AFST

Subject

AFST

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

Elementary Swahili introduces students to the communicative use of Swahili, emphasizing communicative competence in real contexts. Ninety percent of instruction is conducted in the target language. Vocabulary and grammar are taught in context. Instruction pays attention to the cultural information in relevant contexts of communication. The main learning/teaching styles used include role plays, prepared presentations, interactive lectures, classroom conversations, and dramatization. In addition to the class textbook, authentic source materials are used, such as pictures, songs, short stories, poems and essays. Student assessment is continuous, and includes classroom participation, homework, written exams and oral exams. Offered: Fall 2025 Liberal Arts Requirements: No Exploration Tags: CL: 100 level Faculty: Anna Estes

Subject

AFST

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

Prerequisite

Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Ecology and Anthropology in Tanzania program.

With an emphasis on critical reading and writing in an academic context, this course will examine the role of sports in American politics and social organizations. The course pays attention to the African American experience, noting especially the confluence of race and sports. What can sports tell us about freedom, equality, and the pursuit of happiness? How has the Black community contributed to our appreciation of these American virtues? We will read short texts and biographies, and we will watch movies such as King Richard and The Blind Side. Students will produce short writing exercises aimed at developing their critical thinking and clear writing. Offered: Winter 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2 and the American Dream. Tags: AFST Core AFST Humanistic Inquiry AFST Survey Course CL: 100 level Faculty: Chielo Eze

Subject

AFST

Credits (min)

6

Credits (max)

6

Credit unit

Credits

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

Prerequisite

Not open to students who have taken AFST 100 Sports and the Black Experience

This course focuses on the histories, ideas, experiences, and dreams that have shaped the lives of people of African descent. Then and now perspectives will define our exploration of incarceration and freedom; migration and emigration; separatism versus integration; race and class; art and politics. Discussion topics and seminal ideas will be drawn from texts including the following: the anthology Call and Response (on

Subject

AFST

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

This course examines blackness and whiteness as constructs outside the U.S. Racial categories and their meanings will be considered through a range of topics: skin color stratification, nationalism, migration and citizenship, education, popular culture and media, spatial segregation and others. Central to the course will be considering how racism and anti-blackness vary across societies, as well as the transnational and global flows of racial ideas and categories. Examples will be drawn from the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Offered: Winter 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2 of the United States. Tags: AFST Core AFST Survey Course CL: 100 level SOAN Elective Eligible Faculty: Daniel Williams

Subject

AFST

Credits (min)

6

Credits (max)

6

Credit unit

Credits

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

Prerequisite

Not open to students who have taken AFST 100 Blackness and Whiteness Outside

This course provides a critical study of Frederick Douglass, a man who rose from slavery to establish himself as one of the most important thinkers of his time. Through a political philosophical reading of his works, the course will trace the evolution of his views on freedom, equality, citizenship, political and moral responsibility, among others. Questions that will guide our discussions include: what does it mean to be free? What are the responsibilities of citizens in a liberal democracy? What lessons can the black experience teach us about these? In addition to Douglass’ primary texts, the class will read secondary texts that celebrate his political philosophical legacy Not offered in 2025-26 Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies toward the Humanistic Inquiry requirement with a grade of C- or better. Tags: AFST Humanistic Inquiry CL: 200 level PHIL Interdisciplinary 1 PHIL Pertinent PHIL Social and Political Theory 2

Subject

AFST

Credits (min)

6

Credits (max)

6

Credit unit

Credits

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

Prerequisite

Student has completed any of the following course(s): One course that applies

Subject

AFST

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

This course examines the major theories of the Africana intellectual tradition. It introduces students to major concepts and socio-political thoughts that set the stage for Africana Studies as a discipline. With the knowledge of the historical contexts of the Black intellectual struggle and the accompanying cultural movements, students will examine the genealogy, debates and the future directions of Black Studies. Students are invited to take a dedicated dive into primary scholarship by focusing on foundational thinkers to be studied such as Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, Frantz Fanon, Steve Biko, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and bell hooks, among others. Offered: Fall 2025 Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2 Tags: AFST Survey Course CL: 200 level GWSS Elective PHIL Interdisciplinary 2 PHIL Social and Political Theory 1 Faculty: Chielo Eze

Subject

AFST

Credits (min)

6

Credits (max)

6

Credit unit

Credits

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

Subject

AFST

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

For every defining moment in black history, there is a song. Every genre of black music makes a statement not only about the specific historical epoch it was created but also about the people’s dreams. For black people, songs are a means of resistance to oppression and an expression of the will to live. Through the analysis of black music, this course will expose students to black people’s struggles, hopes, and aspirations, and also American history, race relations, and much more. The class will read insightful texts, listen to songs, watch films, and engage in animated discussions. Offered: Spring 2026 Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2 toward the Humanistic Inquiry requirement with a grade of C- or better. Tags: AFST Core AFST Humanistic Inquiry CL: 200 level MUSC Elective MUSC

Subject

AFST

Credits (min)

6

Credits (max)

6

Credit unit

Credits

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

Prerequisite

Student has completed any of the following course(s): One course that applies

Subject

AFST

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

Subject

AFST

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

Through the lens of former slaves and their descendants in America, this course explores ways in which the slave and neo-slave narratives attend to the larger existential question of what it means to be free. The corollary notions of race, gender, identity, solidarity, among others, will also be considered. In addition, this class will investigate the ways in which the re-inscription of slavery, in contemporary literature, has impacted the development of the Africana literary tradition in terms of content, genre, and form. This course adopts an interdisciplinary approach to slavery that utilizes philosophy, literature, and media studies. Not offered in 2025-26 Liberal Arts Requirements: HI, Humanistic Inquiry IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies WR2 Writing Requirement 2 Tags: AFST Core AFST Humanistic Inquiry CL: 300 level ENGL Tradition 2

Subject

AFST

Credits (min)

6

Credits (max)

6

Credit unit

Credits

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

This course examines the history and experiences of people of African descent and black cultures in Europe. Beginning with early contacts between Africa and Europe, we examine the migration and settlement of African people and culture, and the politics and meaning of their identities and presence in Europe. Adopting a comparative perspective, we consider how blackness has been constructed in various

Subject

AFST

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

This course will focus on overarching themes and theoretical perspectives on contemporary Afro-Latin America. Topics include: political and social change in contemporary Cuba and Brazil and their impact on Afrodescendant communities; theories of Black diasporic identity and cultural expression; theories of race, nation, and ethnicity; gender and class; social inequality. Offered: Fall 2025 Liberal Arts Requirements: SI, Social Inquiry Program. Tags: AFST Survey Course CL: 300 level SOAN Elective Eligible Faculty: Daniel Williams

Subject

AFST

Credits (min)

6

Credits (max)

6

Credit unit

Credits

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

Prerequisite

Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Afro-descendant Identities in Cuba and Brazil

This three-credit course gives Africana Studies majors and minors the opportunity to reflect on their learning in Africana Studies and to prepare to apply this knowledge to future endeavors. In this capstone course, the student creates a portfolio of their work in Africana Studies and writes a five-ten page reflective essay tying these papers together. This course gives students an opportunity to seriously reflect about the courses they have taken and the work they have produced within and related to their AFST major/minor, and to draw connections among them. Offered: Fall 2025 Credits: 3 Liberal Arts Requirements: No Exploration Studies Minor. Tags: AFST Capstone Seminar CL: 300 level Faculty: Chielo Eze

Subject

AFST

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Credit unit

credits

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

The comprehensive exercise is a substantial (approximately 34-40 page) research paper on a topic within African, African American, and/or African Diaspora studies. The student should have completed a 300- level AFST course, or a 300-level course that counts toward the AFST major. The comps process begins with a Comps Topic Development Worksheet during spring term of the junior year, a comps topic intention form followed by a proposal in fall term of the senior year, and ends with a final written thesis and oral presentation early in spring term. Offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026 Grading: S/NC Faculty: Chielo Eze Other Courses Pertinent to Africana Studies These courses are related to Africana Studies, but are not required to meet a specific academic requirement for Africana Studies.

Subject

AFST

Credits (min)

6

Credits (max)

6

Credit unit

credits

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

cdn.carleton.edu

Prerequisite

Student has the Africana Studies (AFST) Program of Study and Senior Priority.