African and African American Studies (AFAM)

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Courses

Courses primarily for undergraduates:

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

An interdisciplinary introduction to the study of African American culture. Includes history, the social sciences, literature, religion, and the arts, as well as conceptual frameworks for investigation and analysis of the African American experience. Meets U.S. Cultures and Communities Requirement. (Typically Offered: Fall, Spring)

(Cross-listed with HIST 3100).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Prereq: Sophomore classification
Survey of the history of African societies, cultures and civilizations from earliest times to 1880. Evolution of states across the continent; social, economic, political, and cultural developments; nature and consequences of African interactions and relationship with Europeans. Meets International Perspectives Requirement.

(Cross-listed with HIST 3110).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Prereq: Sophomore classification
Development of Africa from imposition of colonial rule to independence, including processes of European domination, African reaction and resistance, emergence of nationalism, and dismantling of colonialism. Meets International Perspectives Requirement.

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Prereq: Sophomore classification
Analysis of strategies of resistance and protest against inequality within African American communities; emphasis on the historical, socio-political and economic contexts in which resistance emerges; includes examination of contemporary forms of protests.

(Cross-listed with SOC 3300).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Analysis of ethnic and race relations, particularly in America; emphasis on the sociology and psychology of race and ethnic relations. Meets U.S. Cultures and Communities Requirement. (Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer)

(Cross-listed with RELIG 3340).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

A focused study of the religious histories and cultures of West Africans and their descendants in the Americas. Topics include West African traditions, Christianity, Islam, and indigenous Afro-Caribbean religions, with attention to their gendered, theological, and cultural dimensions. Prior course work in Religious Studies or African American Studies recommended. Meets U.S. Cultures and Communities Requirement. (Typically Offered: Fall)

(Cross-listed with CJ 3350).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 2, Discussion 1.

Prereq: AFAM 2010 or CJ 2400
Empirical and theoretical readings on the intersection of race, ethnicity, crime, and the criminal justice system in contemporary society. Topics include, but are not limited to racial and ethnic relations in society, media, violence, policing, and disparity and discrimination in crime and punishment. Criminological theories of racial and ethnic antagonism. Meets U.S. Cultures and Communities Requirement.

(Cross-listed with ENGL 3470).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Prereq: ENGL 2500
Focused study of literature by African American writers. May include focus on a particular genre (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, film, drama, media), author, event, movement, or theme.

(Cross-listed with WGS 3500).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Prereq: 3 credits in WGS or AFAM
Economic, social, political and cultural roles of Women of Color in the U.S. Includes literary, philosophical, and artistic expressions. Myths and realities explored.

(Cross-listed with HIST 3530).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Prereq: Sophomore classification
Examines African roots of black culture and the African American experience in the United States from the colonial period through the Civil War. Topics include Atlantic Slave Trade, slavery and American identity, abolition, the emergence of Black Nationalism, and black participation in the Civil War. Meets U.S. Cultures and Communities Requirement.

(Cross-listed with HIST 3540).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Prereq: Sophomore classification
Explores African American political thought and political action from Reconstruction to the present. Topics include rise of Jim Crow segregation, urban migration, Garvey movement, Harlem Renaissance, Depression and world wars, Pan-Africanism, civil rights, Black Power, and black feminism. Meets U.S. Cultures and Communities Requirement.

(Cross-listed with ANTHR 3550).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Prereq: Sophomore classification
Survey of economic, social, political and historical processes that have shaped representations of Africa and Africans. Topics include colonialism, globalization, gender and LGTBQ rights, conflict and representations in Western media. Offered even-numbered years. Meets International Perspectives Requirement. (Typically Offered: Spring)

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Prereq: Instructor Permission for Course
Intensive study of a selected topic in African-American Studies in one or more disciplines. Selected readings of various authors, movements, eras, or genres. Primary and secondary source materials. (Typically Offered: Spring)

(Cross-listed with HIST 4690X).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.
Repeatable.

Prereq: Permission of Instructor; Sophomore classification
History of racial and genocidal violence comparing the experiences of Black, Latino/a/x, Native, and Asian peoples in the United States with Jewish people, the Romani, and people of African descent in Europe. The class focuses on the forms of individual and state-sponsored violence, culminating in the Holocaust. Field trip to Washington, D.C. Meets U.S. Cultures and Communities Requirement.

(Cross-listed with HIST 4730/ USLS 4730).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Prereq: Sophomore classification
Comparative history of the civil rights and ethnic power movements (African American, Chicano, American Indian, Puerto Rican, among others) in the U.S. from World War II to the present. Topics include institutional foundations, leadership, gender and racial dynamics, and the convergences and divergences of these differing ethnic struggles for rights. Meets U.S. Cultures and Communities Requirement.

Credits: 1-3. Repeatable, maximum of 3 credits.

Prereq: Instructor Permission for Course