Undergraduate Courses

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to key intellectual issues and debates in African-American Studies. The class will focus on the makings and meanings of race in the United States, by studying texts from various disciplines, including history, literature, cultural studies, sociology, ethnography, education, philosophy, and political science. One goal is to arrive at an interdisciplinary understanding of the significance of race—how it is constructed and perpetuated through both institutions and discourses, how its meanings change depending on historical context, and how various black intellectuals and artists have sought to conceptualize and transform these meanings over the course of the twentieth century. Finally, the class will consider the ways in which racial meanings are produced and lived through the categories of gender, sexuality, class, and region.

3 hours. Individual and Society, and US Society course. To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion and one Lecture.

Popular depictions of the U.S. portray it as having an open, inclusive political system. This interpretation is supported by traditional political science theory, which contends that power in America is distributed widely among competing interest groups. Theories of racial politics disagree, arguing that certain privileges have historically been concentrated within white populations. Which view is more accurate?

In this course, you will evaluate those competing theories by examining the political status and activism of African Americans over time. Specifically, you will analyze how political, economic and social power has been distributed-within and among black and white populations-from the slave period to the civil rights era.

3 hours. Same as POLS 112. Individual and Society, and US Society course.

This course is the first in a sequence of a two-part introduction to African American literature. It explores African American literature from the mid-eighteen century to the earlier twentieth century and examines various genres: poetry, autobiography, journal-writing, essays and short and long fiction while simultaneously deciding the work's significance to both African American and American literatures in general. It discusses the personal background, context and audience of the writers and their works. In addition, members of the class will add their own voices to the critical discussions of the works and the writers and historicize these interpretive practices.

3 hours. Same as ENGL 118. Creative Arts, and Individual and Society course.

This survey course is designed to introduce students to 20th century African American literature and other cultural forms within the social context of U.S. white supremacy. The course examines poetry, autobiography, novels, and short stories beginning from the Harlem Renaissance period, in relation to non-literary African American cultural production such as film, jazz, and hip-hop. Discussions of these African American artistic forms will include an examination of how dominant representations of Blackness continue to be central to American culture. In other words, the course will examine how African American cultural production engages, interrogates, and represents that history.

3 hours. Same as ENGL 119. Creative Arts, and US Society course.

Religion has been and continues to be an integral part of the "Americanized" African experience. This course is a survey of pre-colonial Africa to the present US religious expressions and experiences of black people; and the significance of religion in the formation of black faith and black spiritualities in the African Diaspora in general and the African in American in particular.

3 hours. Past, and US Society course.

3 hours. Same as HIST 251, and LALS 251.
Blacks and Whites in Conflict: Race Relations in US History

The primary purpose of this course is to examine and better understand the psychology of African Americans (i.e., the culture-bound meanings assigned to feelings, thought processes, and behaviors) as well as the practice of culturally competent psychotherapeutic treatment for African Americans. Consequently, we will examine the emerging field of African American psychology as well as various theories from several sub-fields of psychology including cognitive, educational, developmental, social, personality, and clinical psychology as well as anthropology. Another goal of the course is to challenge students to think critically about issues that shape African American life experiences. By considering the following questions, you will have a better grasp of the course content: What does optimal mental health look like for African Americans? Among African Americans, what are the psychological consequences of racism? What is racial identity? And how does racial identity impact mental health? How do African centered philosophies contribute to African American development?

3 hours. Same as PSCH 201. Prerequisite(s): AAST 100 or PSCH 100 or consent of the instructor. Individual and Society, and US Society course.

This course will examine the behavioral patterns of African Americans for a better understanding from both an African-centered perspective and a more traditional perspective. The primary goal is to develop critical thinking skills, in part, by challenging students to consider and integrate a variety of complimentary and competing historical, psychological, cultural, and sociological perspectives, as it relates to African American behavioral patterns.

3 hours. Same as PSCH 202. Prerequisite(s) PSCH 100 or consent of the instructor. Recommended background: Credit in AAST 201 or PSCH 201. Individual and Society, and US Society course. Departmental Approval Required

This course is an introduction to studies of African American families as revealed in the empirical literature of the social and behavioral sciences. This course will make you aware intellectually, emotionally, and experientially of the social forces that impact Black families in the United States. Teaching and learning in the context of this class will be multidimensional. You will learn how social structure affects family life through lecture, role-play, discussion, data analysis and field exercises. Through these alternative pedagogical strategies, our class will work as a learning community to understand the diversity of the African American family experiences via sociological investigation and to enable you to acquire a sociological perspective for understanding your own experience and that of the social world in which you live.

3 hours. Same as SOC 203. Prerequisite(s): AAST 100 or SOC 100 or consent of the instructor. Individual and Society, and US Society course.

This course is designed to provide an introduction to the use of interdisciplinary research methods as a means of studying the African American experience. Topics covered include: 1) research design, 2) theory construction, 3) the measurement of social variables, 4) data collection techniques, and 5) data analysis strategies. Teaching and learning in the context of this class will be multidimensional. You will learn about research methods through lecture, discussion, documentary films, simulation and/or fieldwork. Through these alternative pedagogical strategies, this class will work as a learning community to critically explore research on the Black experience.

3 hours. Prerequisite(s): Credit or concurrent registration in AAST 100; or consent of the instructor. For African American Studies majors and minors only. Instructor Approval Required