. This course will be taught in collaboration with the Islands of Globalization project hosted at the University of Hawaii.. During spring break, the class will travel to Honolulu to participate in lectures and research activities with the Islands of Globalization team.
(See http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/mi/index2.htm)

AS&RC 479 • Women & Gender Issues in Africa
(303-068)

4 credits
Room: TBA
M 10:10-12:35

Assie-Lumumba, N.

May be used for Social Sciences Requirement/Satisfies Geographical Breadth Requirement. There are two contrasting views of the status and role of women in Africa. One view portrays African women as dominated and exploited by men. According to another view women have a favorable social position in Africa: indigenous ideologies consider women to be the foundation of society, they are economically active and independent and they have an identity independent of men. In this seminar we will discuss the status and role of women in Africa historically as well as in the contemporary period. Among the topics to be covered are: women in non-westernized/pre-colonial societies; the impact of colonial policies on the status of women; gender and access to schooling, participation in the economy and politics; women and the law; women and health issues; gender issues in southern Africa; womanism and feminism; the United Nations Decade of Women and the four World Conferences on Women (Mexico 1975, Copenhagen 1986, Nairobi 1985, and Beijing 1995).

AS&RC 484 • Politics & Social Change in Southern Africa
(303-113)

4 credits
Room: TBA
F 1:25-4:25

Edmondson, L.

May be used for Social Sciences Requirement/Satisfies Geographical Breadth Requirement. This course focuses on the legacies of apartheid and the challenges of transformation toward a post-apartheid society in South Africa. Topical emphases include: the rise and decline of apartheid; the historical continuity of Black resistance against racism; women under, against, and after apartheid; South Africa's relations with its neighbors; geo-political, economic and racial dimensions of the American connection; politics of negotiation and transition to majority rule; prospects for stability, democracy and equality; South Africa's new role in the African continental and global arenas. Instructor's lectures will be supplemented by films and class discussions.

AS&RC 490 • Nile Valley Civilization: Ethiopia, Nubia and Egypt
(303-375)

4 credits
Room: TBA
R 1:25-4:25

Bekerie, A.

May be used for History Requirement/Satisfies Geographical Breadth Requirement. This course focuses on 'Nile Valley' Civilizations and their contributions to African and world history. Nile Valley is defined in a broader term and it includes the region of the Nile (Abbay) River from its sources in the Horn of Africa and East Africa to its mouth in Egypt. Since natural and human resources provide the foundation to civilizations, the course will also examine the ecological and cultural compositions of the river complex. Concentrations would be, however, on the Daamatite, Aksumite, Zagwe, Gondar, and Shoa civilizations of Ethiopia, Kush, Nubia and Meroitic civilizations of the Sudan, and Ta-Seti and Kemetic civilizations of Egypt. Civilization centers along the Nile will be studied by utilizing archeological, literary, oral, biological, and religious sources. Civilizations are human made and they have material, spiritual, social, and philosophical dimensions which will be discussed in class. The students will be introduced to the Ethiopic Writing System as a practical lesson in the conception and understanding of aspects of African civilizations.

AS&RC 499 • Independent Study

(1-6 credits)
TIME: TBA

Faculty

Sections:
02-Edmondson (303-410)
03-Bekerie (303-481)
04-Harris 303-495)
05-Adams (026-055)
08-Assie-Lumumba (303-663)
09-Hassan (303-731)
10-Faculty (303-802)
11-Nanji (304-029)

AS&RC 502 • Education & Development in Africa
(304-141)
also EDUC 502 (143-087)

4 credits
Room: TBA
T 2:00-4:25

Assie-Lumumba, N.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the human capital theory that emphasizes the importance of formal education for achievement of full productive potential of individuals and economic growth and development of countries enjoyed a renewed popularity. African countries promoted educational expansion with the expectation that it would lead to socio-economic development. The initial euphoria, however, was followed by skepticism and then disillusion. Education, as it was being organized, delivered, received, and utilized, began to be perceived even as a hindrance to development. The course examines the relationship between formal education and individual and national development. Different paradigms of development, including modernization and dependency theories, and Third World Forum, are discussed with an emphasis on the perceived and actual roles of education in individual and national development. The issues to be discussed include education and schooling, the role of primary, secondary, and higher education in development, the problems of employment, language, equity in access and results with a focus on gender, race, and social class. Case studies, including selected countries of the different African sub-regions, will be used for illustration.

AS&RC 506 • Contemporary African Diaspora Art
(077-708)
also ART H 506 (062-406)

4 credits
Room: TBA
T 10:10-12:05

Finley, C.

Since the 1950’s, projects of African decolonization and Black liberation and empowerment have influenced the work of African Diaspora artists in the Black Atlantic. Pivotal historic events, such as the Civil Rights Movement, the dismantling of colonial rule in Africa and the Brixton race riots in England, have urges Black artists to reexamine issues of memory, identity, history and belonging. This course considers those artists who trace a visual genealogy of the African Diaspora and Work in what has been identified as a practice of remembrance. We will focus on Artists working after 1960, but also will study the roots of the 20^th century and in earlier periods.

AS&RC 530 • Womanist Writing in Africa and the Caribbean
(034-917)

4 credits
Room: TBA
F 10:10-12:35

Adams, A.

Theoretical essays on the nature, relevance, and articulation of feminist though from African and Caribbean writers complement literary texts. Gender issues, as manifested both at home and in emigrant situation abroad are examined in texts by such writers as Sistren, Conde, Dangarembga, Kincaid, and W. Mandela. (Francophone works may be read in the original by individuals who so desire.)

AS&RC 542 • Topics in Black World Writing
(304-224)
also AS&RC 342 (035-022) COM L 392 (078-989)

4 credits
Room: TBA
TR 1:25 — 2:40

Adams, A.

The course will examine the roles of shared history, cultural and resistance movements, growing gender consciousness, language and nationalism in the shaping of identities and literary traditions among Black peoples. Continuities and points of departure, phases of development, the relationships between texts and their male-female authors, the strengths and limitations of each constituent group; these and more will feature in discussions of selected canonical works of writers like Achebe, Morrison, Ellison, Soyinka, Maryse Conde, Kamau Braithwaite, etc. It is expected that students would have, at the end of this course, acquired the sense of a growing but distinctive tradition of Black writing.

AS&RC 599 • GRAD: Independent Study

Variable credits
TIME: TBA

Faculty

Sections:
02-Edmondson (304-263)
03-Bekerie (304-466)
04-Harris (304-589)
05-Adams (026-104)
06-Turner (304-635)
08-Assie-Lumumba (304-982)
09-Hassan (305-030))
10-Faculty (305-107)

AS&RC 602 • Research, Theory and Methodology in Africana Studies
(305-119)

4 credits
Room: TBA
W 4:30-6:30 pm

Faculty

This course, which will be conducted as a seminar, is designed for first-year AS&RC graduate students. It will cover basic research design, methodology and means of gathering and organizing data and will also address specific issues related to research and theoretical discourse in African, Caribbean, and African American humanities and social sciences. The course will be coordinated and supervised by one professor (the Director of Graduate Studies or by rotation) but team-taught by three or four faculty per semester. Each participating faculty will be responsible for a topical segment of the course related to her/his areas of specialization or an area of interest pertaining to theory and methodology of Africana Studies. Readings will be assigned and distributed in advance before each faculty presentation, to allow students to prepare for discussion. This course will allow first-year graduate students wider exposure to faculty and to the field of Africana Studies early in their tenure in the program, and thus help them make an informed decision regarding faculty adviser and topic for their thesis. Each student will be required to produce a bibliographic essay related to his/her thesis topic, and a fully developed thesis proposal as an end product of the course. For all graduate students.

AS&RC 611 • Ellison-Modernism & The Blues
(305-195)

4 credits
Room: TBA
M 5:30-7:30 pm

Wallace, M.

This course will look at Ralph Ellison’s elegant re-structuring of the canon of Modernist literature both through the self-creation of his own fiction and his non-fiction essays. With the assistance of a first rate biographer (Lawrence Jackson in Emergence of Genius), we will consider some of Ellison’s formative culture experiences, including his childhood and adolescence in Oklahoma City and his coming of age through his time as a music student at Tuskegee. In the politically progressive atmosphere of New York, Ellison met and learned from the unfolding reputations of Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Paul Robeson and James Baldwin. He wrote Invisible Man already in his middle years, and was unable to publish another novel within his lifetime.

AS&RC 615 • Psychology of Black Identity
(086-990)

4 credits
Room: TBA
R 10:10-1:10

Wilton, L.

This course will provide students with an opportunity to examine the psychology of Black identity with a focus on critical works in this area (e.g. William E. Cross, Jr.’s Shades of Black: Diversity in African-American Identity, Daryl Michael Scott’s Contempt and Pity: Social Policy and the Image of the Damaged Black Psyche, 1880-1996, Siobhan Somerville’s Queering the Color Line: Race and the Invention of Homosexuality in American Culture, Audre Lorde’s Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, and Lisa Delpit’s The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom. Earlier psychological work on Black identity focused on a Black self-hatred theme, locating Black identity in a self-hatred/deficit paradigm. With the advent of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, critical work on Black identity began to (re)emerge in the field of Black psychology. Through the development of Nigrescence, or the developmental process of becoming Black, Black racial identity theory has moved in the direction of exploring how Black identity influences Black people’s perceptions, mental health, and behavior. In this course, students will examine a range of topics including theorizing Black identity in the African Diaspora; conceptualizing the psychology of Black identity in historical perspective; the intersection of Black and queer identities; Black identity and the psychology of Nigrescence; Black aesthetics, Black identity, and Black hair; the impact of Black dialect on the identity and culture for Black children and adolescents; and Black identity in queer contexts.

AS&RC 663 • Islam In Global Africa
(088-187)
also AS&RC 463 (088-138)

4 credits
Room: TBA
W 10:10-12:35

Mazrui, A.

It has been estimated that one third of the Muslim population of the world is in Africa and the African Diaspora. This course addresses the historical dimension of Islam in the Black experience examining Global Africa as a whole. Within the African continent, Islam is part of the triple religious heritage which includes rivalry with Christianity and co-existence with African indigenous religions. In the Americas, Islam is up against Western secularism and Christianity. We are concerned with how Islam has affected the politics and cultures of the African peoples worldwide, issue of slavery and Islam, and the interaction between Islam and contemporary ideologies of socialism, nationalism and race consciousness in the Black experience.

AS&RC 672 • Islands of Globalization
(087-991)
also AS&RC 472 (087-942) ENGL 672 (027-413) ENGL 472 (027-364)

4 credits
Room: TBA
M 6:30-9:30

DeLoughrey, E.

This interdisciplinary course examines theories of globalization and modernity in relation to the cultural production of the Caribbean and Pacific Islands. By drawing upon diverse fields such as cultural, environmental, literary, and postcolonial studies, we will explore why particular spaces are associated with the production of history and examine how even the smallest islands have contributed to world modernity. We will draw from studies in environmental imperialism to complicate the myth of the isolated tropical isle and place this in a dialogue with contemporary discourses of island tourism. By engaging what Kamau Brathwaite calls the constant "tidalectic" between land and sea, we’ll consider how the history and geography of island spaces help deepen our understanding of home, nation, and transoceanic migration. Derek Walcott’s suggestion that "the sea is history" will be considered in relation to indigenous, creole, and diaspora island literatures. This course will be taught in collaboration with the Islands of Globalization project hosted at the University of Hawaii. During spring break, the class will travel to Honolulu to participate in lectures and research activities with the Islands of Globalization team.
(See http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/mi/index2.htm)

AS&RC • 699 Thesis (AS&RC Graduate Students Only)

(4 credit limit)
Room: TBA
Time: TBA

Faculty

Sections:
02-Edmondson (305-227)
03-Bekerie (305-284)
04-Harris (305-646)
05-Adams (026-153)
06-Turner (305-751)
08-Assie-Lumumba (305-788)
09-Hassan (305-841)
10-Faculty (305-853)

Freshman Writing Seminars - The Black Experience in Writing

AS&RC 100.1 • Black Male Writers
(301-384)

3 Credits
Room:TBA
MW 2.55-4:10

Blacksher, B.

This course will introduce students to the broad spectrum of literature by Black men addressing the challenges and victories over obstacles presented by the complexities of life in the United States. From Boyd and Allen’s anthology Brotherman — portraying the Black man’s long odyssey in this country — students will read and write about the human experience as told through the voices of Black male writers. As a text, Brotherman will serve as "a literal and metaphorical map of the Black man’s quest for self-affirmation …" Through the writing of journals and essays, students will be able to reflect upon the inner journey toward self-awareness as portrayed through this collection of fiction and non-fiction drawn from the rich body of 150 years of Black literature.

AS&RC 100.2 • Taking the Journey Home: From Poetry to Prose
(301-411)

3 Credits
Room:TBA
MWF 10:10-11:00

Grady-Willis, L.

This seminar introduces students to the concept of "home" as not only a physical space, but as a state of mind, a function of community and an ever-evolving reality, within the Black experience. Students will examine and re-examine their own definitions of "home" and "community" as they reflect on the insights put forth by renowned writers such as Maya Angelou, Toni Cade Bambara and August Wilson. An exploration of materials ranging from poetry to prose will propel them on the journey from concept to proposal to essay. Students will have the opportunity to identify strengths and weaknesses in their writing while gaining the basic skills and flexibility necessary to express themselves in various contexts.

AS&RC 100.3 • African American Women Writers
(301-508)

3 Credits
Room:TBA
TR 1:25-2:40

Blacksher, B.

This seminar will provide us with a unique opportunity to explore the visions, values, themes, characters, and settings presented by African-American women writers. Probing the rich worlds of Harriet Jacobs, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison, we will engage in dialogue for the stimulating exchange of ideas. Literary themes of self-knowledge will be studied in conjunction with essays by authors of diverse backgrounds. Through written and oral communication, we will explore the significance of literary themes as they relate to broader issues of society, and to our personal lives as well.

AS&RC 100.4 • Black Identity in Cinema
(301-543)

3 Credits
Room:TBA
MW 7:30-8:45 p.m.

Monroe, V.

This course explores issues of Black Identity in American Cinema from cinema’s inception to the present. It begins by examining the blueprint of stereotypical images seared into the American psyche by D.W. Griffith’s "Birth of A Nation", from the "Uncle Tom" and "Brutal Black Buck" to the "Mammy" and "Tragic Mulatto". The course will then interrogate and deconstruct the stereotypes through the essays of James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray and the films of Spike Lee, Carl Franklin and Kasi Lemmons. Throughout this inquiry students will develop critical and analytical skills necessary to meaningfully and productively engage in the study of film. This course also emphasizes mastery of the analytical and argumentative writing and critical reading essential for university-level work.

AS&RC 100.5 • Pan-African Freedom Fighters in Their Own Words
(301-569)

3 Credits
Room:TBA
TR 2:55-4:10

Edmonson, L.

This seminar will examine autobiographical writings and advocacy statements and speeches by selected freedom fighters from Africa, Black America and the Caribbean. Through written and oral communication, students will explore the values, activities and impact of individuals such as Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela, W.E.B. DuBois, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Ella Baker, Rosa Parks, Angela Davis, Marcus Garvey, Amy Jacques Garvey and Bob Marley. Particular attention will be paid to the intersection of race, class and gender as well as parallels and linkages in Black liberation struggles worldwide. Video and film presentation will augment reading and discussion.