2023-2024 Academic Year

Fall 2023

AFST 200 Approaches to Africana Studies
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.

MUAC 210 It’s a Hip Hop World
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).

AFST 220 It’s a Hip Hop World
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).

POSC 290 Black Politics
Cross-listed with AFST 320-01.This course combines political theory and history to explore the evolution of Black political thought of the 20th and 21st century: from abolition movement to Black Lives Matter. It will discuss issues and problems faced by Black people with respect to global political systems, examine various avenues of political expression, and raise questions and new ideas pertaining to the exploration of Black politics. The course will begin with an introduction to various theoretical and philosophical foundations of race and move toward a survey of some of the major trends of global Black political thought. It will introduce a wide spectrum of political trends and movements, focusing on radical Black politics: Black nationalism, Black Marxism, Black Internationalism, Black Feminism and Queer Theory. The course will create a multidimensional and complex picture of the evolution of visions and meanings of Black liberation.

AFST 320 Black Politics
Cross-listed with POSC 290-01.This course combines political theory and history to explore the evolution of Black political thought of the 20th and 21st century: from abolition movement to Black Lives Matter. It will discuss issues and problems faced by Black people with respect to global political systems, examine various avenues of political expression, and raise questions and new ideas pertaining to the exploration of Black politics. The course will begin with an introduction to various theoretical and philosophical foundations of race and move toward a survey of some of the major trends of global Black political thought. It will introduce a wide spectrum of political trends and movements, focusing on radical Black politics: Black nationalism, Black Marxism, Black Internationalism, Black Feminism and Queer Theory. The course will create a multidimensional and complex picture of the evolution of visions and meanings of Black liberation.

AFST 500 Independent Study

Spring 2024

WGSS 301 James Baldwin Studies Renaiss
Cross-listed with AFST 320-01. This is an interdisciplinary seminar that seeks to explore the different sides of James Baldwin: a writer, an intellectual, a cosmopolitan, a radical, and an activist. The seminar will focus on James Baldwin's essays, in addition to his major novels and works of fiction. We will watch the recent, highly acclaimed film based on his writings, "I am not your Negro" as well as his speeches and debates with prolific figures like Malcolm X. Finally, we will explore Baldwin's invaluable contributions to the discourses on Queer Studies, critical race theory, class, philosophy, and above all, his visions of Black liberation and the meaning of freedom.

AFST 320 James Baldwin Studies Renaiss
Cross-listed with WGSS 301-01. This is an interdisciplinary seminar that seeks to explore the different sides of James Baldwin: a writer, an intellectual, a cosmopolitan, a radical, and an activist. The seminar will focus on James Baldwin's essays, in addition to his major novels and works of fiction. We will watch the recent, highly acclaimed film based on his writings, "I am not your Negro" as well as his speeches and debates with prolific figures like Malcolm X. Finally, we will explore Baldwin's invaluable contributions to the discourses on Queer Studies, critical race theory, class, philosophy, and above all, his visions of Black liberation and the meaning of freedom.

AFST 400 Writing in Africana Studies
This course will build on experiences in the methods course. Students in this course continue research toward and writing of a senior thesis. The emphasis is on writing skills and course material; assignments link those skills to work in Africana Studies. Seniors in the major will work independently with the director of Africana Studies and a second faculty reader (representing a discipline closer to the senior's interest) to produce a lengthy paper or special project which focuses on an issue relevant to the student's concentration. Under the direction of the director of Africana Studies, students will meet collectively two or three times during the semester with the directors (and, if possible, other Africana Studies core and contributing faculty) to share bibliographies, research data, early drafts, and the like. This group will also meet at the end of the semester to discuss and evaluate final papers and projects. Prerequisites: 100 and 200; four 200/300-level AFST approved courses (2 Africa, 2 Diaspora); three 300-level (in area of concentration).

AFST 500 Independent Study