Fall 2023

Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
AFST 100-01 Introduction to Africana Studies
Instructor: Naaja Rogers
Course Description:
Cross-listed with LALC 121-01. This interdisciplinary introduction to Africana Studies combines teaching foundational texts in the field with instruction in critical reading and writing. The course will cover Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade, the creation of African Disaporic communities, the conceptualization and representation of Black culture and identity, and the intellectual and institutional development of Black and Africana Studies. This course is cross-listed as LALC 121.
09:30 AM-10:20 AM, MWF
ALTHSE 110
AFST 170-01 African Civilizations to 1850
Instructor: Robin Crigler
Course Description:
Cross-listed with HIST 170-01. This course provides an overview to the political, social, and ecological history of Africa. We will examine the peopling of the continent, the origins of agriculture, the growth of towns and the development of metal technology. Written sources before the 1400s are almost nonexistent for most of Africa, and so we will use archaeological and linguistic sources. The geographic focus of the course will be the Middle Nile, Aksum in Ethiopia, the Sudanic states in West Africa, Kongo in Central Africa, the Swahili states of the East African coast, and Zimbabwe and KwaZulu in Southern Africa. We will also examine the Atlantic Slave Trade and the colonization of the Cape of Good Hope.This course is cross-listed as HIST 170.
10:30 AM-11:20 AM, MWF
DENNY 104
AFST 200-01 Approaches to Africana Studies
Instructor: Nadia Alahmed
Course Description:
This course will investigate the importance of conceptual analysis and the development of concepts in the theoretical and textual research of Africana Studies. Thus, the course will focus on various interpretive frameworks and approaches to organizing and understanding Africana Studies, including but not limited to the African model, Afrocentricity, diaspora model, critical race theory, post-modernism, and post colonialism. Prerequisite: 100.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, TF
DENNY 110
AFST 220-01 Cape Town to Carlisle: U.S.A-South Africa Historical Encounters
Instructor: Robin Crigler
Course Description:
Cross-listed with HIST 215-01.Visitors to South Africa from the United States and vice versa are often struck by the similarities between these two countries' histories, especially with regard to race and the politics of liberation. This course moves beyond conventional comparative history to explore how these places have influenced one another through the movement of politicians, students, intellectuals, and activists. This course will be structured seminar-style and consider topics such as the slave trade, indigenous responses to colonialism, American activism during the South African War, transnational white supremacy, Black South African-African American encounters, the global anti-apartheid movement, and the perception of South Africa and the United States in local popular culture.
09:00 AM-10:15 AM, TR
DENNY 204
AFST 220-02 It’s a Hip Hop World: The Rise and Implications of Hip Hop Beyond the US
Instructor: Nadia Alahmed
Course Description:
Cross-listed with MUAC 210-01.This course will explore Hip Hop as a global phenomenon and its contributions to articulations of cultural, racial identities and its contributions to social change movements. The course will focus on the genesis and evolution of Black American hip hop from the late 1970s until present. It will outline some of the major cultural, aesthetic and political forces that propelled its emergence and ideological matrix, especially Black Arts and Black Power movements. It will reveal not only cultural and artistic legacies but also social and structural implications for Black institutions, class and politics. We will explore the role of hip hop as a platform for articulations of black politics on social change, class, capitalism, feminism, Queerness and self-determination. Even though the focus will be made on Black American hip hop, the course will also address the rise and impact of hip hop in Africa (Ghana, Morocco), Eastern Europe and Middle East (especially Palestinian hip hop).
10:30 AM-11:45 AM, TR
ALTHSE 110
AFST 220-03 Africana Theater of Expression: An Examination of Race and Other Themes in 20th Century America
Instructor: Naaja Rogers
Course Description:
What is Black theater and what does its history tell us about the struggle to radically articulate Black liberation across the African diaspora? In this course, we will explore a variety of plays and performances as creative outlets for Black artists to challenge various injustices during the 20th century by critically engaging the works of individuals such as Lorraine Hansberry, August Wilson, Langston Hughes, Charles Fuller, Ama Ata Aidoo, George C. Wolfe, and Ntozake Shange. We will also survey the tradition of black theater, paying particular attention to the formal aspects of drama and covering a range of historical and thematic contexts such as slavery, identity, family, interracial relations, intra-racial differences (including class, gender, and sexuality), black feminism/womanism, masculinity, and whiteness. Along the way, we will critically discuss and engage questions about privilege, class, sexuality, gender, identity, religion, and ability as they intersect with questions about race in America.
11:30 AM-12:20 PM, MWF
DENNY 110
AFST 320-02 Francophone African Novelists of Diaspora
Instructor: Benjamin Ngong
Course Description:
Cross-listed with FREN 364-01.This course examines the movement between Africa and France, the dream destination for many Sub-Saharan Francophone Africans who have made their way to France, either as students or workers throughout the 20th Century. The course invites reflection on transnational movements from the perspective of Francophone African authors and filmmakers, whose works are supplemented by readings documenting relevant social and historical phenomena such as the "Tirailleurs Sngalais," "Sapeurs," and "Sans-papiers." Students read across the spectrum of French immigration literature, relevant historical, sociological, or critical texts and review films, both documentary and fiction.
11:30 AM-12:20 PM, MWF
BOSLER 314
AFST 320-03 The Future in Ruins
Instructor: James Ellison
Course Description:
Cross-listed with ANTH 345-01.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, TF
DENNY 212
AFST 500-01 LGBT Rights Across the African Continent
Instructor: Robin Crigler
Course Description:

AFST 500-02 Black Athletes and Capitalism
Instructor: Nadia Alahmed
Course Description:

Courses Offered in ANTH
Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
ANTH 345-01 The Future in Ruins
Instructor: James Ellison
Course Description:
Cross-listed with AFST 320-03.
01:30 PM-02:45 PM, TF
DENNY 212
Courses Offered in FREN
Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
FREN 364-01 Francophone African Novelists of Diaspora
Instructor: Benjamin Ngong
Course Description:
Cross-listed with AFST 320-02.This course examines the movement between Africa and France, the dream destination for many Sub-Saharan Francophone Africans who have made their way to France, either as students or workers throughout the 20th Century. The course invites reflection on transnational movements from the perspective of Francophone African authors and filmmakers, whose works are supplemented by readings documenting relevant social and historical phenomena such as the "Tirailleurs Sngalais," "Sapeurs," and "Sans-papiers." Students read across the spectrum of French immigration literature, relevant historical, sociological, or critical texts and review films, both documentary and fiction.
11:30 AM-12:20 PM, MWF
BOSLER 314
Courses Offered in HIST
Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
HIST 170-01 African Civilizations to 1850
Instructor: Robin Crigler
Course Description:
Cross-listed with AFST 170-01. This course provides an overview to the political, social, and ecological history of Africa. We will examine the peopling of the continent, the origins of agriculture, the growth of towns and the development of metal technology. Written sources before the 1400s are almost nonexistent for most of Africa, and so we will use archaeological and linguistic sources. The geographic focus of the course will be the Middle Nile, Aksum in Ethiopia, the Sudanic states in West Africa, Kongo in Central Africa, the Swahili states of the East African coast, and Zimbabwe and KwaZulu in Southern Africa. We will also examine the Atlantic Slave Trade and the colonization of the Cape of Good Hope.This course is cross-listed as AFST 170.
10:30 AM-11:20 AM, MWF
DENNY 104
HIST 215-01 Cape Town to Carlisle: U.S.A-South Africa Historical Encounters
Instructor: Robin Crigler
Course Description:
Cross-listed with AFST 220-01.Visitors to South Africa from the United States and vice versa are often struck by the similarities between these two countries' histories, especially with regard to race and the politics of liberation. This course moves beyond conventional comparative history to explore how these places have influenced one another through the movement of politicians, students, intellectuals, and activists. This course will be structured seminar-style and consider topics such as the slave trade, indigenous responses to colonialism, American activism during the South African War, transnational white supremacy, Black South African-African American encounters, the global anti-apartheid movement, and the perception of South Africa and the United States in local popular culture.
09:00 AM-10:15 AM, TR
DENNY 204
Courses Offered in LALC
Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
LALC 121-01 Introduction to Africana Studies
Instructor: Naaja Rogers
Course Description:
Cross-listed with AFST 100-01. This interdisciplinary introduction to Africana Studies combines teaching foundational texts in the field with instruction in critical reading and writing. The course will cover Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade, the creation of African Disaporic communities, the conceptualization and representation of Black culture and identity, and the intellectual and institutional development of Black and Africana Studies.This course is cross-listed as AFST 100.
09:30 AM-10:20 AM, MWF
ALTHSE 110
Courses Offered in MUAC
Course Code Title/Instructor Meets
MUAC 210-01 It’s a Hip Hop World: The Rise and Implications of Hip Hop Beyond the US
Instructor: Nadia Alahmed
Course Description:
Cross-listed with AFST 220-02.This course will explore Hip Hop as a global phenomenon and its contributions to articulations of cultural, racial identities and its contributions to social change movements. The course will focus on the genesis and evolution of Black American hip hop from the late 1970s until present. It will outline some of the major cultural, aesthetic and political forces that propelled its emergence and ideological matrix, especially Black Arts and Black Power movements. It will reveal not only cultural and artistic legacies but also social and structural implications for Black institutions, class and politics. We will explore the role of hip hop as a platform for articulations of black politics on social change, class, capitalism, feminism, Queerness and self-determination. Even though the focus will be made on Black American hip hop, the course will also address the rise and impact of hip hop in Africa (Ghana, Morocco), Eastern Europe and Middle East (especially Palestinian hip hop).
10:30 AM-11:45 AM, TR
ALTHSE 110