Black Studies
Department Overview
The Black studies minor provides an intellectual framework for understanding global Black experiences both historically and contemporarily. Specifically, the minor not only illuminates Black triumphs and travails in the United States, but those throughout the Diaspora, particularly in Continental Africa and the Caribbean. Black studies is significant nationally because its emergence — inextricably bound to the Black Power phase of a larger struggle for African American human rights — paved the way for subsequent liberatory fields, including Chicana/Chicano Studies, Gender Studies, and Indigenous Nations Studies, that also seek to center marginalized groups and challenge structures of power and privilege. In addition to interrogating institutionalized racism in the United States, this interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary field of study examines intraracial issues of socioeconomic class, gender, sexuality and skin color via a constellation of courses in the arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences.
Black Studies Courses
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| BST 101 | Introduction to Black Studies | 3 |
| BST 205 | Black Panther Archive | 3 |
| BST 305 | Radical Black Autobiography | 4 |
| BST 375 | Seminar in Black Studies | 4 |
Student Learning Objectives
1. Understand Black Studies Comprehensively as a Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Field for Studying Agency and Self-Determination in Global African Communities
- Study community building, cultural production, resistance to oppression, and both collective and individual achievement throughout the global African world.
- Appreciate the importance of studying Africa as an incredibly complex and culturally diverse continent and African societies as dynamic, fluid, multidimensional and sophisticated.
- Appreciate the importance of studying Black experiences in the United States (including the demand for Black Studies) while challenging African American exceptionalism.
- Learn how teaching scholars approach the field of Black Studies in the arts, humanities, physical sciences and social sciences.
- Begin to develop transdisciplinary approaches to Black studies that emphasize ways of knowing that transcend traditional divisional and disciplinary boundaries.
2. Cultivate the Development of Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills, as Well as an Understanding of Multiple Theoretical Approaches and Perspectives
- Appreciate different but not always mutually exclusive approaches to Black Studies, including Africology, Afrocentricity, Afrofuturism, Afro-Pessimism, Black Feminism, Black Queer studies, Kawaida theory, Marxism, and Womanism.
- Appreciate notion of Sankofa, which stresses the dynamic interplay between historical and contemporary forces.
- Interrogate and explain historical and contemporary manifestations of structural violence against Black communities and individuals in Continental Africa, the Americas, and Europe, including enslavement, colonialisms, institutional racism, and mass incarceration.
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Analyze intraracial variables such as socioeconomic class, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexuality and skin color in Black communities.
3. Understand the Multidimensional Nature and Various Meanings of the Transnational Within the Context of Black Studies
- Study emigration and the experiences of immigrants in various contexts, including rural to urban, neighborhood to neighborhood, region to region, and nation to nation.
- Study boundary-crossing as a geopolitical imperative for escaping violence and exercising informal political power.
- Study boundary-crossing as an intellectual imperative for engaging in cross-disciplinary research and teaching.
4. Experience High-Impact Learning in Off-Campus Environments
- Engage in mutually reciprocal service-learning work such as internships with community partners in the service of social justice.
- Participate in off-campus opportunities such as study abroad, study at historically Black colleges and universities, and faculty-led travel seminars (domestic and abroad).
5. Demonstrate Effective Oral and Written Communication in the Black Studies Minor
- Foreground primary source-driven research that centers a range of Black perspectives in discussions, class presentations, and written work
- Effectively synthesize scholarship in Black studies, as well as analyze differences in theoretical approaches, in both oral and written work
- Beginning with BST 101 Introduction to Black Studies, produce research essays that embrace a Sankofic analytical approach to particular problems; this approach evidences the connective tissue intellectually between contemporary and historical events or issues.
- Assess extent to which students also connect their lived experiences (irrespective of their racial or ethnic background) to other analyses in blogs, response papers, essays, and Power and Justice pubic presentations.
Credit for Advanced Placement
Students receiving a score of 4 or 5 on the African American Studies AP exam will receive credit for having taken BST 101 Introduction to Black Studies
Director of the Black Studies Program: Winston A. Grady-Willis
Administrative Assistant: Beth Miller
AFFILIATED FACULTY
American Studies: Beck Krefting, Tammy C. Owens
Anthropology: Sónia Silva
Dance: Kieron D. Sargeant
English: Bakary Diaby, Jamie Parra, Mason Stokes
Environmental Studies: Nurcan Atalan-Helicke, Andrew J. Schneller
French: Aurélie Matheron, Cate Talley
Gender Studies: Gwen D’Arcangelis, Sharadha K. Kalyanam
History: Jennifer Delton, Jordana Dym
Intergroup Relations: Lisa Grady-Willis
International Affairs: Rachel Cantave
Management & Business: Pushkala Prasad
Philosophy: William Lewis
Political Science: Emmanuel Balogun, Beau Breslin, Katherine Graney
Psychology: Leigh S. Wilton
Religious Studies: Lucia Hulsether
Social Work: June C. Paul
Sociology: John Brueggemann, Amon Emeka, Jennifer Mueller
Spanish: Mary Kate Donovan
Theater: Eunice S. Ferreira
Marta Brunner, College Librarian
Marc C. Conner, President
Dorothy E. Mosby, Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Black Studies Minor
Minimum 18 credits required
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | ||
| BST 101 | Introduction to Black Studies | 3 |
| Approved Power and Justice course | 3-4 | |
| Capstone course or experience | 3-4 | |
| Select one elective from Group A: Arts & Humanities | 3-4 | |
| Select one elective from Group B: Natural & Social Sciences | 3-4 | |
| Select one additional elective from Group A or Group B | 3-4 | |
| Total Hours | 18-23 | |
Notes
- The capstone course or experience includes BST 375 Seminar in Black Studies, BST XXX, Internship in Black Studies, or select off-campus study experiences.
- No more than two courses taken at another institution may count toward the minor.
- Students must take at least one elective from Group A and one from Group B.
- One of the three electives must be at the 300-level.
Possible Electives
No more than two from each group
Group A: Arts and Humanities
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| AH 151 | Special Topics in Art History (When applicable) | 1-4 |
| AH 251 | Special Topics in Art History (When applicable) | 1-4 |
| AH 351 | Topics In Art History (When applicable) | 1-4 |
| AH 375 | Art History in Action (When applicable. May be repeated for credit with a different topic) | 4 |
| CC 227 | Race and Ethnicity in Ancient Greece and Beyond | 3 |
| EN 225W | Introduction to Shakespeare (Introduction to Shakespeare ) | 4 |
| EN 227 | Introduction to African-American Literature | 3 |
| EN 228 | Special Studies: Form (19th-Century African American Fiction) | 3 |
| EN 235 | Writing Black/Writing Back | 4 |
| EN 237 | Postcolonial Culture | 3 |
| EN 241L | Afrofuturism: Literature and Culture | 4 |
| EN 327 | Special Studies in African-American Literature 1 | 3 |
| IG 251 | Special Topics in Intergroup Relations (A Black Woman Speaks: Will you fight with me? ) | 1-4 |
| IG 264 | (Counts as a Group A or B course does not fulfill both) | 3 |
| ID 251 | Topics in Interdisciplinary Study (When applicable. May be repeated for credit with a different topic) | 1-4 |
| ID 351 | Advanced Topics in Interdisciplinary Study (When applicable. May be repeated for credit with a different topic) | 1-4 |
| MU 345 | Topics Seminar (when applicable. May be repeated for credit with a different topic) | 3-4 |
| PH 212 | Philosophy of Race | 4 |
| TH 334 | Special Studies in Theater History and Theory (When applicable. May be repeated for credit with a different topic) | 3 |
| TH 338 | Black Theater | 3 |
| WLL 324 | Race and Nature in French and Francophone Literatures and Cultures | 3 |
- 1
These courses have department/program-specific prerequisites.
Group B: Natural and Social Sciences
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| AM 262 | Civil Rights in Twentieth-Century United States | 3 |
| AM 264 | African-American Experiences Since the Civil War | 4 |
| AM 331 | Critical Whiteness in the US | 4 |
| AM 342 | Black Feminist Thoughts | 3 |
| AM 345H | Disorderly Women | 4 |
| AN 227 | Sub-Saharan Africa from a Cultural Perspective 1 | 3 |
| BST 205 | Black Panther Archive | 3 |
| BST 235 | African American History to 1865 | 3 |
| BST 305 | Radical Black Autobiography | 4 |
| EC 261 | Intermediate Topics In Economics (Colonialism and Capitalism) | 3 |
| ED 217 | Multicultural Education | 3 |
| ED 261 | Themes in Education (When applicable. May be repeated for credit with a different topic) | 1-4 |
| ES 223 | Environmental Justice 1 | 3 |
| ES 252 | Topics in Environmental Studies (When applicable. May be repeated for credit with a different topic) | 1-4 |
| GW 202 | Lived Feminism: Engagement and Praxis 1 | 2 |
| GW 321 | Feminist Science Studies | 4 |
| GW 351 | Special Topics in Gender Studies (When applicable. May be repeated for credit with a different topic) | 1-4 |
| HI 225 | Race and Ethnicity in American Thought | 3 |
| HI 226 | African American History Since 1865 | 3 |
| HI 228 | Race, Class, and Gender in Latin America | 3 |
| HI 324 | Civil War and Reconstruction | 3 |
| IA 351 | Advanced Topics in International Affairs (When applicable. May be repeated for credit with a different topic) | 3 |
| ID 251 | Topics in Interdisciplinary Study (Long History of the Civil rights Movement (counts as a Group A or B course - does not fulfill both) ) | 1-4 |
| IG 264 | (Counts as a Group A or B course – does not fulfill both) | 3 |
| PL 244 | Race, State and Nation in Comparative Perspective | 4 |
| PL 245 | Hip-Hop, Politics, and Protest | 4 |
| PL 246 | Contemporary African Politics | 4 |
| PL 251 | Topics in Political Science (When applicable. May be repeated for credit with a different topic) | 3 |
| PL 343 | International Relations of the Global South | 4 |
| PL 351 | Topics in Political Thought (When applicable. May be repeated for credit with a different topic) | 3-4 |
| PL 365 | Topics In Comparative Politics (When applicable. May be repeated for credit with a different topic) | 4 |
| PL 366 | Topics In International Relations (When applicable. May be repeated for credit with a different topic) | 4 |
| PS 335 | Psychology of Race 1 | 4 |
| SO 204 | Introduction to Race, Class, and Gender | 3 |
| SO 207C | Race and Education | 4 |
| SO 219 | Race and Power 1 | 3 |
| SO 317 | Femininity, Beauty, and the Black Female Body | 3 |
| SO 328 | Social Movements and Collective Action 1 | 3 |
| SO 361 | Racial Identities: Theory and Praxis 1 | 4 |
- 1
These courses have department/program-specific prerequisites.
Course Listing
Introduction to the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary field of Black Studies, providing students with an intellectual framework for contemplating global Black experiences historically and contemporarily. The course begins by placing Black Studies in context, noting its significance as part of the Black Power phase of a larger struggle for African American human rights. From there, the course examines the continent of Africa as the birthplace of humanity and site of diverse and complex cultures. Subsequent weeks will address self-determination and resistance in the African, Caribbean, and U.S. contexts as well as the importance of institutional racism. The course also interrogates intraracial issues such as socioeconomic class, gender, sexuality and skin color.
A critical analysis of the Black Panther Party. Active in the United States from 1966-1982, The Black Panther Party was the most visible manifestation of the Black Power phase of a larger Back human rights struggle. Students will interrogate primary source documents produced by Black Panther Party activists housed in The Tang Teaching Museum. Working closely with these documents, students will present their critical analysis of these works publicly in relation to contemporary examples of human rights activism.
An exploration of the ways in which Blacks have shaped their history from their largely West African cultural roots to active participation on and off the battlefield during the U.S. Civil War. Students will study forms of resistance to chattel slavery and the multidimensional early intellectual and political life of African Americans by accessing scholarly works, nineteenth-century fiction and manifestos, and both contemporary documentary and feature films.
Close readings of groundbreaking autobiographies of radical Black activists, such as Angela Davis and Paul Robeson. These texts not only reveal (and in some instances conceal) much about the personal lives and political struggles of these individuals, but even more about intraracial fault lines of socioeconomic class, gender, and sexuality. Students are responsible for crafting an analytical essay for the public that includes a memoir component.
Exploration of primary and secondary sources in the interdisciplinary examination of a particular topic in Black Studies. Students will pursue a research project in conjunction with close examination of groundbreaking texts in the field. Particular emphasis will be placed on texts and projects that seek transdisciplinary approaches to Black Studies.