Course Description: This course introduces students to the complex
relationship between “blackness” and its representations in popular
culture artifacts (television, movies, and music).  ‘Race’ has been
defined as a social construction which relates to specific historical
processes within nations.  Even though ‘race’ comprises multiple
categories, ideological discourses, and constructions, this course
will focus on the construction of “blackness” in the United States and
Latin American contexts.  Nonetheless, class discussion will also
include the ways in which other groups have been racially constructed
in media texts.

The course will be divided into three sections: (1) The Meanings of “
Blackness:” Racial Discourses & Early Representations; (2) Blackness,
Contemporary Representations & Appropriations (3) Racial Consciousness
and Black Identities.  Throughout the semester, we will try to
disentangle the meaning of ‘race,’ its relationship to particular
cultures, and their constructions in media cultural artifacts.