UA Courses | African American Studies

Winter 99/Spring 00 Course Descriptions
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Africana Studies (AFAS) Dept Info - College Info

AFAS 190 Introduction to African History (3) (Identical with HIST 190, which is home).

AFAS 195A African Aesthetics (1) I

AFAS 200 Africana Studies (3) I II Course provides a comprehensive understanding of the African American experience as grounded in the humanities and social sciences. A broad investigation of Africana history and culture and its subsequent evolution in the United States. P, two courses from Tier One, Traditions and Cultures (TRAD 101,102,103,104). Approved as Tier Two - Humanities.

AFAS 204 Inter-African /Diasporational Relations and Culture (3) I II Global, comparative analysis of religion and culture in Africa, the Caribbean, U.S., and South America. Impact of African religions in the contemporary world. (Identical with RELI 204).

AFAS 220 Introduction to African American Studies (3) I Introductory survey of the literature, history, culture and social issues affecting Black Americans. (Identical with SOC 220).

AFAS 222 African American Studies: A History of Ideas (3) II The theoretical and philosophical ideas expressed by thinkers of the African world. Issues in the areas of epistemological relativism, ethics, political philosophy and the history of ideas will be examined. P, two courses from Tier One, Traditions and Cultures (TRAD 101,102,103,104). (Identical with PHIL 222, ANTH 222). Approved as Tier Two - Humanities. Fulfills the Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western area study requirement.

AFAS 223 African Philosophical Worlds (3) I II Course acquaints students with the theoretical and philosophical ideas expressed by thinkers of the African world. Issues in epistemological relativism, ethics, political philosophy and the history of ideas is examined.

AFAS 224 Models of Resistance, Post 16th Cent. African Liberation Movements in Southeast (3) I There were actually several "Souths" during the Holocaust of Enslavement. However, courses taught in the era of African enslavement have tended to focus on the northern most regions, such as Virginia, which are often taken to represent-if not constitute-the South. This course looks at the other "South" and the French and Spanish colonizers of South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. It offers a different perspective of the beginnings of the Great Enslavement and compares and contrasts the lives and struggles of enslaved, freed, and self-emancipated Africans in the Southwest during the tenure of Spain. P, two courses from Tier One, Traditions and Cultures (TRAD 101,102,103,104). (Identical with HIST 224). Approved as Tier Two - Humanities.

AFAS 230 Introduction to African Literature (3) I II Anglophone and Francophone literature. Focuses on major authors; Achebe, Soyinka, Head, Wa Thiong'O, Brutus, Emecheta. Employs bio-literary analysis. (Identical with ENGL 230).

AFAS 245 African Literature in Translation (3) II (Identical with FREN 245, which is home).

AFAS 249 Images of Africa (3) I (Identical with FREN 249, which is home).

AFAS 260 Ethnic Relations in the United States (3) I II P, two courses from Tier One, Individuals and Societies (INDV 101, 102, 103, 104). (Identical with SOC 260, which is home). Approved as Tier Two - Individuals and Societies. Fulfills the Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western area study requirement.

AFAS 299 Independent Study (1-3) [Rpt./] I II

AFAS 299H Honors Independent Study (1-3)

AFAS 300 Historical Overview of African Cinema and Filmmaking (3) I Stresses techniques, styles, aesthetics, and comparative content analysis. Explores "socialist realist" narrative and other themes.

AFAS 301 Introduction to Research Methods in African American Studies (3) I II Research methodologies and theoretical framework pertinent to the diverse disciplines of African American Studies.

AFAS 304A The Social Construction of Race Whiteness (3) II In constructing this course, the recognition of whiteness/blackness is not solely a reactionary response to challenges from persons/non-persons of color; it is also a reflection of the need to provide a narrative of whiteness/blackness that intends an understanding of the notion of whiteness/blackness as a racial category and the implications of this categorization and association. For example, naming whiteness displaces it from the unmarked, unnamed status that is itself an effect of dominance. Within the particular, disciplines of anthropology and ethnic studies, whiteness, blackness and race have come to be earnest subjects of study. Being white or black in the 1990's, however, is far from straightforward. It is riddled with ambiguity and marked by a general sense of racial angst as to what it means to be white or black. This course will attempt to respond to the question what does it mean to be black/white in our global climate? This is a temporary course offered Spring 2000 only. P, AFAS 304A is not prerequisite to AFAS 304B.

AFAS 304B The Social Construction of Race: Blackness (3) I In constructing this course, the recognition of whiteness/blackness is not solely a reactionary response to challenges from persons/non-persons of color; it is also a reflection of the need to provide a narrative of whiteness/blackness that intends an understanding of the notion of whiteness/blackness as a racial category and the implications of this categorization and association. For example, naming whiteness displaces it from the unmarked, unnamed status that is itself an effect of dominance. Within the particular, disciplines of anthropology and ethnic studies, whiteness, blackness and race have come to be earnest subjects of study. Being white or black in the 1990's, however, is far from straightforward. It is riddled with ambiguity and marked by a general sense of racial angst as to what it means to be white or black. This course will attempt to respond to the question: what does it mean to be black/white in our global climate? This is a temporary course offered Fall 2000 only. P, AFAS 304A is not prerequisite to AFAS 304B.

AFAS 306 African-American Autobiographies: Women and Their Histories (3) I II Exploration of the relationship of "so-called" subjective writing to the shaping of history through the study of African American autobiographies from Frederick Douglass' "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" (1845) through Booker T. Washington's "Up From Slavery" , DuBois' "Dusk of Dawn", Richard Wright's "Black Boy", and Zora Neale Hurston's "Dust Tracks in the Road". (Identical with W S 306).

AFAS 307 Race, Ethnicity and Culture (3) I The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to theoretical and epistemological issues cognate to the ideas of race, ethnicity, and culture. Discussions will examine the concepts of race, not only in terms of their sociological meaningfulness, but also in terms of cognitive significance within human culture.

AFAS 329 Cultures and Societies of Africa (3) II (Identical with ANTH 329, which is home).

AFAS 330 Minority Groups and American Politics (3) I II (Identical with POL 330, which is home). Fulfills the Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western area study requirement.

AFAS 339 Introduction to African and African-American Art (3) I II (Identical with ARH 339, which is home).

AFAS 342 Writers, Women and the Gods: The Caribbean Novel (3) [Rpt./ 2] I Examination of novels written by women in the Caribbean, with focus on the turn to local, folk or alternative culture; the uses of religion in narrative and as image; and the construction of a uniquely female identity or voice. Since the 1960s, women's writing in the Caribbean has helped to redefine fiction in the Americas. (Identical with ENGL 342, W S 342).

AFAS 344 African American Religion (3) I II GRD Critical, thematic exegesis of indigenous African and Christian contributions to African American religions. Analyzes role of religion in resisting oppression and racial injustice. (Identical with ANTH 344, RELI 344).

AFAS 347 The Old South (3) I II (Identical with HIST 347, which is home).

AFAS 348 The South Since the Civil War (3) I II (Identical with HIST 348, which is home).

AFAS 351 Race and Class in Latin America (3) II (Identical with HIST 351, which is home).

AFAS 384 Topics in African History (3) [Rpt./ 1] P, HIST 190 or consent of instructor. (Identical with HIST 384, which is home).

AFAS 396H Honors Proseminar (4) I II

AFAS 399 Independent Study (3) [Rpt./] I II

AFAS 399H Honors Independent Study (1-3) [Rpt./] I II

AFAS 426 Archaeology of Africa (3) I II P, 3 units of archaeology. (Identical with ANTH 426, which is home). May be convened with AFAS 526.

AFAS 435 The Coming of the Civil War, U.S. 1845-1861 (3) I (Identical with HIST 435, which is home).

AFAS 436 Civil War and Reconstruction, U.S. 1861-1878 (3) II (Identical with HIST 436, which is home).

AFAS 450 French Literature of Black Africa and the Caribbean (3) I P, FREN 350. (Identical with FREN 450, which is home).

AFAS 467 Race and Ethnic Relations (3) I II (Identical with SOC 467, which is home).

AFAS 468 Government and Politics of Africa (3) I II P, POL 204. (Identical with POL 468, which is home). Fulfills the Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western area study requirement.

AFAS 478 African American Literature (3) I P, upper division status. (Identical with ENGL 478, which is home).

AFAS 487A Race and Public Policy (3) I P, POL 102. (Identical with POL 487A, which is home). Fulfills the Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western area study requirement.

AFAS 487B Race and Public Policy (3) II P, POL 487A. (Identical with POL 487B, which is home).

AFAS 495B Studies in Black America (3) I II (Identical with HIST 495B, which is home).

AFAS 498 Senior Capstone (1-3) I II

AFAS 499 Independent Study (1-6) [Rpt./] I II

AFAS 526 Archaeology of Africa (3) I II (Identical with ANTH 526, which is home). May be convened with AFAS 426.

AFAS 596J Issues in African Art History (3) [Rpt./ 3] I II (Identical with ARH 596J, which is home).

Page last updated: May 20, 2013