Graduate Courses

5193: INDIVIDUAL STUDIES

Individual readings or research projects by special agreement between instructor and student.

 

5240: RACE AND PUBLIC POLICY IN THE U.S.

This high between race and public policy in the U.S. by drawing on insights from three academic disciplines:  sociology, history, and political science.  It examines how racial domination in the U.S from inception shapes racialized practices of power that exacerbate inequality and are expressed in public policy.  It also interrogates how systemic and structural racism shapes public opinion and discourse and examines the politics of policymaking by considering two policy issues:  affirmative action and welfare.  

 

5485.01 SOUTHERN AFRICAN: SOCIETY AND CULTURE

A critical examination of the historical, cultural, economic, and socio-political realities of Southern Africa and their impact on the contemporary landscape and the environment. 

 

5485.02 WEST AFRICA: SOCIETY AND CULTURE 

A three-week study tour of selected sites of historical, cultural, economic and socio-political importance in the contemporary Southern African region. (prerequisite AAAS 5485.01)

 

5650: BLACKNESS AND THE BODY IN SCIENCE AND MEDICINE

This course considers the need for and pursuit of social justice when black bodies are subjected to commodification and systemic subordination.  The course focuses on what Frantz Fanon called the “corporeal schema” of blackness as well as the social construction of blackness to think about the relationship between black bodies and social justice pursuits in the medicine and science. 

 

5798 STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM TO WESTERN AFRICA

This three-week study abroad is an experiential course which includes a series of visits to representative sites throughout a selected anglo-phone West African country. Graduate students will explore West Africa's cultures, history, politics, and status in the global community.  (prerequisite AAAS 5485).

 

6189.01S COMMUNITY SERVICE

This course involves practical work with a community based organization

 

6189.02S GRANT PROPOSAL WRITING

Individual instruction on grant proposal writing for a specific project identified by a community agency and the student during part of the first part of the course.

 

6757.01: INTRO TO GRADUATE STUDIES IN AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE I  1746 to 1900

Introduction to early writings by African Americans as well as some of the critical discourses currently underway concerning this body of writing (Cross-listed with English). 

 

6757.02: INTRO TO GRADUATE STUDIES IN AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE II 1900 to Present

Introduction to critical conversations about vernacular traditions and literary texts in African American literature from the Harlem Renaissance to the present (Cross-listed with English).

 

7083: AFRICAN AMERICANS DURING THE 20TH CENTURY

This intensive reading and discussion seminar explores African American life and culture from the Nadir through the start of the new millennium.

 

7084: AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORIOGRAPHY

Explores the origins and evolution of African American history from the late-eighteenth century to the present.

 

7085: 19TH CENTURY AFRICAN AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT

Chronicles the political, spiritual, and social strivings of the black community during the 19th century, focusing on culture, resistance, and nationalism.

 

7086: THE CIVIL RIGHTS AND BLACK POWER MOVEMENTS

Examines the origins, evolution, and outcomes of the African American freedom struggle, focusing on the Civil Rights and Black Power movements.

 

7087: BLACK WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES

A study of historical and related scholarship on the history and experience of black women in the United States.

 

7300: INTRODUCTION TO GRADUATE LEVEL AFRICAN HISTORY

The study of the historical literature of Africa and various aspects of African history.

 

7301: AFRICAN HISTORIOGRAPHY AND METHODOLOGY

The study of sources, research methods, interpretations, and research trends in the field of African history.

 

7302: COMPARATIVE HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA: ENSLAVEMENT AND EMANCIPATION (PART I)

This part of the course will examine the dispersion of Africans in the Middle East, the Americas, Asia, and the Caribbean, mainly through the slave trade across the Sahara, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic Ocean.

 

7303 COMPARATIVE HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA: COLONIAL & POSTCOLONIAL REALITIES (PART II)

This part of the series on the comparative history of the Black world will examine post emancipation realities, conceived very broadly, in the black Diaspora.

 

7732: LAW, POLITICS AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA

An examination of the interplay of law and politics in contemporary Africa, and the place of human rights in the emerging order. 

 

7750: LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY IN AFRICA

An analysis of the interplay between language and the various domains of society in the African context.

 

7751: INTRODUCTION TO GRADUATE STUDIES IN AFRICAN LITERATURE

A broad survey of the development of African literature, its variations, genres and themes.

 

7765: AFRICAN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION

A seminar on the development of social movements, contentious politics, and collective identities in Africa in the context of neoliberal globalization.

 

7753: GRADUATE SURVEY IN AFRICAN AMERICAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES

A critical examination of the development of African American and African Studies as a discipline and the theoretical approaches to its subject matter.

 

7754: METHODOGICAL PERSPECTIVES IN AFRICAN AMERICAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES

A critical and transdisciplinary examination of methodological issues and approaches in the study of the histories, cultures and socio-political conditions of people of African descent.

 

7756: THEORIZING RACE AND ETHNICITY

Examination of the ideas and theories of race and its intersection with ethnicity.

 

7759 TOPICS IN AFRICAN DIASPORA STUDIES

A multi-disciplinary and critical examination of the origins, dimensions, and legacies of the African Diaspora. Topics will vary each term.

 

7580:ENSLAVEMENT, EMANCIPATION, COLONIAL AND POSTCOLONIAL REALITIES

History and evolution of the African Diaspora worldwide, from ancient times to the present. Examination of social, political and cultural developments and realities in the Black world.

 

7760: AFRICAN POPULAR CULTURE

Examination and critique of various theories of popular culture as they relate to Africa and to specific texts in popular culture.

 

7781: TOPICS IN AFRICAN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

Post-Colonial African conceptions of power, freedom, alienation, and cultural identity.

 

7792: INTERDEPARTMENTAL STUDIES IN THE HUMANITIES

Two or more departments present colloquia on subjects of mutual interest; topics to be announced.

 

7810 TOPICS IN BLACK FEMINIST THEORY

Theoretical analysis of the politics and perceptions of womanhood in the black community.

 

7833: SEMINAR IN U.S. - AFRICA RELATIONS

A critical analysis of selected theories of American foreign policy, with special emphasis on Africa.

 

7851: SEMINAR IN CRITICAL APPROACHES TO BLACK LITERATURES

A study of theoretical constructs/discourses which articulate aesthetic notions about art and culture with specific reference to the Black historical experience (Cross-listed with English). 

 

7759: TOPICS IN AFRICAN DIASPORA STUDIES

Topics in African, African American, and Caribbean literature.

 

7862: MENTAL HEALTH IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY

Theoretical and practical approaches to the problems of mental health in the Black community.

 

8350: TRANSNATIONAL HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN WORLD

Starts from the premise that the African world no longer includes only the continent of Africa, but also the spaces and cultures populated by peoples of African descent.

 

8830: BLACK WOMEN (AUTO)BIOGRAPHIES: VOICES OF RESISTANCE

Examination of Black Women's autobiographies of the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on the ways in which gender, race, class, and sexual orientation impact black women's lives and how women used autobiographies to (re)define and empower themselves.

 

8840:SEMINAR IN BLACK MASCULINITY STUDIES

Engages different topics that address issues and concerns that pertain to black men and boys.

 

8850: CONSUMER CULTURE, RACE, AND MODERNITY

Acquaints students with critical theoretical perspectives on the social and cultural history of consumer culture in the West, linking it to the rise of capitalism, industrialization, imperial and neo-liberal globalization.

 

8863: READING THE AFRICAN DIASPORA: Methods and Approaches

Examination of conceptions of African Diaspora identities and their “performance” and the research paradigms, methods and tools employed in their study.

 

8865: RACE, GENDER AND CLASS IN THE DIASPORA 

An examination of the core influences of race, gender and class on people of African descent.

 

8899: INTERDEPARTMENTAL SEMINAR

Two or more departments’ present seminars on subjects of mutual interest; topics to be announced. Research for the thesis.

 

8998: RESEARCH IN AFRICAN AMERICAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES: THESIS

Research for the MA thesis.

 

8999: RESEARCH IN AFRICAN AMERICAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES: DISSERTATION

Research for the Ph.D. dissertation.