Mar 28, 2024  
2017 - 2018 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2017 - 2018 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions


 

Africana Studies

  
  • AFST 150 - First Year Seminar


    Fall or Spring (4) Staff (C150)

    An exploration of a specific topic in African Studies. A grade of C- or better fulfills the COLL 150 requirement. Although topics vary, the courses emphasize academic writing skills, reading and analysis of texts, and discussion.
  
  • AFST 205 - Introduction to Africana Studies


    Fall or Spring (3) Pinson, Vinson, Norman, Weiss, Sanford, Staff (College 200, CSI, GER 4C, GER 5)

    An introduction to the diverse field of critical inquiry called Africana Studies through explorations of the links and disjunctures in the experiences, histories, and cultural, political, and intellectual practices of Africans and African descendants throughout Africa’s diasporas. Students may take only one of AFST 205, AFST 100 or 150 when using Intro to Africana Studies toward the major or minor in Africana Studies. (This course is anchored in the CSI domain, and also considers aspects of the ALV domain.)
  
  • AFST 210 - Medicine, Arts, and Social Justice


    Fall (3) Braxton (College 200, ALV)

    The course examines the nature of inequalities in the health professions and the communities they serve in order to explore routes to freedom and equality for those who have been voiceless and often under-represented in the medical professions. It also seeks to augment the creativity and the reflective capacity of students who may be exploring such careers and to improve their abilities to become reflective and resilient practitioners by engaging stories from the experiences of Asian/American and African/American peoples. It is for inquiring minds seeking solutions to health problems that plague our diverse and varied communities. We will further explore pathways for literary scholars, storytellers, activists, helpers and healers to address these issues through science, technology, engineering, mathematics and the arts in the spirit of “authentic excellence.”  (This course is anchored in the ALV domain, and also considers aspects of the CSI domain.)
  
  • AFST 218 - Introduction to Caribbean Cultures & Identities


    Fall (3) Osiapem (GER4 B)

    The primary goal of this course is to explore scholarly research and cultural materials dealing with Caribbean identity. We will survey,examine, and discuss issues that bear on Caribbean identities including topics in contemporary language use and policy, literature, music, and other forms of popular media (television, radio, newspapers, etc.) to illustrate how various islands in the Caribbean identify and distinguish themselves from others. The course will focus on theory-based and research oriented information as well as critical essays and popular media that will provide you with knowledge to havean intelligent and informed discussion about issues dealing with Caribbean identities.
  
  • AFST 235 - African American History to Emancipation


    Fall (3) Ely, Allegro, Staff (College 200, CSI, GER 4A)

    A survey of African American history from the colonial period to emancipation. (This course is anchored in the CSI domain, and also considers aspects of the ALV domain.) (Cross listed with HIST 235 )
  
  • AFST 236 - African American History since Emancipation


    Fall (3) Ely, Allegro, Staff (CSI, GER 4A)

    A survey of African American history from the colonial period to emancipation. (Cross listed with HIST 236 )
  
  • AFST 250 - African-American English


    Fall or Spring (4) Charity-Hudley (College 200, CSI, ACTV)

    This course explores the sociolinguistics of English spoken by African-Americans in the United States. We examine the relationship of African-American English to linguistic theory, education praxis, and American culture. This course prepares students for community-based research. (This course is anchored in the CSI domain, and also considers aspects of the ALV domain.)      (Cross listed with LING 250 )
  
  • AFST 251 - Soon Come: Caribbean Languages and Identities


    Spring (3) Osiapem (College 200, CSI, GER 4B)

    This course explores the history, structure, and sociocultural aspects of language development in the Caribbean. This course explores the history, structure, and sociocultural aspects of language development in the Caribbean. (This course is anchored in the CSI domain, and also considers aspects of the ALV domain.)
  
  • AFST 281 - Ancient African History


    Fall or Spring (3) Bishara, Choin, Pope, Vinson

    This course covers African history before AD 600, with emphasis on political and cultural histories of ancient cities and states. It is a more focused survey than HIST 181, but it has no prerequisites and assumes no prior knowledge of Africa. (Cross-listed with HIST 281 )
  
  • AFST 282 - Medieval African History


    Fall or Spring (3) Bishara, Choin, Pope, Vinson

    This course covers African history between 600 and 1500, with emphasis on the influence of Islam and changing commercial networks. It is a more
    focused survey than HIST 181, but it has no prerequisites and assumes no prior knowledge of Africa. (Cross-listed with HIST 282 )
  
  • AFST 283 - Early Modern African History


    Fall or Spring (3) Bishara, Choin, Pope, Vinson

    This course covers African history between 1500 and 1800, particularly Africa’s changing relationship with Western Europe and the Americas. It is a more focused survey than HIST 181, but it has no prerequisites and assumes no prior knowledge of Africa. (Cross-listed with HIST 283 )
  
  • AFST 299 - African Americans and Africa


    Fall or Spring (3) Vinson

    This course explores the political, socio-economic, educational and cultural connections between African Americans and Africa. It examines the close
    linkages but also the difficulties between Africans and diasporic peoples in the modern era. (Cross-listed with HIST 310 )
  
  • AFST 300 - Pan-Africanism: History of a Revolutionary Idea


    Fall or Spring (3) Vinson (GER 4C)

    This course surveys the history of Pan-Africanism, a global political movement that considers Africans and diasporic blacks to have a common history, present and future, often proclaiming an objective of African political, socio-economic and cultural self-determination and asserting a fierce pride in
    African history and culture. (Cross-listed with HIST 316 )
  
  • AFST 301 - Critical Debates in Africana Studies


    Spring (3-4) Staff. Prerequisite(s): AFST 205 .

    Course provides an in-depth study and discussion of a specific issue of significant debate in Africana Studies. Topics may vary by semester. This writing-intensive seminar satisfies the major writing requirement.
  
  • AFST 304 - Introduction to the African Diaspora


    Fall or Spring (3) Vinson

    Reviews the dispersions of peoples from the African continent since ancient times. Major themes include the Atlantic Slave Trade, the post-emancipation fight for full citizenship in the Americas, and interactions between diasporic blacks and Africans. (Cross listed with HIST 323 )
  
  • AFST 305 - African Diaspora since 1808


    Fall or Spring (3) Vinson

    This course examines the African Diaspora since 1800 with major themes including the end of slavery, the fight for full citizenship and the close interactions between diasporic blacks and Africans. Students who have already taken HIST 323 - The African Diaspora, 1492-1808  are particularly encouraged to take this more advanced class. (Cross listed with HIST 324 )
  
  • AFST 306 - Topics in Africana Studies


    Fall or Spring (1-4) Staff. Prerequisite(s): AFST 205 .

    Approved courses focusing on relevant topics in Africana Studies, including those offered by allied Departments and Programs. The list of eligible, mostly cross-listed, courses is available at the University Registrar’s website each semester prior to preregistration. This course may be repeated for credit if there is no duplication of topic.
  
  • AFST 307 - Workshop on Black Expressive Culture


    Spring (3-4) Staff. (College 200, ALV)

    An arts-oriented workshop that will vary depending on the specialization of the professor(s) currently teaching the course. With faculty supervision, students will create and present individual Africana- related projects. (This course is anchored in the ALV domain, and also considers aspects of the CSI domain.) This course may be repeated for credit if there is no duplication of topic.
  
  • AFST 308 - West Africa Since 1800


    Fall or Spring (3) La Fleur (GER 4B)

    Explores the survival of West Africans in ancient environments, subsequent challenges in trans-Saharan and Atlantic slave trade, colonial overrule, political independence, and ever-increasing globalization as well as relocation to rural America in the early Atlantic era and eventually to contemporary American cities. (Cross listed with HIST 280 )
  
  • AFST 309 - African Economic Development


    Fall (3) Shiferaw. Prerequisite(s): ECON 101  /ECON 151  and ECON 102  /ECON 152 .

    Africa was richer than Asia until the 1970s, but faltered subsequently. We seek credible explanations using economic theory and the available evidence. We will address a number of issues comparatively including the role of geography, demography, historical legacies, the global environment, and domestic economic governance to understand the diversity of economic performance within Africa itself.
  
  • AFST 310 - Comparative Economic Inequality in Multiracial Societies


    Spring (3) Abegaz. Prerequisite(s): ECON 101  -ECON 102 .

    A comparative study of the historical patterns of income and wealth inequality in multiracial economies. Theory and empirical evidence on racial and class inequality will be examined with a focus on three canonical case studies (Brazil, South Africa, and U.S.). (Cross listed with ECON 346 )
  
  • AFST 312 - The Global Color Line: U.S. Civil Rights and South African Anti-Apartheid Politics


    Fall or Spring (3) Vinson (GER 4C)

    This course examines the Civil Rights movement as part of a centuries-long tradition of black freedom struggles. The course also compares the Civil Rights movement with the South African anti-apartheid struggle and shows the close transnational relationship between African Americans and black South Africans. (Cross listed with HIST 231 )
  
  • AFST 314 - Labor Markets and Entrepreneurship in a Comparative Prospective


    Spring (3) Shiferaw. Prerequisite(s): ECON 101  /ECON 151  and ECON 102  /ECON 152 .

    Significant racial inequality in labor market outcomes and entrepreneurial success persist in open societies. This course examines the nature and extent of the disparities with a focus on three multiracial societies (Brazil, South Africa, and the U.S.). We will address issues of labor market segmentation and discrimination as well as inter-group variations in entrepreneurship with a focus on capital formation, growth, and income inequality.
  
  • AFST 316 - African History to 1800


    Fall (3) LaFleur, Pope, Staff (GER 4B)

    A thematic approach to socio-economic and political change In Africa from early times to 1800. Emphasis Is on African cultural heritage, state building, internal and external trade, and Interaction with outside forces: Islam, Christianity and colonialism, as well as on Africa’s most pressing problems of the time. (Cross listed with HIST 181 )
  
  • AFST 317 - African History during Colonialism and Independence


    Spring (3) Bishara, Chouin, Pope, Vinson (GER 4B)

    This course cover African History from 1800 to the present, with emphasis on African state-building, slavery and abolition, the Africanization of Islam and Christianity, Colonialism and Anti-Colonial Politics, African Independence/Pan-Africanism and contemporary issues.
      (Cross listed with HIST 284 )
  
  • AFST 318 - Seminar on Caribbean Diaspora


    Spring (3) Osiapem

    This goal of this course is to introduce students to the concept of the Caribbean Diaspora (the Caribbean as it exists beyond its geographic limits) and its rich linguistic and literary traditions. We will examine scholarly material that deals with themes of displacement while finding home. We will first survey Caribbean history and its place within a Diasporic framework to gain a deeper understanding of the Caribbean experience and global migration patterns as people find a home away from home in reconstituted Caribbean communities elsewhere. Along the way, we will look at linguistic styles and structure in the Caribbean and abroad. In addition, we will explore literary and linguistic expression of 20th century Caribbeans living abroad such as
    Edwidge Danticat (Haiti), Julia Alverez (Dominican Republic), Paule Marshall (Barbados), and Nalo Hopkinson (Jamaica).
  
  • AFST 319 - The Caribbean


    Fall or Spring (3) Staff (College 200, CSI)

    Situated at the crossroads of Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the United States, the Caribbean has played a pivotal role in global transformations since 1492. The region’s past helped shape and was shaped by many of the contradictory themes defining modern history: slavery and freedom, racism and equality, empire and independence, despotism and democracy, and migration and transnationalism. Focusing on Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and especially Haiti and Cuba, we will explore these themes in Caribbean history from the Haitian Revolution to the present. The course is structured around class discussion. Grading will be based on brief papers and class participation. (This course is anchored in the CSI domain, and also considers aspects of the ALV domain.) (Cross-listed with HIST 309  and LAS 309 .) 
  
  • AFST 320 - African Religions, African Lives: Religious Power, Complexity and Change in Africa and the Diaspora


    Fall or Spring (3) Staff (GER 4B)

    A multidisciplinary study of religious complexity, change and interaction in selected African and African Diaspora societies. Religions studied will include indigenous African traditions, African Islams, and African Christianities.
  
  • AFST 321 - Women in Africa and the Diaspora


    Fall (3) Sanford (GER 4B, 5)

    This course is a multidisciplinary study of women’s organizations and collective agency in a range of African, African-American and African Diasporic settings.  It seeks to understand women’s collective actions, often described as “wars,” “riots,” and “strikes,” in the context of their own histories and societies. (Cross listed with GSWS 321  )
  
  • AFST 330 - Arts in Africa


    Fall or Spring (3) Staff (GER 4B)

    A study the multiple arts of Africa: two and three dimensional visual art, music, verbal arts, performance, and multiple media. Issues explored include the artist and community, creativity and tradition, art and religion, art and politics, and museums and display.
  
  • AFST 331 - History of Jazz


    Fall (4) Katz, Murchison, Staff (ALV, GER 4A, 5)

    A survey of jazz from its origins to the present, focusing on influential improvisers and composers, development of listening skills, and issues or race, gender, commerce, and criticism. (Cross listed with AMST 273  and MUSC 273 )
  
  • AFST 332 - Sex & Race in Plays & Films: Dramatizing Diversity


    Spring (4) Tanglao-Aguas (College 200, ACTV, ALV, GER 4C, GER 6)

    Study of sexuality, gender and race in plays and films dramatizing marginalized communities in the United States and selected countries like France, Iran, Martinique, Mexico, the Philippines, Senegal, and Turkey. Course work includes acting, creative projects, teaching methods, and analytical essays. (This course is anchored in the ALV domain, and also considers aspects of the CSI domain.) (Cross listed with AMES 332, APIA 332, GSWS 332, and THEA 332.)
  
  • AFST 334 - History of American Vernacular Dance


    Fall (3) Glenn (GER 5)

    An introduction, through films and lectures, to dance in U.S. popular culture with an emphasis on its development from roots in African dance to the vernacular forms of tap, ballroom, and jazz by examining the movement styles found in concert jazz, musical theatre, and popular social dances. (Cross listed with AMST 241  and DANC 230 )
  
  • AFST 335 - History of Hip-Hop


    Fall (3) Thelwell (College 200, ALV)

    This course offers an introduction to the history of Hip-Hop culture and to Hip-Hop Studies as an academic field.  (This course is anchored in the ALV domain, and also considers aspects of the CSI domain.)
  
  • AFST 336 - African American Theatre History I


    Fall or Spring (3) Green (GER 4A)

    This course will examine African-American dramatic literature and performance from its origins in indigenous African theatre through significant periods that conclude with the Civil Rights Movement. (Cross listed with THEA 336 )
  
  • AFST 337 - African American Theatre History II


    Fall or Spring (3) Green (GER 4A)

    This course will examine African-American dramatic literature and performance beginning with the Black Arts Movement through significant periods that conclude with contemporary manifestations (Cross listed with THEA 337 )
  
  • AFST 338 - The Birth of Chicago Blues: Race, Chess Records, and the Blues


    Spring (3) Murchison

    This course examines the early history of the Chicago-based independent label Chess Records, from its founding to its emergence and rise to become an important force in the music industry. Founded by immigrant brothers, Chess played a major role in disseminating Chicago blues from the late 1940s to the the mid-1960s. Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and Howlin Wolf transformed the Delta Blues into the urban Chicago Blues. The busines operations at Chess Records also provides a case study of the music industry. The course considers the issue of race and music on the eve of the modern civil rights movement. Cross-listed with MUSC 338 .
  
  • AFST 340 - Peoples and Cultures of Africa


    Spring (3) Weiss (GER3, 4B)

    An introduction to the diversity of African cultures and societies. This course will focus especially on experiences of colonialism in various African contexts and the many forms of transformation and resistance that characterize that encounter. (Cross listed with ANTH 335 )
  
  • AFST 341 - African Ritual and Religious Practice


    Spring (3) Weiss (CSI, GER 4B)

    This course focuses on the diverse forms of religious practice and experience in various social and cultural contexts in Africa. The symbolic, aesthetic, and political implications of ritual, as well as the transforming significance of religious practice, will be explored. (Cross listed with ANTH 337  and RELG 337 )
  
  • AFST 344 - Politics in Africa


    Fall or Spring (3) Roessler (GER 4B)

    This course highlights changes in the state structures from pre-colonial indigenous state systems, colonial administration and economy and the rise of the modern African state. (Cross listed with GOVT 337 )
  
  • AFST 348 - African American Religions


    Spring (3) Fitzgerald (GER 4C)

    An historical, thematic, and theoretical overview of African American religions from enslavement through contemporary Carribean and African migrations. (Cross listed with RELG 348  )
  
  • AFST 350 - Introduction to African Studies


    Fall or Spring (3) (College 200, CSI)

    This seminar is an introduction to areas, issues, and disciplinary approaches in the study of Africa and African peoples.   Its objectives are to stimulate interest in the continent, create awareness of its diversity and complexity, to acquaint students with a range of African histories, economies, institutions, aesthetics and systems of thought, and to teach students to work interdisciplinarily. (This course is anchored in the CSI domain, and also considers aspects of the ALV domain.)
  
  • AFST 351 - Introduction to African American Studies


    (Fall or Spring) (3) Lott, Staff

    This course thematically explores the multifaceted discipline of African American Studies. It considers the historical and political origins and objectives of what was originally Black Studies within the context of 1960s Black Liberation struggles and earlier efforts by Africans and their descendants to transform the United States’s educational landscape. Alongside those early academic and sociopolitical concerns, the course also investigates theoretical and critical approaches to African American Studies and the discipline’s​ objectives in relation to present discourses on diversity and the “post-racial.”
  
  • AFST 365 - Early Black American Literature


    Fall (3) McLendon, Braxton, Pinson, Weiss

    Survey of Black American literature and thought from the colonial period through the era of Booker T. Washington, focusing on the ways in which developing African American literature met the challenges posed successively by slavery, abolition, and emancipation. (Cross listed with ENGL 365 )
  
  • AFST 366 - Modern Black American Literature


    Spring (3) McLendon, Braxton, Pinson

    Survey of African American literature from the 1920s through the contemporary period. Issues addressed include the problem of patronage, the “black aesthetic”, and the rise of black literary theory and “womanist” criticism. (Cross listed with ENGL 366 )
  
  • AFST 367 - Black Nature Writers


    Fall or Spring (3) McLendon (College 200, ALV)

    Exploration of how Black writers have imagined a cultural relationship to nature through poetry, fiction, non-fiction, visual and performance arts.  Within these various artistic contexts, students will study the intersections of nature and culture in a variety of landscapes-wilderness or the “wild,” pastoral/antipastoral, urban and suburban-while also considering some of the themes and debates in the field of ecocriticism. “Black” is used here as a term more globally inclusive of people of African descent across the diaspora. (This course is anchored in the ALV domain, and also considers aspects of the CSI and NQR domains.)
  
  • AFST 371 - The Idea of Race


    Fall or Spring (3) Blakey (CSI)

    This course tracks the history of the concept of race in Western science and society. Students are helped to appreciate the subjective influences of science as well as the variety of societal expressions of racial and racist ideas. (Cross listed with ANTH 371 )
  
  • AFST 386 - Francophone African Literature II (in English)


    Fall or Spring (3) Compan-Barnard

    This course explores the sub-Saharan African and Caribbean literature written in French that emerged in the French colonial period and continues in the post-colonial period. Major topics to be examined include Negritude and the rise of political consciousness, cultural conflict with the West, women’s voices, Creolite, and post-independence literature. (Cross listed with FREN 386 )
  
  • AFST 399 - Africana Studies Methodologies


    Fall or Spring (3) Lott, Thelwell, Staff

    This course introduces students to the diverse methodologies for producing knowledge centered on people of African descent. Material covers all three concentrations of Africana Studies: African, African American, and African Diaspora, for which this is a graduation requirement.
  
  • AFST 406 - Advanced Topics in Africana Studies


    Fall or Spring (3-4) Staff. Prerequisite(s): AFST 205  and one AFST course at the 300 or 400 level.

    Topics will be announced each semester during preregistration. May be repeated if topics vary.
  
  • AFST 414 - Major African American Women Writers


    Spring (3) McLendon, Braxton, Pinson

    This course studies the fiction and non-fiction of major African American women writers such as Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Gloria Naylor. Some attention to black feminist/ womanist and vernacular theoretical issues and through selected critical readings. (Cross listed with ENGL 414A  or GSWS 414 )
  
  • AFST 417 - Harlem in Vogue


    Fall (3) McLendon, Braxton, Pinson, Weiss

    Exploration of the 1920s movement known as the Harlem Renaissance, focusing on the ways race, gender/sexuality, and class informed the artists’ construction of identity. Writings by Hughes, Hurston, Larsen, Tooner, among others; some attention to visual art and music. (Cross listed with ENGL 417B )
  
  • AFST 418 - Anthropological Reflections of the African Diaspora


    Fall (3) Blakey

    Eurocentric anthropology, and historiography, often confronted black people with omissions and distortions of African and Diasporic history that belittled them while simultaneously providing tools for reclaiming cultural knowledge of self. Intellectuals from the Diaspora were thusly motivated to write from an anthropological point of view that sought to expose the lie, fill the void, and take control of ideas that empowered societies of African descent. This course explores the debate offered by Diasporans from the 18th-21st century and how its critique of “mainstream” anthropology may help further advance the field. (Cross listed with ANTH 461 .)
  
  • AFST 425 - Blacks in American Society


    Fall or Spring (3) Gossin

    This seminar examines changing economic, political, educational and residential conditions of Blacks in the United States in terms of their historic and contemporary consequences. Explores the diverse experiences of Americans of African descent and intra-group tensions (class and gender related). (Cross listed with SOCL 425 )
  
  • AFST 426 - The Rise and Fall of Apartheid


    Fall or Spring (3) Vinson (GER 4C)

    This class explores the rise and fall of apartheid, the system of rigid racial segregation and domination that existed in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. It examines the successful anti-apartheid movement but also considers apartheids legacy in contemporary South Africa. (Cross-listed with HIST 325 )
  
  • AFST 427 - History of Modern South Africa


    Fall or Spring (3) Vinson (CSI, GER 4C)

    This course provides a detailed examination of segregation and apartheid in twentieth century South Africa and charts the development and ultimate
    success of the anti-apartheid movement that led to the ‘miracle’ of a democratic South Africa. (Cross-listed with HIST 317 )
  
  • AFST 458 - Caribbean Archaeology


    Fall and Spring (3) Smith (GER 4B)

    The Archaeology of Western Atlantic Islands for the period 1492-1900 AD.  Includes the pre-Columbian background, and contact between indigenous
    and European groups. European settlement and island development will be examined through recent archaeological work on urban settlements,
    military forts, commercial structures, sugar mills, and others. (Cross-listed with ANTH 458 )
  
  • AFST 480 - Independent Study


    Fall or Spring (3-4) Staff. Prerequisite(s): AFST 205 , and consent of instructor.

    A directed readings/research course conducted on an individual or small group basis on various topics in Africana studies that are not normally or adequately covered in established courses. Open only to majors who have completed at least half of the major requirements. No more than 6 independent study credits may be counted toward the major.
  
  • AFST 495 - Senior Honors


    Fall, Spring (3) Staff. Prerequisite(s): Approval by Program Director.

    Students admitted to Senior Honors in Africana Studies will be responsible for (a) formulating a program of study in consultation with an AFST advisor, (b) satisfactory completion by April 15th of an original scholarly essay on a topic approved by the Advisory Committee, and (c) a comprehensive oral examination. Application for Honors, which includes a faculty signature and a prospectus, should be made to the Charles Center in early September of the senior year. An acceptable research proposal includes: (1) a clear statement of the research problem; (2) a brief, critical review of the scholarly literature on the topic; and (3) a description and defense of the methodology to be employed. For College provisions governing Honors, see the section of the Catalog titled Honors and Special Programs.
  
  • AFST 496 - Senior Honors


    Fall, Spring (3) Staff. Prerequisite(s): Approval by Program Director.

    Students admitted to Senior Honors in Africana Studies will be responsible for (a) formulating a program of study in consultation with an AFST advisor, (b) satisfactory completion by April 15th of an original scholarly essay on a topic approved by the Advisory Committee, and (c) a comprehensive oral examination. Application for Honors, which includes a faculty signature and a prospectus, should be made to the Charles Center in early September of the senior year. An acceptable research proposal includes: (1) a clear statement of the research problem; (2) a brief, critical review of the scholarly literature on the topic; and (3) a description and defense of the methodology to be employed. For College provisions governing Honors, see the section of the Catalog titled Honors and Special Programs.
  
  • AFST 498 - Internship


    Fall, Spring, or Summer (3) Staff. Prerequisite(s): Approval by Program Director.

    Qualified AFST majors may receive credit for a pre-approved program that provides an opportunity to apply and expand knowledge under expert supervision in an off-campus position. Internships require a significant written report, and must be overseen by a faculty member, or an external supervisor approved by the Program Director.
  
  • AFST 499 - Senior Project in Africana Studies


    Spring (3) Tanglao-Aguas, Staff Prerequisite(s): AFST 205 , AFST 399  and another methods course.

    This is the required culminating course for majors of Africana Studies where students apply their cumulative knowledge into the production of a scholarly research paper or creative project. AFST 495-496: Honors Thesis also fulfills this requirement.

American Studies

  
  • AMST 100 - Critical Questions in American Studies


    Fall or Spring (4) Staff (College 100)

    An exploration of significant questions and integrative concepts in American Studies, their grounding in the process of scientific discovery and application, and their broader relevance to society. Designed for first-year students. Although topics vary, the courses also seek to improve students’ communication skills beyond the written word.
  
  • AMST 201 - American Popular Culture and Modern America


    (4) McGovern (GER 4A)

    This course introduces and examines forms of popular culture that emerged after 1865. It considers popular culture within the context of social, political, and economic changes In the U.S., such as migration, Industrialization, technology, and globalization of capitalism.
  
  • AMST 202 - Introduction to American Studies: Cinema and the Modernization of U.S. Culture, 1914-1945


    (4) Knight (GER 5)

    This course introduces students to the forms and techniques of cinema. At the same time, it will examine how cinema, Americas most popular and powerful entertainment, both reflected and participated in the social, cultural, and political upheavals of the first half of the twentieth century.
  
  • AMST 203 - Introduction to American Studies: American Medicine: A Social and Cultural History


    (4) Scholnick (College 200, CSI, GER 4A)

    An overview of American medicine from the 18th century to the present. Subjects include the changing understanding of disease; the social role of the physician; and society’s response to such public health crises as cholera and AIDS. (This course is anchored in the CSI domain, and also considers aspects of the ALV domain.)
  
  • AMST 204 - The American Way of War


    (4) Brown

    This course examines the social and cultural history of Americans at war from the latter part of the 17th century to the present. Course readings will concentrate on primary sources: fiction, memoirs, and historical accounts drawn from three centuries of American experiences in combat.
  
  • AMST 205 - Sexuality In America


    (4) Meyer

    The course introduces students to the study of American culture through history, popular culture, multiple media, and scientific literature concerned with sexualities in America. The course will also show how normative sexualities are articulated distinctly depending on race, class, ethnicity, immigrant status, and other factors related to specific American communities.
  
  • AMST 206 - Black Popular Culture in the Americas: From the Folk to the New Hip Hop


    (4) Staff (GER 4C, 5)

    Course compares black culture from the early 20th c. folk practices to 21st c. Hip Hop in the US and the Caribbean. It considers these expressions in political, social, and economic contexts. Course materials include literature, film, music, and art.
  
  • AMST 207 - Black Movement and Migrations


    (3) Staff (GER 5)

    This course will explain the chronology of African American experience by exploring the landscapes across which it has traveled the fields, rivers, trains, steamboats, diners, both the rural and urban spaces of America and beyond. The course will examine some of the major themes, problems, events, structures, and personalities, paying particular attention to how African Americans themselves shaped their experiences and how movement informs those experiences. Each class will engage in a close examination of a variety of primary sources, including: autobiographies, fiction, film, speeches, music, and visual art.
  
  • AMST 208 - Dis/Ability Studies


    (4) Thompson

    Introduction to Dis/ability Studies with an American Studies approach to study how the social constructions, symbols, and stigmas associated with dis/ability identity are related to larger systems of power that oppress and exclude.
  
  • AMST 209 - Interracialism: Race, Literature and the Law


    (4) Weiss

    Using 19th and 20th century American fiction, laws, decisions and social, historical and legal scholarship, this course will explore the legal and cultural history of “miscegenation” in the United States.”
  
  • AMST 210 - Utopia in America


    (4) Donaldson (College 200, CSI)

    An interdisciplinary, historical survey of experiments with and quests for the ideal society, from New England Puritan settlements and alternative religious and secular communities to nineteenth-century reform and religious movements, speculative fiction, urban planning, and countercultural communes. (This course is anchored in the CSI domain, and also considers aspects of the ALV domain.)
  
  • AMST 225 - Archaeological Field Methods


    (6)

    An introduction to archaeological field and laboratory methods through participation in a field archaeological project. Archaeological survey and mapping, excavation techniques, data collection and recording, artifact processing and analysis and related topics.
  
  • AMST 240 - The History of Modern Dance


    (3) Glenn (GER 5)

    An introduction through films and lectures to the field of modern dance, which is rooted in American culture, with emphasis on the stylistic approach and aesthetic of the artists who have contributed to its development in the twentieth century. (Cross listed with DANC 220 )
  
  • AMST 241 - History of American Vernacular Dance


    (3) Glenn (GER 5)

    An introduction through films and lectures to dance in U.S. popular culture with an emphasis on its development from roots in African dance to the vernacular forms of tap, ballroom, and jazz by examining the movement styles found in concert jazz, musical theatre, and popular social dances. (Cross listed with AFST 334  and DANC 230 )
  
  • AMST 271 - Popular Music in the United States


    (4) Staff (GER 4A, 5)

    This course addresses popular musical expression in the continental United States from a historical and cultural perspective.  In addition to exploring representative types of music such as traditional, folk, sacred and dance music, ragtime, blues, jazz, rock and country as well as musical traditions associated with immigrant groups and global music networks, students will have the opportunity to examine these musical traditions critically by focusing on particular eras, regions, themes or groups of artists.This course treats the traditions of vernacular musics in the United States, specifically those commonly known as religious, popular, folk, jazz, rock, and country. It will survey the literature of these musics expression and consider questions of cultural meaning. (Cross listed with MUSC 271  )
  
  • AMST 273 - History of Jazz


    (4) Staff (ALV, GER 4A, 5)

    A survey of jazz from its origins to the present, focusing on the most influential improvisers and composers. Issues of race, class, and gender will arise as we examine the attitudes of listeners, jazz musicians and promoters. (Cross listed with AFST 331  and MUSC 273 )
  
  • AMST 341 - Artists and Cultures


    Staff (GER 4C)

    This course will explore the artistic ideas and activities of people in a variety of cultural settings. Rather than focusing primarily on formal qualities (what art looks like in this or that society), it will examine the diverse ways that people think about art and artists, and the equally diverse roles that art can play in the economic, political, religious, and social aspects of a cultural system. Materials will range from Australian barkcloth paintings to Greek sculptures, from African masks to European films. (Cross listed with ANTH 364 )
  
  • AMST 343 - American Ethnic Literature and Culture


    (3) Weiss (GER 5)

    The course aims to increase students understanding of the rich complexity of American life by studying multi-ethnic American literature and culture. We will explore some of the theoretical problems associated with race and ethnicity. For the most part, however, we will work outward from certain key texts, pursuing the questions that emerge in and from them. We will consider such matters as the evolution of immigration law, the problems of identity and dual identity, and the question of assimilation versus cultural separatism. We will also emphasize the achievement of these texts as literary documents that need to be understood as responding to local cultural practices even as they speak more broadly to Americans as a whole.
  
  • AMST 350 - Topics in American Culture


    Fall and Spring (1-4) Staff

    Selected topics in the study of American culture. Recent topics have included: The Idea of Race, Unlikeable Women, The Asian American Experience, Gender and Digital Culture, Social Determinants of Health, The US 1945-1975: Society, Thought and Culture, and African American Religions. May be repeated for credit. May be repeated for credit.
  
  • AMST 364 - Asian American Experience I


    Fall (3)

    This course is an interdisciplinary survey of the Asian American experience. It includes readings in history, literature and film throught which we examine the role of United States imperialism beginning in the late 19th century to World War II in the making of the Asian American experience.
  
  • AMST 365 - Asian American Experience II


    Fall (3)

    This course is an interdisciplinary survey of the cultural expressions of the Asian American experience in the United States from 1965 to the present. Through literature and film, this course explores the history of immigration in the contexts of  the United States’ intervention in Southeast Asia and the cultural and social revolution of the 1960s at home.
  
  • AMST 370 - Junior Seminar: America and the Americas


    Fall (4) Knight. Prerequisite(s): One of: AMST 201 to AMST 210, or consent of instructor.

    By exploring theoretical, methodological and historical approaches to a range of cultural materials, students will critically engage with how American Studies and its related disciplinary fields have addressed the politics and culture of national identity in the U.S. (Non-majors may enroll only by permission of the instructor.)
  
  • AMST 410 - Williamsburg Documentary Project


    (3) Lelievre

    In this course students will learn a variety of interdisciplinary methods–e.g., oral history collection, archival research, material cultural analysis–for doing American Studies research. They will then apply these methods practically to the study of Williamsburg in the 20th century. (Non majors may enroll with consent of instructor.)
  
  • AMST 425 - Advanced Archaeological Field Methods


    (6) Prerequisite(s): ANTH 225 or equivalent and field experience, or by consent of the instructor.

    The application of archaeological methods to an individual field project. The course will allow advanced students to work on an individual project within the framework of a supervised archaeological field program.
  
  • AMST 445 - The Making of a Region: Southern Literature and Culture


    (3) Donaldson

    An interdisciplinary examination of 19th- and 20th-century southern texts within the cultural context of self-conscious regionalism. Emphasis is on the interaction between literature and the social configurations of slavery, abolitionism, southern nationalism, racism, traditionalism, and the civil rights movement.
  
  • AMST 470 - Topics in American Studies


    Fall and Spring (1-4) Staff

    Selected topics in the study of American studies. Recent topics have included: Hip Hop Culture and History, Information in America, Biopolitics, Capitalism and AMerican LIterature, Disability in America, American Indian Sovereignty, and Collecting and Exhibiting Culture. May be repeated for credit.
  
  • AMST 480 - Independent Study


    (2-3) Staff

    A program of extensive reading, writing, and discussion in a special area of American Studies for the advanced student. Students accepted for this course will arrange their program of study with an appropriate faculty advisor. This course may be repeated for credit.
  
  • AMST 495 - Honors


    (3) Braddock

    Students admitted to Honors study in American Studies will be enrolled in this course during both semesters of their senior year. Each candidate will be responsible for (a) formulating a program of study in consultation with a faculty advisor; (b) preparation and presentation of an Honors essay two weeks before the last day of classes, spring semester; (c) satisfactory performance in a comprehensive oral examination which focuses on the subject matter of the Honors essay. Students who wish to write an honors essay in the senior year must write a brief proposal outlining the project. This proposal must be approved by the faculty advisor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the semester before work on the project begins. For College provisions governing the Admission to Honors, see catalog section titled Honors and Special Programs.
  
  • AMST 496 - Honors


    (3) Braddock

    Students admitted to Honors study in American Studies will be enrolled in this course during both semesters of their senior year. Each candidate will be responsible for (a) formulating a program of study in consultation with a faculty advisor; (b) preparation and presentation of an Honors essay two weeks before the last day of classes, spring semester; (c) satisfactory performance in a comprehensive oral examination which focuses on the subject matter of the Honors essay. Students who wish to write an honors essay in the senior year must write a brief proposal outlining the project. This proposal must be approved by the faculty advisor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the semester before work on the project begins. For College provisions governing the Admission to Honors, see catalog section titled Honors and Special Programs.
  
  • AMST 498 - Internship


    (3) Braddock

    This course is designed to allow students to gain knowledge through experience in a setting relevant to the study of America. Students will be supervised by a faculty advisor. The internship includes readings in related areas of theory and research as assigned by the supervising faculty. Permission from the Director of Undergraduate Studies is required as is the completion of the Internship form from the Dean of Undergraduate Studies. This course may be repeated for credit.

Anthropology

  
  • ANTH 150 - First Year Seminar


    Fall and Spring (4) Staff

    An exploration of a specific topic in Anthropology. A grade of C- or better fulfills the COLL 150 requirement. Although topics vary, the courses emphasize academic writing skills, reading and analysis of texts, and discussion.
  
  • ANTH 201 - Lost Worlds and Archaeology


    Fall and Spring (3) Gallivan, Kahn, Lelievre, Norman, Smith (College 200, CSI, GER 4B)

    An introduction to the concepts and methods used to reconstruct past societies from their material remains and a survey of world prehistory from the earliest hunting-gathering societies to the origins of civilization. (This course is anchored in the CSI domain, and also considers aspects of the ALV domain.)
  
  • ANTH 202 - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology


    Fall and Spring (3) Bragdon, Fisher, Wright (College 200, CSI, GER 4C)

    An introduction to the study of contemporary human societies and cultures, using anthropological concepts and principles, and focusing on ecology, economic relations, marriage, kinship, politics, law, and religion. (This course is anchored in the CSI domain, and also considers aspects of the ALV domain.)
  
  • ANTH 203 - Introduction to Biological Anthropology


    Fall (3) Jones (College 200, NQR, GER 2B)

    How do biological anthropologists study our own species? This course looks at data and theory on evolution of monkeys, apes, human ancestors, and humans. Origins of bipedalism, technology, language, and religion, and anthropological views on race and human variation, are discussed. (This course is anchored in the NQR domain, and also considers aspects of the ALV and CSI domains.)
  
  • ANTH 204 - The Study of Language


    Fall and Spring (4) Staff (College 200, CSI, GER 3)

    An introduction to linguistics, the scientific study of human language. Considers languages as structured systems of form and meaning, with attention also to the biological, psychological, cultural, and social aspects of language and language use. (This course is anchored in the CSI domain, and also considers aspects of the ALV and NQR domains.) (Cross listed with ENGL 220  / LING 220 )
  
  • ANTH 225 - Archaeological Field Methods


    Summer (6) Staff

    An introduction to archaeological field and laboratory methods through participation in a field archaeological project.  Archaeological survey and mapping, excavation techniques, data collection and recording, artifact processing and analysis and related topics.
  
  • ANTH 226 - Cultural Heritage and Archaeological Methods Field School


    Summer (6) (College 300, ACTV)

    This course will include readings on Hawaiian archaeology to be completed before traveling to Hawaiʻi. The entirety of the course will take place the Hawaiian Islands, and the majority of it will involve field research in a remote field site- Miloliʻi Valley, on the island of Kauaʻi (Hawaiian Islands). Students will participate in two ten-day field projects, focusing on mapping, describing, and excavation of pre-contact and post-contact Hawaiian residential sites and agricultural sites. After each ten-day field stay we will return to the main town of Lihue where we will 1) complete lab work based on our site excavations, 2) visit other pre-contact and post-contact Hawaiian cultural heritage sites with native Hawaiian practitioners and island specialists and, 3) complete community based projects in collaboration with native Hawaiian community leaders. Native Hawaiian cultural specialists and members of the Na Pali Coast Ohana, a local stewardship group, will take part in all parts of the project, including the two ten-day field projects, the lab analysis, the field trips, and community outreach projects.
  
  • ANTH 241 - Worlds of Music


    Spring (4) Rasmussen (College 200, ALV, GER 4B)

    This course will introduce students to musical cultures of the non-Western world. Topics will include: native concepts about music, instruments, aesthetics, genres, relationship to community life, religion, music institutions, and patronage. Course goals will be to develop skills useful for a cross-cultural appreciation and analysis of music, and to bring questions about music into the domain of the humanities and social sciences. (This course is anchored in the ALV domain, and also considers aspects of the CSI domain.)  (Cross listed with MUSC 241 )
 

Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11Forward 10 -> 23