28 courses with the subject AAS, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
AAS 1301Introduction to Africana Studies3
Credits: 3 hrs Formally institutionalized in the American academy in the last half of the twentieth century, African American studies is a vibrant and dynamic discipline that creates new knowledge about the world and human existence through the critical and comprehensive study of the peoples, cultures, and ideas of Africa and the African diaspora. In this introductory lecture course students Will examine the history and evolution of the discipline, key scholars, ideas, and themes, Central disciplinary questions and debates, and prominent theoretical and methodological frameworks used by African studies scholars. students will Also engage African social and political thought ad literary, cultural and aesthetic forms and expressions. In all, this course is designed to enable students to develop a solid disciplinary understanding of African Studies, gain facility i understanding the conceptual, theoretical, ad analytical framework of the discipline, and acquire skills in critically comprehending interdisciplinary scholarship.
This course allows a student to earn sophomore-level credit for courses in his/her discipline or non-catalog courses in the discipline taken through study abroad.
Credits: 3 hrs This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the historical, political, social, cultural and economic forces shaping contemporary African political processes, systems and institutions. The course first examines different theories and approaches used to study African politics. Topics covered include: the colonial experience (1900-1960); the rise of African nationalism and the struggle for independence; experiments with African Socialism; military regimes (including military Marxist regimes); and the first and second waves of democracy movements and democratic electoral processes in Africa, starting in the 1990s. Required for AAAS majors with a concentration in the Africa region.
Credits: 3 hrs This course provides a comprehensive overview of both indigenous and modern African political thought. It includes a survey of the most popular ideologies of post-colonial Africa, namely African nationalism, African socialism, and Afro-Marxism; it ends with a review of democracy and development in contemporary Africa. The course surveys indigenous African scholars such as Ibn Khaldun, 19th century African theorists, such as Edward Blyden and Africanus Horton, prominent African nationalists, such as Amilcar Cabral, Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere, as well as contemporary African intellectuals, such as Cheikh Anta Diop and Claude Ake. Required of all AAAS majors with a concentration in the Africa region.
Credits: 3 hrs Through a systematic study of African descendant communities created outside of the African continent, students will learn about African Diaspora Studies as a field of intellectual inquiry. First, by exploring key contributions from pioneers in the field from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. Second, examining theories, concepts, and methodologies as it relates to the origins and evolution of the African Diaspora. Lastly, critically engage methodologies of Africana Studies to understand the continuities and discontinuities in the transmission of ideas that inform the African human experience.
Credits: 3 hrs In this survey course students will be introduced to and explore an understanding of the concept of a culturally and historically linked African world by (a) examining the cultural history of African peoples and their movement through time and space from antiquity to the present and (b) analyzing the major tenets of cultural unity and diasporic theories and their application. The course will use an interdisciplinary approach to examine the spiritual, ideational, and physical-material dimensions of African culture, and those that participate in that culture, in its socio-political, ecological and historically constituted contexts.
AAS 2310Research Methods in African and African American Studies3
Credits: 3 hrs This course is designed to provide students with the skills required to conduct multi-disciplinary research in African and African American Studies. Students will be introduced to all aspects of research in the discipline, including library, search of databases, Internet searches, field research (ethnography, analysis of artwork, oral traditions, interviews and surveys). The course will also expose students to the ethics of conducting field research and academic inquiry. The tools garnered in this courses will train the students in the qualitative and quantitative methods needed for upper-division research.
AAS 2311Masculinity, Resistance and African-American Cultural Texts3
Credits: 3 hrs This interdisciplinary humanities course is designed to introduce students to various aspects of African-American culture. Students will examine African-American male narratives, popular culture and scholarly texts, speeches, figures, organizations, icons, and experiences to balance the historical record by highlighting instances of African-American resistance. This course will begin in pre-colonial Africa and end with the 2008 election of President Barack Obama.
Credits: 3 hrs This course in critical thinking focuses on wisdom literature from selected African countries, Brazil, the West Indies, and the United States. Students will read and critically discuss Afrocentric folk literature, proverbs, poetry, music, mother-wit, essays, films, and sacred texts. Emphasis is placed on analyzing the subtle messages that exist within the selected literatures and the value of literature within Afrocentric cultures and societies. Upon completion of this course, students will demonstrate effective critical thinking skills.
AAS 2313From Back Stage to Center Stage: Black Female Playwrights in America3
Credits: 3 hrs This course introduces students to African-American women’s drama of the 20th and 21st centuries. Readings will include topics that impact the black collective: slavery, sexual victimization of women, politics, migration, motherhood, and intra-racial relations, to name a few. Students will engage in discussions about the “worlds” reflected in select plays and how these reflections provide another glimpse into the lives of black women. Central to the course is the identification of setting, social attitudes, and cultural beliefs.
Credits: 3 hrs In this course, students will explore the historical roots of colorism and will analyze its impact and influence in three primary areas: identity, community, and entertainment. Widely accepted labels have been used in the African-American community to categorize individuals based on their complexion. Students will explore reasons why African-Americans have adopted and continued this complexion stratification and will consider whether this practice causes harm within the African-American community.
AAS 2315Language, Literacy and Liberation in Africa3
Credits: 3 hrs This course introduces students to issues of language in African education. Language is a major tool that each education system uses either to make education accessible or inaccessible to its intended population. Through close reading and critical analysis of carefully selected material on language and education in Africa, students will be exposed to different aspects of African indigenous knowledge and how language has been used to convey or offer those kinds of “knowledges”. Texts introduced in class will be used to foster students’ critical reading skills and at the same time enable them discover the pivotal role of lanaguage in African education prior to colonialism, during colonialism, and after colonialism. Discussions in this course will be used to generate critical perspectives on the role of African languages vis-á-vis former colonial languages that have now taken over the role of media of instruction in education.
Credits: 3 hrs This course traces African origins of black female identity derived from cosmology and spiritual traditions of African people. The examination of black women’s identity uses a holistic approach to explore cultural features such as matriarchy, mothering, aesthetics, popular culture, female body as text, gender dynamics, and challenges of black women’s empowerment in the 21st century.
Credits: 3 hrs This is an interdisciplinary course, which investigates the social, aesthetic, cultural, political and historical contours of hip-hop, as well as its impact on American (Popular) Culture. It is designed to introduce students to hip-hop culture, while simultaneously utilizing hip-hop as a lens through which to explore the various dimensions, themes and nuances of African and African-American music/history in general, and the development and emergence of hip-hop in particular. This course explores contemporary themes within hip-hop culture drawing parallels between the past and present. Students will examine the influence of African American Literature on hip hop discourse with a focus on major literary movements, writers, etc. (The Harlem Renaissance, The Black Arts Movement, et al) and their impact on hip hop aesthetics. Students will also utilize literary criticism and theory to analyze hip hop discourse while examining the trajectory of contemporary African American literature within the context of hip hop expression.
AAS 1301 - Introduction to Africana Studies or ENG 1305 - Thinking and Writing Critically About Literature ( or equivalent)
AAS 3301African Political Systems and Institutions3
Credits: 3 hrs This course introduces students to African political systems and institutions based on kinship and on lineages (common ancestry) sanctioned by a founding myth which developed in the context of highly advanced African cultures, societies, states and civilizations throughout Africa from the 9th century B.C.E. to the 19th century A.D. These African political systems and institutions were based on an elaborate system of checks and balances with effective checks on the abuse of power by the leader (chief, king or emperor); the basic political unit was the village assembly, where major decisions concerning the society were adopted by majority rule. Starting in the 16th century, the Atlantic slave trade severely undermined, denatured and eventually destroyed these systems and institutions.
AAS 3302The Political Economy of African Development3
Credits: 3 hrs This course introduces students to the various ideologies and strategies of economic development initiated by African states and leaders after independence. It examines Africa’s place and role in the current globalization process and in the world economy, with particular attention to the continent’s relations with the international financial institutions (the International Monetary Fund/IMF and the World Bank). The course will also examine key cooperation and integration experiments and institutions in each of the five sub-regions of Africa, as well as various continental initiatives, such as the 1980 Lagos Plan of Action and the 2001 New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
AAS 3303Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Africa3
Credits: 3 hrs This course starts from the observation that conflicts are part and parcel of the dynamics of African society. Historically, Africa has experienced a perennial struggle among individuals, families, clans, ethnic groups and nations for control over scarce natural, economic and political resources. The course focuses on the post-Cold War period which, paradoxically, saw a resurgence of sub-regional, political, ethnic, racial and religious conflict in many African countries. Liberia, Ivory Coast, the Central African Republic/ CAR, the Democratic Republic of Congo/DRC, Rwanda, Sudan, and Somalia are some of the on-going conflicts that this course will analyze. The course will then examine various conflict prevention, management and resolution mechanisms and institutions developed at the international (United Nations), continental (African Union) and sub-regional levels.
For AAAS majors with Africa concentration, AAS 1301 and junior status.
AAS 3304Politics of Selected Regions of Africa3
Credits: 3 hrs This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the historical, political, social, cultural and economic forces shaping contemporary political processes, systems and institutions in [North, West, Central, Eastern/the Horn or Southern] Africa. Topics covered include: the colonial experience; the rise of African nationalism and the struggle for independence; experiments with African Socialism, military regimes and military Marxist regimes; and the first and second waves of democracy movements and democratic electoral processes in Africa
Credits: 3 hrs This course introduces students to the economic, political, diplomatic and strategic dimensions of the external relations of the 54 African states, from independence to the present. The course begins with an historical overview of Africa’s international relations from 1945 to 1965 focusing on such issues as the heritage of colonialism, federalism, and pan-Africanism and African unity. Topics covered include: Africa’s evolving relations with the major world powers–particularly the U.S.A., the European Union and France—during and after the Cold War; Africa in the world economy; African conflicts and conflict prevention, management and resolution initiatives; and African cooperation and integration at the sub-regional and continental levels, with particular focus on the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and its successor organization, the African Union (AU).
For AAAS majors with Africa concentration, AAS 1301 and AAS 2302 and junior status.
AAS 3306Negritude and Afrocentricity3
Credits: 3 hrs These concepts represent an historic development in the formulation of African diasporic identity and culture in the twentieth-century, and both were designed locate peoples of African descent at the center of their cultural and historical experiences. Negritude and Afrocentricity form the basis of this course and students will become acquainted with their respective yet overlapping histories, the conceptions of each paradigm, their relevance in the production and utilization of knowledge, and the debate both have and continue to generate among a wide range of thinkers and scholars.
For AAAS majors with Africa concentration, AAS 1301 and junior status.
AAS 3307Latin American Economic History3
Credits: 3 hrs This course analyses the economic development of Latin America from colonial times to the present, including the evolution of markets, changing roles of government and politics; and the impact of international organizations.
Credits: 3 hrs This course surveys the major Latin American countries since independence with emphasis on political structure and government development, but also including economic, social and cultural development.
For AAAS majors with South America concentration, AAS 1301 Introduction to African, African American Studies and junior status. Cross-listed as HIS 3354
AAS 3371Colonial Latin America3
Credits: 3 hrs A survey of major political, economic, and cultural developments from the pre-Contact period through the Wars for Independence. Meets history Third World requirement.
For AAAS majors with South America concentration, AAS 2301 Introduction to African, African American Studies and junior status. Cross-listed as HIS 3372
AAS 4301Latin American Political Thought3
Credits: 3 hrs Examines the many forms of Latin American governments and the political philosophies behind those political expressions since the end of the colonial period. Special attention is given to the post WWII period.
Junior status For AAAS majors with South America concentration, AAS 1301 - Introduction to Africana Studies and junior status. Cross-listed as HIS 4301 - Latin American Political Thought and as POS 4301 - Latin American Political Thought
AAS 4302Race and Economics in the USA3
Credits: 3 hrs This course critically examines the effect of race on the economic position of the diverse racial and cultural groups in the USA. It will examine how income inequities, menial occupational distribution, and poverty heighten group diversity and solidify racial boundaries in the USA. Students enrolled in the course will be required to a) engage in practical field research of one racial or ethnic group in the USA, b) produce a research report and c) give an in-class presentation based on their own research activity.
For AAAS majors with North America concentration, AAS 2301 Introduction to African, African American Studies and junior status.
AAS 4322Special Topics in Africa3
Credits: 3 hrs A seminar on selected contemporary themes. Special Topics in Africa is designed to highlight the inter-disciplinary focus of the field of African studies, develop research projects, and to further develop critical thinking and writing skills. The theme or focus will vary from semester to semester.
HIS/AAS 3354 Modern Latin America or permission of the Instructor. For AAAS majors, AAS 2301 Introduction to Africa, African American Studies, AAS 3354 Modern Latin America, and senior status. Cross-listed as HIS 4323 Special Topics in Latin America Students may not receive credit for both AAS 4323 and HIS 4323.
AAS 4324Senior Seminar in African and African American Studies3
Credits: 3 hrs This course serves as a capstone course for AAAS majors. Students are provided the opportunity to refine their skills in research and writing. This advanced seminar explores a wide body of literature selected as the eminent scholarship in the field of African and African American Studies. Students participate in planned seminar sessions and conduct in-depth research resulting in a senior thesis under the supervision of a member of the African & African American Studies faculty.
