AFSD 492 00. AFSD Senior Project
2.00 credits
Rosenberg, S.
Prerequisite: Permission of Program Director
Note: Students must submit an Independent Study -Senior Project Proposal- to the Registrar's office, Recitation Hall, for final approval. After final approval, the student will be officially registered for the credits.
During the senior year, our minors are required to complete a two-credit Senior Project that explores the Black Diasporic connections between academic disciplines. Students often study and analyze the intersection of Africana Studies and their major. For example, one student produced and directed a compilation of scenes from plays by two important African American playwrights while another planned a Black Knowledge Conference for the Wittenberg community in conjunction with the Office of Multicultural Student Programs.
ENGL 190A/C - Afro-Caribbean Studies: Migratory Subjects
4 semester hours
Wilkerson, Carmiele
Prerequisite: English 101E
This course will introduce students to the literary works and cultural history of English-speaking Caribbean authors. The course will study closely an historical group, "The Windrush Generation," Caribbean men and women who immigrated to Great Britain in search of better lives for themselves and for their families. The course will ground class lecture in issues of migration and the politics of identity for the Anglophone Caribbean in Great Britain. We will discover the beauty of the works by selected authors as they lead us on the path of discovery into the world of literature, language and culture. This course is designated A (The student should gain an understanding of aesthetic experience and of how the arts enrich and express the human spirit.) and C (The student should gain an understanding of the diversity of non-Western cultures through a study of the history, institutions, or traditions of one or more of these cultures.) Thus, the course will integrate both the aesthetic and socio-historic aspects of the literature and the time period.
ENGL 315 - African Novels: Novels of the African Diaspora
4 semester hours
Wilkerson, Carmiele
Prerequisite: Engl 200
Novels of the African Diaspora will examine several major authors of African ancestry. The course will review the cultural history of the African Diaspora through literature that spans Africa, the Caribbean, England and the United States. We will read several important novels and essays (and a bit of poetry) in this course that introduces students to post-colonial studies in Africana literature. Authors to look forward to reading include: Derek Walcott, W.E.B. Du Bois, Chinua Achebe, Norbese Phillip, Edwidge Danticat, Ama Ata Aidoo and Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie among others.
HIST 172C 1W. Africa Since 1500
4.00 credits
Rosenberg, Scott
Prerequisite: none.
This course will examine how African political, cultural, religious, economic, and social institutions have responded to the penetration of outsiders over the last 500 years. These outsiders include European slave traders, missionaries, and colonizers as well as Arab traders and Islamic scholars. The impact of the slave trade and later European colonization will be explored in depth. Africans were not passive victims in their own history, and we will focus on how Africans responded to these challenges and struggled for their independence, and how these movements helped shape the fact of Post-Colonial Africa. It is this dynamic interplay between Africans and outsiders which has shaped the formation of modern Africa. Assessment will be based on discussions of the readings, four papers as well as a take-home midterm and final. Writing Intensive.
HIST 230H 1W. African-American History
4.00 credits
Rosenberg, Scott
Prerequisite: none.
This course will investigate African-American history by focusing on slavery and the struggle for equality after emancipation. The first part of the course will examine the institution of slavery, however, greater emphasis will be placed on the lives that slaves made for themselves. We will ask questions such as "how much control did slaves have over their own lives," and "how did they resist servitude?" The second half of the course will dedicate itself to the study of the struggle for equality. This class will move beyond the political struggle and will explore the role that culture and an emerging and evolving identity played in shaping the quest for equality. Assessment will focus on the student's ability to express ideas in take-home essay exams, papers, and oral presentation. Grading will be based on discussions of a variety of readings, 3-4 papers and a take-home midterm and final. Writing Intensive.
HIST 370 Race in South Africa and the U.S .
4.00 credits
Rosenberg, Scott
Prerequisite: either a US or African History class.
This course will compare the political, economic, and cultural motivations behind the construction of racially discriminatory systems in the United States and South Africa. White settlers in both the United States and South Africa turned to the exploitation of slave labor; why did they do this and how did they justify it? After the abolition of slavery each society developed new forms of institutional racism, Jim Crow and Apartheid. We will also devote a considerable amount of our attention to the responses of African-Americans and Black South Africans to these systems. In our analysis of their responses, we will explore why certain communities opted for violent and non-violent measures. We will also explore why some strategies for equality were successful for one group and not the other. This class will conclude with an examination of the state of race relations today. Grading will be based on: Class participation, short papers based on readings and exams. Writing intensive.
POLI 234S 01 Black Politics
4 credits
Young, John
This course will introduce students to the nature of black politics and black political behavior. The course will inquire into the political dimensions of black life in America and how Black Americans have interpreted and responded to the democratic experiment. Considerable attention will be given to how individuals, institutions, and protest movements have shaped black political consciousness and black political participation. Finally, the course will examine the relative impact of black protest politics versus black electoral politics in addressing black political demands. Evaluation will be based on three exams, several quizzes, class participation, and short, one page writing assignments.
