AAFS 101 Introduction to Africana Studies (3)
This course will introduce students to the historical foundations of Africana Studies and discuss its relevance to contemporary society. An interdisciplinary approach will be incorporated as History, Philosophy, Literature, Performing Arts, Sociology, Psychology, Religion/Spirituality, and Anthropology are employed to provide students a detailed analysis of people of African descent in the Western Hemisphere.
AAFS 110 The Black Theatre in America (3)
Study of the historic background of Black involvement in the American theatre and of the role and functioning of the Black theatre in contemporary American society.
AAFS 142 African/African American Literature (3)
Survey of Black authors from diverse cultures and an analysis of their relationship to Black thought.
AAFS 150 Life in the Global South (3)
Introduction to cultural variation and fragmentation among third-world developing communities. Some lectures and discussions are led by third-world graduate students. Whenever possible, distinguished visitors from third-world countries are also involved in the course.
AAFS 209 (= AMUS 209) Black American Music (3)
An introduction to Black American Music. Study will include music from West Africa as well as musical/social influences throughout American history. Musical styles will include spirituals, gospel, blues, jazz and classical. Only one version of AAFS 209 may be taken for credit.
AAFS 212 (= ALIN 212 & AANT 212) African American English (3)
This course provides an overview of the study of linguistics through the specific lens of African American English (AAE). With an estimated 30 million speakers, AAE is a major variety of American English that is rule-governed and complex; however, it continues to be plagued by social stigma in many arenas. This course focuses on AAE's distinctive features in the areas of sound and sentence structure, as well as topics in linguistic anthropology and applied linguistics, e.g., the impact of language ideology on AAE speaking communities. Only one version may be taken for credit.
AAFS 213 History of Civil Rights Movement (3)
This course is designed to introduce the student to the historical development and maturation of the movement for civil rights in the United States. It will examine the development of resistance movements and the philosophies of those involved within the movements during the antebellum, post Civil War and contemporary times.
AAFS 219 Introduction to African/African American History (3)
Survey of the cultural and historical background of African Americans from their African heritage to their present role in American society.
AAFS 220 Inequality in American Life (3)
In America Blacks and Whites have been organically connected by the space of national geography and centuries of time. With current events an ever-present concern, this course explores the cultural significance and the social meaning of the long and ever-changing relations between black and white Americans and its importance for the national welfare.
AAFS 221 The Economic Structure of the Black Community (3)
Analysis of old and contemporary models of Black entrepreneurship and formal economic organization and its effect in the community.
AAFS 224 Cities as People (3)
Survey of the human aspects of the urban environment, historically and in practical terms today, with an emphasis upon the central city’s opportunity for field research in urban life.
AAFS 240 (= ALCS 240 & AWSS 240) Classism, Racism and Sexism: Issues (3)
Analyzes the connections between and among classism, racism and sexism, their mutually reinforcing nature, and the tensions arising from their interrelations. Particular attention will be given to the ideological and personal aspects of these phenomena, as well as to their institutional guises in American society. Only one version of AAFS 240 may be taken for credit.
AAFS 269 (= AANT 269 & ALCS 269) The Caribbean: Peoples, History, and Culture (3)
This course will introduce students to the cultural history of the Caribbean region, from the 18th century to the present. This history encompasses colonialism, slavery, emancipation, imperialism, migration, revolution, dictatorship, tourism and environmental change. Students will use a variety of primary sources, including film, music, memoirs, and diaries to explore the unmaking and making of empire in the Anglophone, Francophone and Hispanic Caribbean through the everyday lives of inhabitants of the islands. Additionally, the course will examine the ways that Caribbean people have shaped and engaged narratives of the past and aspirations for the future. Only one version may be taken for credit.
AAFS 270 (= AGOG 270) Geography of Africa (3)
Geographic analysis of the continent of Africa. The diversity of the African continent is stressed by examining its physical environment; resources; social, cultural, economic and political systems. Emphasizes the demographic as well as spatial planning aspects of geography. Only one version of AAFS 270 may be taken for credit.
AAFS 286 (= AHIS 286) African Civilizations (3)
Africa from prehistoric times to 1800 with emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa, the development of indigenous states and their response to Western and Eastern contacts. Only one version of AAFS 286 may be taken for credit.
AAFS 287 (= AHIS 287) Africa in the Modern World (3)
Africa since 1800: exploration, the end of the slave trade, the development of interior states, European partition, the colonial period, and the rise of independent Africa. Only one version of AAFS 287 may be taken for credit.
AAFS 311 History of Slavery in the Western Hemisphere (3)
The institution of slavery and its effects in the Western Hemisphere, its origins, bases of continuance, and contemporary residuals.
AAFS 320 Black Nationalism: Political Perspective in Africa (3)
Examination of selected freedom movements in Black Africa with a focus upon one-party politics and the continuing tensions between socialism and democracy.
AAFS 322 Developing African Nations (3)
Systems analysis of the contemporary social, political, cultural, and economic institutions crucial to the economic maturation of developing African nations. AAFS 286 and 287 recommended.
AAFS 325 Introduction to Research Methods (3)
An introduction to paradigms, theories and models on research and the Black community. Emphasis will be placed on methodological concerns of validity, reliability, instrument development, data collection, data analysis and reporting of research outcomes. The ethics of research on people of African descent will be discussed.
AAFS 331 The African/African American Family (3)
In-depth study of the African/African American family as an institution, the dynamics of intra-family relations and the effects of social institutions on Black family life.
AAFS 333 The Black Community: Continuity & Change (3)
Overview of the socio-historic factors which impact upon the current conditions of the African American community.
AAFS 340 The Black Essay (3)
Essays written by Black American writers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Prerequisite(s): AAFS 142.
AAFS 341 African/African American Religion (3)
Analysis of the relationship of the religion of Black people to Black culture.
AAFS 342 Sub-Saharan Africa: Peoples and Cultures (3)
Culture areas of Africa south of the Sahara. Historical and geographic background studies of selected societies. Culture change and contact during the colonial and postcolonial periods. Prerequisite(s): AAFS 286.
AAFS 345 The Black Novel: Black Perspectives (3)
Systematic study of the novel written by Black Americans from the Harlem Renaissance to the present. The novels studied express the cultural, political, and socio-historical consciousness of the writers to demonstrate their awareness of the struggle of Black people. Prerequisite(s): AAFS 142.
AAFS 355 Introduction to African and African American Poetry (3)
Intensive study of poetry drawn from the black experience. Emphasis on aesthetic forms, meanings, tone, diction, imagery, symbol, sentences, rhythm, rhyme, allusion, etc. Common characteristics of black poetry will also be discussed.
AAFS 370 The Psychology of the Black Experience (3)
In-depth examination of the extant psychological literature on blacks. Analyzes varying themes, theories, perspectives, and research that relate to the psychology of blacks. Focuses on the contemporary work of black behavioral scientists involved in the quest for scholarly self-determination and for redefinition of the psychological fabric of the black experience. Selected topics are identity, personality, motivation, achievement, and mental health. Prerequisite(s): junior or senior standing.
AAFS 375 Black Popular Culture (3)
The course explores the historical and contemporary constructions of “blackness” within the popular realms of film, television, and popular music and the relationship of those constructs to the realities of African American life and culture.
AAFS 379 (= RPOS 379) Black American Politics (3-4)
Black Americans are the most consequential minority group in the country. The hot topics of the day, including police reform, school curriculum, and substantive representation are all impacted by Black politics and mobilization. This course will analyze and study Black political mobilization, racial consciousness, political participation, and political attitudes. The class will discuss contemporary issues of segregation, gentrification, and poverty and will also highlight the voices of the Black women, members of the LGBTQ, as well resource poor Black Americans. Only one version may be taken for credit. Four-credit sections for Honors Program students only.
AAFS 386 (= AHIS 386) History of South Africa: Colonialism, Apartheid, and the Quest for Liberation (3)
Study of the historical origins, development, and lasting effects of racial relations, segregation, and apartheid in South Africa with a concentration on economic, political, social, and religious change in the 19th and 20th centuries. Topics will include changing state structures and ideologies, the impact of industrialization, transformations of rural and urban life, African religious movements, political and religious connections with Black Americans, gender relations, and changing forms of popular resistance against white domination. Only one version of AAFS/ A HIS 386 may be taken for credit.
AAFS 393 Topics in African History (1-4)
Specific topics to be examined will be announced during advance registration. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite(s): junior or senior standing or 3 credits in history.
AAFS 400 The Law and African-America (3)
The central city as a center of dominance, inner city legal problems as an aspect of social control. Students examine selected central city agencies related to law enforcement. Alternate possibilities for reform and improvement are explored. Term project required.
AAFS 401 Seminar in African American History I (3)
This course is an undergraduate seminar of African American History from the American Colonial period to the Civil War. Various historical themes will be reviewed, and students will have an opportunity to explore research topics related to the following: The Transatlantic Slave and Domestic Trades, Colonial and Antebellum slavery, African Americans and the Revolutionary War, Free Black Societies, Black Abolitionists, African Americans and the Civil War. Prerequisite(s): AAFS 219.
AAFS 402 Seminar in African American History II (3)
This course is an undergraduate seminar of African American History from 1865 to the present. Various historical themes will be reviewed, and students will have an opportunity to explore research topics related to the following: Reconstruction, The Age of Jim Crow, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, The Great Depression and New Deal era, World Wars I and II, The Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power movement, and contemporary African American History and Culture. Prerequisite(s): AAFS 219.
AAFS 430 Black Social and Political Thought in the Americas (3)
Seminar on the social and political ideas and strategies of selected African/African Americans from the late 18th century to the present. Prerequisite(s): junior or senior standing.
AAFS 432 The African American Woman: Contemporary Issues (3)
Socio-historic look at the American women of the African diaspora with particular attention to: (1) Black Liberation; (2) feminist movements; (3) sex role socialization; and (4) issues of sexism and racism. Prerequisite(s): AAFS 219, or permission of instructor.
AAFS 435 Blacks and the American Political Process (3)
An examination of the American political process as it impacts upon the Black community in the United States. Prerequisite(s): junior or senior standing.
AAFS 446 (= ASPN 446) Literature and Human Rights (3)
A study of selected works of Spanish and Spanish-American literature that deal with the subject of human rights throughout history. Topics to be studies may include such things as social protest, censored texts, women’s writing, the literature of exile, minority portrayals, and slavery. Prerequisite(s): two courses between ASPN 310-350 (excluding ASPN 333) or permission of instructor.
AAFS 451 (= AMUS 451) Jazz, Identity and the Human Spirit (3)
This course will explore issues of identity, spirituality, entrepreneurship, cultural transmission and politics viewed through the lens of the musical tradition called jazz. Topics will include saxophonist John Coltrane's musical-spiritual search, the musical-mythos of bandleader Sun Ra, musician-led organizations and movements with a focus on the Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Music (AACM), jazz and social protest, ideas about black experimentalist traditions and controversies about the use of electronics in the work of Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, the cultural roots of jazz and questions about the nature of musical genres and boundaries. The course will include lecture, listening, small group presentations and class discussion. Only one version of AAFS 451 may be taken for credit.
AAFS 490 Senior Seminar (Capstone Course) for Africana Studies Majors (3)
An in-depth examination of critical issues involving the experiences of Africans and African Americans in historical, cultural, and social contexts. This Capstone Course is structured to enhance the oratory skills and to ensure that graduating majors engage in critical analyses on their exposure to the Department's interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary undergraduate course offerings. Attention will also be given to the interrelationships of the values and ideas indigenous to Africana Studies. Students will also review basic research methodology.
AAFS 498 Topics in African Studies (3)
Specific topics to be examined are announced during advance registration. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite(s): Africana Studies major or minor of junior or senior standing.
AAFS 499 Topics in African American Studies (3)
Specific topics to be examined are announced during advance registration. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite(s): Africana Studies major or minor of junior or senior standing.