The Major in Afro-American Studies
*Note: Only one departmental course may satisfy the Gen. Ed. Requirement (for Primary Majors only)
I. Introduction (1 course)
-
101 Introduction to Black Studies, 3 credits
II. Introductory Sequence (4 courses)
Humanities Group (2 courses required)
- 117 Survey of Afro-American Literature I, 4 credits (AL,DU)
- 118 Survey of Afro-American Literature II, 4 credits (AL,DU)
- 151 Literature and Culture, 4 credits (AL,DU)
- 155 Concepts in Afro-American Music I, 3 credits
- 156 Concepts in Afro-American Music II, 4 credits (AT,DU)
- MUSIC 102 Afro-American Music, 4 credits (AL,DU)
- MUSIC 103 History of Jazz, 4 credits (AT,DG)
History & Social Sciences Group (2 courses required)
- 132 Afro-American History, 1619-1860, 4 credits (HS,DU)
- 133 Afro-American History, Civil War to 1954, 4 credits (HS,DU)
- 161 Introduction to Afro-American Political Science, 4 credits (HS,DU)
- ECON 144 Political Economy of Racism, 4 credits (SB,DU)
- HISTORY 161 History of Africa since 1500, 4 credits (HS,DG)
III. Advanced Sequence (4 courses)
Four courses at the 200-400 level (History, Social Sciences, Literature, Creative and Performing Arts)
IV. Junior Year Writing (1 course)
-
365 Composition: Style and Organization
V. Senior Seminar Sequence (2 courses)
Both courses required for primary and secondary AfroAm majors: open to juniors and seniors
- 494DI Du Bois Senior Seminar, 3 credits (IE designation, Fall offering only)
- 496 Independent Project, 3 credits
Advanced Courses in Afro-American Studies
222 The Black Church in the U.S.
232 History of Black Nationalism
234 Literature of the Harlem Renaissance, 4 credits (AL,DU)
235 Black Sociological Thought
236 History of the Civil Rights Movement, 4 credits (HS,DU)
238 Arts and Cultural Identity
243 Afro-American Folklore
244 Afro-American Poetry: Beginning to 1900
245 The Slave Narrative
246 Afro-American Literature of the 1930s
250 African American Short Stories
252 Afro-American Image in American Writing
253 Pre-Civil War Black Writing
254 Introduction to African Studies
257 Contemporary African American Novel
264 Foundations of Black Education in the U.S., 4 credits (HS,DU)
265 The Blues Came Down Like Dark Night Showers of Rain
297R Race at Work: African Americans in the Labor Movement
326 Black Women in U.S. History, 4 credits (HS,DU)
330 Songbirds, Blueswoman, Soulwomen
331 The Life and Writings of W.E.B. Du Bois
332 Blacks and Jews
344 Black Speculative Fiction
345 Southern Literature, 4 credits (AL,DU)
390A Jazz and Blues Literature
390B Life & Work of Richard Wright
390D Langston Hughes
390E Race, Ethnicity and Gender in U.S. History
390G Uncle Tom’s Cabin: the Novel
390J Cross-Disciplinary Contemporary Issues: War and Patriotism in African American Literature and History
390K The Life and Art of Sterling Brown
390M Race and the American Story
391A Political Thought of Martin and Malcolm
391B Modern Afro-American Women Novelists
391E Afro-American Literature of the 1940s
391F Afro-American Literature of the 1950s
391G Critique of the Concept of Racism
391J Buying and Selling Blackness
397A Abolition and Antislavery
397B Native Americans/African Americans I
397F Native Americans/African Americans II
491C Cuba: Social History of Race, Class and Gender
Courses accepted towards the Advanced Sequence from outside departments: You must contact Britt Rusert, Director of Undergraduate Studies, or Tricia Loveland prior to registering for any courses outside the Afro-American Studies Department.
Courses taught in other Five College departments or programs may count towards the major. Please contact department office or Chief Undergraduate Advisor.
- ANTHRO 382 Caribbean Cultures
- ANTHRO 470 Cultures of Africa
- ANTHRO 497AA African American Anthropology
- FRNCH STDS 564 Literature of Africa and the Caribbean
- JOURN 310 The Press and the Third World
- POLSCI 307 Black Politics
- POLSCI 341 Government and Politics of Central America and the Caribbean
- POLSCI 343 Government and Politics of East Africa
- POLSCI 345 Revolutionary Nationalism and Imperialism in the Caribbean
- POLSCI 346 Government and Politics of West Africa
- POLSCI 397 Comparative Politics of Cuba, Puerto Rico and Haiti
- SOC 340 Race Relations
- SOC 397 Martin Luther King Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement
- WOST 292 Black Women in U.S. History
- WOST 394 Black Feminist/Womanist Thought
- WOST 297 Afro-American Women in the Civil Rights Movement
