Fall 2007
Below are the undergraduate courses for Fall 2007. All courses are subject to cancellation due to low enrollment.
100 Level
A100 African American Dance Company (2 cr.)
Emphasis on ethnic and jazz traditions, although other genres are regularly performed. Repertoire varies from semester to semester. Participation in on- and off-campus concerts, workshops, and lecture demonstrations required. Previous dance training desirable but not essential. May be repeated individually or in combination with A110 or A120 for a maximum of 12 credit hours. P: Consent of instructor by audition.
A110 Afro-American Choral Ensemble (2 cr.)
Performance of music by and about blacks, including spirituals, gospel, art songs, and excerpts from operas and musicals. Repertoire varies from semester to semester. Participation in on- and off-campus concerts, workshops, and lecture demonstrations required. Ability to read music desirable but not essential. May be repeated individually or in combination with A100 or A120 for a maximum of 12 credit hours. PP: Consent of instructor by audition.
A120 Soul Revue/Black Popular Music Ensemble (2 cr.)
Introduces the richness and depth of black popular tradition through authentic performance practices. Repertoire varies from semester to semester. Participation in on- and off-campus concerts, workshops, and lecture demonstrations required. Ability to read music desirable but not essential. May be repeated individually or in combination with A100 or A110 for a maximum of 12 credit hours. PP: Consent of instructor by audition.
A141 Introduction to Writing and the Study of Black Literature I (4 cr.) A & H
Composition and literature course that teaches the skills of writing. Structuring of ideas through analysis and practice of various techniques of paragraph and essay development. Reading and discussion of representative African American writings, including poetry, short stories, sermons, novels, and drama. A141-A142 fulfill fundamental skills requirement, but do not count toward major. P for A142: A141.
A150 Survey of the Culture of Black Americans (3 cr.) A & H, CSA, TFR
The culture of blacks in America viewed from a broad interdisciplinary approach, employing resources from history, literature, folklore, religion, sociology, and political science. Required for the major.
A156 Jim Crow and Apartheid (3 cr.) S&H, CSA
A comparative perspective on American race relations, specifically the similarities and differences of the struggles against Jim Crow in America and against Apartheid in South Africa. In both places, the late twentieth century witnessed a revolt against the legal and philosophical framework of white supremacy.
200 Level
A210 Black Women in the Diaspora (3 cr.) S & H, CSA
Interdisciplinary examination of salient aspects of black women's history, identity, and experience, including policies, cultural assumptions, and knowledge systems that affect black women's lives. While the primary focus is North America, the lives of black women in other cultural settings within the African diaspora are also examined.
A221 Dance in the African Diaspora
This course is designed to expose students to dances in the African
American and diasporic traditions, history, culture, and music and
embark on embodying body positions of African-derived dances,
primarily from Cuba and Puerto Rico and America, through classroom
lectures, discussions, videos, readings, and movement sessions.
A249 Afro-American Autobiography (3 cr.) A & H, CSA
A survey of autobiographies written by black Americans in the last two centuries. The course emphasizes how the autobiographers combine the grace of art and the power of argument to urge the creation of genuine freedom in America.
A264 History of Sport & the Afro-American Experience
Examination of the historical participation and contributions of African Americans in sport. The course will study African American sports pioneers and the social conditions affecting their participation. Period studied includes pre-slavery to the civil rights era (1500s to 1960s).
A278 Contemporary Black Film (3 cr.) A & H, CSA
Problems raised by proliferation of films acted, authored, directed, or produced by blacks. Exploration of legitimacy of "black film aesthetic" and its reception by various segments of the black community.
A290 Sociocultural Perspective of Afro-American Music (3 cr.) A & H, CSA
Survey of cultural, social, and political attitudes that influenced blacks in the development of and participation in blues, jazz, urban black popular music, and classical music.
A298 Special Topics in AAADS: Sex & Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
(3 cr.) S&H, CS
This course investigates and compares different constructions of sex and gender around the world and asks how cross-cultural variations force us to rethink assumptions about bodies, sexuality, gendered social roles, and work and family. How do people in different cultures come to consider and express themselves as "men," "women," or something else? What are the social forces that constrain them to act and think as gendered persons? Most important, what are the potential consequences of not conforming to those norms? The course will also consider how global forces such as militarism and religious fundamentalism influence sex and gender formations. This course will also focus on the development of structures, meanings, and formations of sex, gender, and sexuality in different historical, national, geocultural, racial, and class contexts. A main focus will be an assessment of debates in transnational and third-world feminisms and queer diasporas concerning the oppression of women, as well as the regulation and suppression of various gender and sexual formations in different cultural sites within Euro-America and beyond.
300 Level
A354 Transnational Americas (3 cr.) S & H, CSA
Comparative colloquium that explores the recent literature on racial connections between "the local" and "the global" in contemporary American experience. Through immersion in the new "transnational" critiques of the United States, students analyze texts that describe African, Asian, European, indigenous, and Latino sensibilities about culture, homelands, belonging, and exclusion.
A355 Afro-American History I (3 cr.) , CSA
History of blacks in the United States. Slavery, abolitionism, Reconstruction, and post-Reconstruction to 1900. Credit not given for both A355 and HIST A355.
A379 Early Black American Writing (3 cr.) A & H, CSA
African American writing before World War II, with emphasis on critical reactions and analyses. Includes slave narratives, autobiographies, rhetoric, fiction, and poetry.
**This class is open to both undergraduate and graduate students (A579). Graduate students will perform additional course work.
A380 Contemporary Black American Writing (3 cr.) A & H, CSA, R: A379
The black experience in America as it has been reflected since World War II in the works of outstanding Afro-American writers: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
A395 Contemporary Jazz and Soul Music (3 cr.) A & H, CSA
A survey of contemporary jazz and soul (rhythm and blues) music and musicians in the United States. P: Consent of instructor. Credit not given for both A395 and MUS395/Z395.
400 Level
A400 African American Cinematic Experience (Topics) (3 cr.)
Intensive study and analysis of selected Afro-American studies problems and issues of limited scope, approached within an interdisciplinary format. Varied topics that cut across departmental concentration areas. May be repeated for credit if topic differs.
A420 Transforming Divided Communities and Societies, S & H, CSA
Histories, theories, policies, and citizen, state, corporate, nonprofit sector models of transforming past and present societies divided by race, ethnicity, gender, class, caste, tribe, and religion through restorative and distributive justice movements and policies such as civil rights, affirmative action, reparations, and reconciliation tribunals.
A452 Historical Issues in Black Education (3 cr.) S & H
Education of black Americans and its relationship to the African American experience. Trends and patterns in the education of black Americans as they relate to the notions of education "for whom and for what."
A486 Internship in Afro-American Studies (3 cr.)
Directed readings, field research, research papers. Certain
internship experiences may require research skills. May be repeated
once for a total of 6 credits. P: Junior or senior status with 15 credit hours in African American and African Diaspora Studies and project approved by instructor.
A493 Senior Seminar in Afro-American Studies (3 cr.)
Lecture/discussions on African American studies as an interdisciplinary field of inquiry and scholarship. Students will develop individual or group projects that synthesize their experiences as majors by demonstrating the interrelated nature of the department's concentration areas. P: Senior status as African American and African Diaspora Studies major.
A495 Individual Readings in Afro-American Studies
Each reading course must be taken for 3 credit hours. Students may
repeat the same course once or elect a second reading course for a
combined maximum of 6 credit hours. Students who wish to enroll in any of the following courses must (1) secure the written consent of the instructor and the departmental chair and (2) file with the departmental secretary an approved list of readings completed during the semester.
- A495 Readings in African American Fiction
- A495 Readings in African American Film Studies
- A495 Readings in African American Folklore
- A495 Readings in African American History
- A495 Readings in African American Nonfiction
- A495 Readings in African American Poetry
- A495 Readings in African American Sacred Music
- A495 Readings in African American Secular Music
- A495 Readings in African American Social Issues
- A495 Readings in African American Theater and Drama
A499 Honors Thesis (3 cr.)
Approval of instructor and departmental honors advisor. Development, completion, and defense of honors thesis.
May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours.