Here are just some of our fabulous winter 2021 courses!
AAS 104 - First Year Humanities Seminar | “Racial Capitalism and the NBA”
with Heath Pearson, TuTh1:00PM - 2:30PM, remote
About: This seminar introduces first-year students to the intellectual community of humanities scholars working in the field of Afroamerican and African studies. The topic of the seminar varies from year to year. MORE
AAS 202 - Introduction to African Diasporic Studies | Global Blackness
with Benedicte Boisseron, TuTh10:00AM - 11:30AM, remote
About: Is the African Diaspora a concept or an actual geographical location? Is it singular or are there multiple African diasporas? What does diaspora have to do with the multi-lingual, multicultural continent of over fifty countries that make up Africa? What impact has Africa and its diaspora(s) had on the so-called “white” West and its development as a site of tremendous wealth and privilege? AAS 202 engages these questions by exploring the long historical, economic, and political relationships between "the West" (e.g., United States, Britain, France, and Germany) and selected countries in Africa and the diaspora (e.g., Jamaica, Haiti, Brazil, Mali, Liberia, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Africa). Topics include: pre-colonial African empires; the Middle Passage; child soldiers; public health; conflict minerals; slavery and resistance; migration; empire, colonialism, and post-colonialism; twentieth-century freedom movements; religion; and popular forms of cultural expression. MORE
AAS 232 - Survey of African American Cinema | Stayin’ Alive: Performing Blackness in 1970s US Film
with Scott Poulson-Bryant, TuTh1:00PM - 2:30PM, remote
About: This course examines the history and aesthetics of African American film making form the silent era to the present. Films are analyzed within their socio-cultural contexts, with particular attention to how race and identity interact with class, gender, and sexuality. We consider the link between film and other forms of Black popular culture. MORE
AAS 290 - Selected Topics in Black World Studies | The Tulsa Race Massacre, Mini Course
with Scott Ellsworth, Meets 01/19/21-03/05/21 from TuTh8:30AM - 10:00AM or Meets 03/08/21 - 04/21/21 from MW2:30PM - 4:00PM, remote
About: The mini-course seminars will introduce students to a range of issues and experiences related to the topics and identity categories of specialized topics in Afroamerican, African, and/or Caribbean studies. The courses will explore and analyze major aspects of the subject matter:historical contexts for the interactions of African and the diaspora;personal experiences; andmeanings and effects.This is a combined short lecture/discussion course that is designed to function as an introduction to the subject matter. Students at all levels are welcome to enroll. MORE
AAS 358 - Topics in Black World Studies | Black Art Matters: Black Women Artists
with Saraellen Strongman, TuTh11:30AM - 1:00PM, remote
About: Beyonce’s recent turn to explicit political activism—performing in front of a giant “FEMINIST” LED at the 2014 VMAs, paying homage to the Black Panthers at the 2016 Super Bowl, and numerous Instagram posts supporting BLM and other anti-racist social movements—can not be divorced from the long history of Black artists’ activism in the United States. The overlap of Black popular culture and Black politics in the United States is undeniable in our current historical moment, as Black women performers speak out and on speak on issues ranging from electoral politics to international humanitarian crises. This course will focus on how Black women performers, from Billie Holiday to Beyonce, have articulated visions of freedom for Black Americans in their art and been supporters of African American political causes more broadly. This course will focus on Black women performers in the United States and thus we will also examine how race, gender, and sexuality have shaped their work and careers. MORE
AAS 358 - Topics in Black World Studies | Institutions, Development, and the Environment in Africa
with Brian Klein, MW2:30PM - 4:00PM, remote
About: Selected topics in Black World Studies which focus on introduction to Africa, to the Caribbean, to North America, and to South America. Specific focus is determined by instructor and indicated in the current Schedule of Classes. MORE
AAS 394 - Junior Seminar in Professional Writing | Flawless/Formation/Freedom: Writing About Race, Gender & Popular Culture
with Scott Poulson-Bryant, W2:00PM - 5:00PM, remote
About: In the professional world, your writing often speaks for you. Through effective and enlivened writing, you can convey the strength of your valuable ideas to others and make a positive impact on the world around you. The Junior Seminar in Professional Writing provides DAAS majors and minors, as well as other students interested in contemporary African American life, with opportunities to read, analyze, and practice a diverse range of professional writing styles based on a topical theme in African American Studies. Over the course of the semester, you will have opportunities to read and practice writing in formats and genres such as: journalistic writing, grant writing, legal writing, creative writing, public policy writing, health field writing, public history writing, and book and film reviews. Experimenting with these varied formats will prepare you to meet the many writing challenges that you may face in the future, while also helping you to become a more flexible thinker. We will have classroom visits from professional writers in DAAS and beyond who publish in these various fields. MORE
AAS 453 - Culture, Class, and Conflict in Southern Africa
with Anne Pitcher, MW2:30PM - 4:00PM, remote
Requirements & Distribution: ULWR
About: In 1994, observers proclaimed the end of apartheid in South Africa a "miracle" and applauded the creation of a vibrant, inclusive democracy in that country. Nearly quarter of a century later, vast economic inequalities remain, unemployment has worsened, and urban voters are beginning to abandon the ruling African National Congress. Is democracy in danger in South Africa? Why have economic disparities persisted? How are South African citizens navigating political and economic hardships and expressing their discontent? This course explores the legacy of apartheid and the resulting spatial compartmentalization of housing, neighborhoods, schools, clincis, and social life in South Africa. MORE
AAS 482 - Black Queer Theory | Black Queer Studies
with Lydia Kelow-Bennett, TuTh10:00AM - 11:30AM, remote
About: While Black Queer Studies is a relatively young field in academia, Black queer brilliance has a much longer history. In this course, we will examine key genealogies, debates, and questions emerging from the intersections of blackness, gender, sexuality, and class in the U.S. and other sites in the African diaspora. This course will cross both disciplinary and methodological boundaries as we examine histories of Black queer and queer of color social movements; literature that reflects Black LGBTQ experiences; Black queer performances; and the numerous interventions that Black queer theories have made into questions of family, belonging, citizenship, futures, and performance. MORE
AAS 498 - DAAS In Action | The History and Future of Black Studies
with Stephen Ward, TuTh10:00AM - 11:30AM and M1:00PM - 4:00PM, remote
About: DAAS-In-Action gives students opportunities to collaborate on a class project that requires each student to apply the knowledge and skills they've gained in DAAS courses. This 3-credit capstone course would underscore the utility of majoring or minoring in DAAS; it would help students to recognize the concrete skills they have developed and might use to effect change in the world. MORE
AAS 498 - DAAS In Action | Prisoner Rights and the Conditions of Confinement Project
with Heather Ann Thompson, M1:00PM - 4:00PM, remote
About: DAAS-In-Action gives students opportunities to collaborate on a class project that requires each student to apply the knowledge and skills they've gained in DAAS courses. This 3-credit capstone course would underscore the utility of majoring or minoring in DAAS; it would help students to recognize the concrete skills they have developed and might use to effect change in the world. MORE
