Description: Framed as a historical introduction to Islamic traditions, this course will explore the political, social, and intellectual histories of Islam as a global tradition from its emergence through the modern period. The goal of the course is to introduce students to the central texts, personalities, events, geographies, institutions, and schools of thought that make up Islamic histories. We will begin by tracing Islam’s political history as it spreads from the Arabian Peninsula and encounters diverse cultures and peoples, before moving on to discuss the development of intellectual sciences and social institutions. In the process of studying Islamic histories, the course will engage several critical issues in the academic study of Islam such as orientalism, authority and writing history, authenticity, and gendered representations of Muslim societies.

Location

Frederick Douglass Room 403 (MW 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

This course will focus on the development of African American music from the 19th century through the latter part of the 20th century. We will study how African American music can be used a lens through which to understand the black American experience and the social and political landscape of American society as a whole. The historical, social, economic, and musical factors of various black American music genres will be examined with the aim to understand how African Americans constructed identity and interpreted the world around them. We will also discuss the performative aspects of these genres in order to understand how black music artists used their bodies and asserted their agency through performance on stage. Genres to be explored include the 19th century spiritual, the blues, gospel, jazz, early rock and roll, soul music, funk, rhythm and blues, and hip hop, among others.

Location

Lattimore Room 210 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

This course will present an introductory survey of the history of African American life from the early-seventeenth century through the mid-nineteenth century. The course will focus largely on African American history in North America and the United States, but we will consider this history in the broader context of Black diasporic and Atlantic world history during this time. The history of the transatlantic slave trade and the development of slavery in the United States will be key to this course, but we will pay particular attention to considering how Black diasporic peoples attempted to determine and define their own lives in the context of American slavery. Examining the fundamental, ever-changing struggle between these two phenomena—American slavery and Black self-determination—will constitute the key focus of the course. Other key focuses of the course will include: histories of Black revolt in North America; Black cultural and intellectual life; the historical relationship between African American history and the development of the US nation-state; the relationship between slavery and Atlantic-world capitalism; and the history of abolition movements in the United States.

Location

Morey Room 501 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

In Gospel Music in America, we will examine the historical development of gospel music, beginning with 19th century slave spirituals and ending with an examination of 21st century gospel music practices. Throughout this course, we will attempt to answer the following questions: what is gospel music how are the parameters of the genre defined? How has gospel music participated in constructions of black identity and spiritual formation? How has the sound and presentation of gospel music evolved i.e. instrumentation, vocal aesthetic, performance persona, and technique? Lectures and discussions will also highlight some of the perpetually controversial tensions that have come to define gospel music history and culture. Such tensions involve the commercialization of gospel music, the ambiguity of lyrical meaning, gospel musics flirtations with sensuality and sexuality, and debates about what constitutes authentic gospel music.

Location

Dewey Room B315 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

This introductory survey focuses on the Spanish and Portuguese conquests and colonization of the region that we now know as Latin America. Contrary to popular belief, the Conquest was constantly negotiated. Indigenous and African rebels, French and Dutch pirates and religious minorities eroded the Iberian hold on this vast territory. Primary source readings are an important component to this class and will introduce you to the writings of Inca nobles, Spanish conquistadors, and free African merchants. As a result, our course focuses on the vibrant societies defined as much by their cultural mixture as by their inherent political, social and economic inequality. The course ends with a brief glimpse at the Latin American independence movements. No prior knowledge of Latin American history or Spanish/Portuguese language is necessary for this course.

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 270 (MW 11:50AM - 1:05PM)

Humans and machines, infrastructure and architecture, community, and culture: how do these relationships shape our imagination of sounds and music? Through practice-based research, we will explore the aural environments generated by the industrial and post-industrial history of cities along the Rust Belt, studying, for example, how Industrial Fordism’s merger of human and machine informed the rise of sample culture and machine-based rhythm and music. Using Detroit as our case study, we will examine how African-American arts, culture, and history, combined with the rise of the automobile industry, produced Detroit Techno as way for artists to respond to the sonic architecture of their environment. Meanwhile, we will be making our own field recordings of our local urban environments and electronically processing them into tones and beats, and then sequencing and mixing our research into sonic productions using non-screen-based hardware devices. Not open to seniors.

Location

Sage Arts Center Room 101 (MW 10:25AM - 1:05PM)

In this course, students will work on expanding their repertory of rhythms from Guinea, West Africa, and on improving their playing technique on the djembe, dunun, sangban, and kenkeni. In particular, we will concentrate on learning extended solo sequences for the djembe, and more advanced arrangements played on the dunun, sangban, and kenkeni. Students will also work on developing skills specific to performance, adding choreographed onstage movement to complement their drumming. Pre-requisite: At least one semester of previous enrollment in the Intro West African Percussion Ensemble.

Location

Strong Auditorium Room 011 (MW 7:30PM - 8:45PM)

Kanye West, Megan Thee Stallion, Da Baby, Kendrick Lamar and several other contemporary rap artists operate within long traditions of hip hop that make religious claims.  This course provides an overview of histories and contexts of hip hop genres (trap, conscious, dance/party, mumble, gangsta, bounce…) in correlation with contexts of Black religious groups (Maroons, Black Israelites, Moors, Five Percenters, Christianity, Islam (Nation of Islam), Yoruba, Atheism…).  This course will be interactive, consisting of listening parties, (guests) lectures, DJ presentations, discussions, and a field trip to a Black religious and/or hip hop experience.

Location

Morey Room 501 (M 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

An art form of self-defense with aerobic and dance elements that brings together these harmony of forces. Through looking into history, movement and culture, students will gain self-confidence, power, flexibility, and endurance in a positive environment with proper progressions. Open to those of any background and fitness level. Capoeira allows you to balance the body, mind, and soul by enabling one to break through limits and revitalize oneself for everyday life.

Location

Spurrier Gymnasium Room 104 (MW 6:30PM - 7:50PM)

Sansifanyi is an ensemble that provides various performance opportunities both on and off-campus for intermediate and advanced students of African dance & drumming. Instructor Kerfala Bangoura trains ensemble members in a performance style that integrates dance, drumming, vocal song, and narrative elements. Dancers who enroll in Sansifanyi will learn choreographic techniques for West African dance and gain experience dancing as soloists. Dancers will also learn focus on rhythmic timing and on drumming while dancing. Drummers enrolled in Sansifanyi will learn extended percussion arrangements and techniques for accompanying choreography. They will also learn how to play the breaks required of lead drummers. 
Prerequisites: Audition on first day of class OR for Dancers one of the following: DAN181&182, DAN283, DAN253, DAN285. For Drummers one of the following: MUSC168A, MUSC168B, MUSC146. Email kerfala.bangoura@gmail.com with questions.

Location

Spurrier Gymnasium Room 104 (TR 7:00PM - 8:15PM)

Originated in the boroughs of New York City, hip hop has grown to become a global phenomenon, influencing the lives of countless individuals with the core ideals of peace, unity, love and having fun. The class will provide a look into the historical origins and social importance of hip hop culture. The main focus will be on the original dance of hip hop culture - breaking, (also known as bboying). The class format is geared towards physical movement along with lectures, videos and opportunities to attend events in the community.

Location

Spurrier Gymnasium Room 103 (MW 8:00PM - 9:15PM)

This course explores the origins and development of the rift between the Global North and Global South since the fifteenth century, with a focus on how ordinary women and men of the Global South reorganized their lives to meet the challenges and opportunities offered by the following developments in the Global North: the crisis in European feudalism, rise of capitalism and the Industrial Revolution, and the “new” imperialism of the late nineteenth century. The final section of the course discusses the worldwide impact of the Chinese and Russian Revolutions of the twentieth century.

Location

Morey Room 501 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

This course examines contemporary literature and cultural productions (films, art, music) from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. It will explore works that challenge and dismantle the racial and gender/sexual hierarchies rooted in colonialism and coloniality. Topics will include Black resistance, feminist struggles, LGBTQ+ rights, colonial difference, the political economy of knowledge, and the construction of a decolonial otherwise, and the narration of other futures. 

Readings may include works by: Rita Indiana Hernández, Mayra Santos-Febres, Alejo Carpentier, Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Lewis Gordon, and Nelson Maldonado-Torres.

Course will be taught in English. Students taking the course for Spanish credit must have taken SP 200 and will do some reading and most of the writing in Spanish. 

Location

Lattimore Room 401 (TR 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

American Culture? Is there such a thing? This class will explore, discuss and debate this question and some more: If there is an American culture, how can we tackle it? How does anthropology, famous for its research away from home, help us understand current major debates in the United States? How do outsiders understand and evaluate American culture? Is there a return of religion to American public life? How do Americans address power relations, class, gender, ethnicity and race? To tackle these questions we will use assigned readings, films, and current events seen through print and electronic media.

Location

Spurrier Gymnasium Room 104 (F 10:00AM - 12:00PM)

This class centers African American religiosity—examining African religious retentions in America from the 17th century to the present. We will examine religious traditions of African Americans that include Voodoo, Black Hebrew Israelites, Moorish Movement, Five Percenters, Christianity, and the Nation of Islam.  Themes of liberation, humanity, nationhood, love, language, identity, and culture will be explored throughout the semester.

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 270 (R 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

Through intensive reading and discussion, we examine the politics and history of American cities. While we read scholarship drawing on the experiences of an array of cities--including Chicago, New York, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, New Haven, Atlanta, Buffalo, and Charlotte--our emphasis is on commonalities in the urban experience as well as on systematic differences. We analyze the relationship of cities to their hinterlands in the early stages of urban development, the rise of ethnic neighborhoods, suburbanization, industrialization, de-industrialization, housing and jobs, concentrated poverty, and population changes. Race, ethnicity, and class are central to this course, not only in understanding changes in neighborhoods but also in the nature of politics and governmental arrangements.

Location

Harkness Room 329 (T 12:30PM - 3:15PM)

Through intensive reading and discussion, we examine the politics and history of American cities. While we read scholarship drawing on the experiences of an array of cities--including Chicago, New York, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, New Haven, Atlanta, Buffalo, and Charlotte--our emphasis is on commonalities in the urban experience as well as on systematic differences. We analyze the relationship of cities to their hinterlands in the early stages of urban development, the rise of ethnic neighborhoods, suburbanization, industrialization, de-industrialization, housing and jobs, concentrated poverty, and population changes. Race, ethnicity, and class are central to this course, not only in understanding changes in neighborhoods but also in the nature of politics and governmental arrangements.

Location

Harkness Room 329 (T 12:30PM - 3:15PM)

Students will experience dancing African styles from the traditional cultures of Ghana and Guinea, West Africa. Technical emphasis will focus on foot patterns and placement, as well as developing the proper physical stance for African dance styles. Students will practice the dances and drum songs called Kpanlogo & Gota from Ghana, and Yankadi, Makru, & Kuku from Guinea, as well as various other selections. Outside work is required, including performance attendance, video viewing, article analysis, and journaling. Students can expect to gain a broadened perspective on contemporary West Africa and its cultural practices.

Location

Spurrier Gymnasium Room 104 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

In the context of the global economy, Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is blessed with vast mineral resources and agricultural lands able to produce a wide variety of tropical products and foods. The country's large population is made up of talented and highly resourceful individuals, who are quick to respond to economic incentives. Thus, it is hard to understand why the country has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the world and why the country's economy occupies such a lowly position within the global economy. We focus on the historical development of socio-economic/political structures over time to explain why the giant of Africa continues to slumber. Some of the country's central problems, such as ethnic and religious contradictions, are similar in some way to those in the U.S. The solutions attempted by the governments of both countries, such as affirmative action, are also somewhat similar. We will conduct a comparative analysis of contemporary historical issues in the two countries.

Location

Meliora Room 219 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

The peoples of southern Africa’s fifteen states freed themselves from the yoke of European and settler colonialism in different ways. In some countries, Africans pursued, from the time of World War II, a nationalist agenda whose principal objectives were limited to political independence. In other colonies, however, frustrated nationalists became revolutionaries, determined to achieve both political and economic autonomy. With the support of peasants and workers, the radicalized leadership launched guerrilla wars that turned portions of southern Africa into bloody battlefields from the late 1960s to the fall of apartheid in 1994.

Location

Lechase Room 184 (W 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

The goal of this class is as straightforward as it is difficult: our aim is to become better listeners.  We will work toward this goal by listening to what the sounds, sights, and cultural narratives of Japanese hip hop have to tell us about Japan, America, race, ethnicity, transpacific confluence, the ethics of performance, and other pertinent topics.  After a brief discussion of the common characteristics of good listeners, we begin by reviewing foundational works of hip hop studies on both sides of the Pacific.  From here, we move to the history of hip hop in Japan.  We will also consider the proliferation of hip hop culture across Japanese artforms and platforms (anime, television, film, street art, novels, political protests, and so on).  In order to provide a point of comparison, this course also includes an "interlude" on jazz Japan.  All viewings, listenings, and readings will include English subtitles.

Location

Hylan Building Room 306 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

This course will examine the varieties of thought about, and practice of, civil disobedience within social movements, with an emphasis on contemporary activism. When, why, and how do communities choose to push back against structures of violence and injustice? Throughout the semester, we will study canonical texts? of modern resistance history speeches, writing, direct action protests, art and will consider the role of this form of counter-conduct within larger campaign strategies to build power from below and get free.

Location

Meliora Room 224 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

Taught by a long-time member of Les Ballets Africains, the national ballet of Guinea, instructor Fana Bangoura will introduce students in this course to dynamic dance traditions of West Africa and will join with them the power of percussion. Students will also become familiar with the origins and cultural significance of each dance, and the songs that accompany them. By breaking down the drum parts alongside the traditional dance movements, students experience dancing and drumming in perfect unison. This opportunity is geared for both drummers and dancers and is highly recommended for all skill levels.

Location

Spurrier Gymnasium Room 104 (MW 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

This course is about the politics of racial subordination and emancipation in the United States.  We begin by thinking about different explanations of the rise, dynamics, and persistence of racial domination in the United States and of the cultural and political challenges to it.  We will pay special attention to the Great Migration, the subsequent emergence of blacks as an important constituency of the Democratic Party, the Civil Rights Movement, and the role of race in structuring current party divisions.  Next, we will examine the politics of black communities.  Topics include the legacy of the demobilization of the Civil Rights movement and the channeling of political activity into electoral institutions; the politics of urban regimes; the challenge to political solidarity posed by increasing economic and social inequality within the black community; the Black Lives Matter movement; and debates about the effectiveness of identity-based, class-based, and coalitional strategies of political mobilization.  In conclusion, we will reflect upon the differences between the nature and dynamics of racial subordination today compared to the past and what, if any, prospects for change there are.

Location

Gavett Hall Room 202 (WF 9:00AM - 10:15AM)

Sansifanyi offers experienced dancers the opportunity to study West African dance forms as well as studying cultural history and context from which and in which they are performed at a professional level. This course requires a high degree of student commitment. Dancers who enroll in Sansifanyi will learn choreographic techniques for West African dance and gain experience dancing as soloists. They will also focus on rhythmic timing, and on advanced skills such as how to combine movement with drumming. In addition to the time students spend in class, dancers in the ensemble are expected to spend several hours per week researching, reading, writing, viewing videos, text and article analysis, practicing, and choreographing various rhythms, songs, movements, and sequences. Dancers must also be available for performances both on and off campus throughout the semester.   Clusters: Improvisation and the Creative Process, Movement and Culture, Dance and Performance. Prerequisite: Audition on first day of class or for dancers, one of the following: DANC 181/182, DANC 283, DANC 253, DANC 285: For drummers one of the following: MUSC 168A, MUSC 168B, MUSC 146

Location

Spurrier Gymnasium Room 104 (TR 6:45PM - 8:15PM)

Mexico and Brazil are countries with complex cultural, racial and ethnic histories. This advanced seminar will explore the process by which these two countries grappled with their diverse populations during the modern era and how policies and attitudes impacted citizens, residents and perceptions. The course will investigate the limitations that arose from Mexico’s pursuit of a “cosmic race” and how the myth of Brazil’s “racial democracy” was created and dispelled. We will use more modern Black migrations to these countries, for example Haitian communities in the twenty-first century, to debate the durability of these constructions and the limitations that arise from cross-country comparisons. The course will also challenge students to think theoretically regarding the salience of racial binaries. In addition to thought-provoking scholarly studies, students will read translated discourses from leading Mexican and Brazilian intellectuals and will generate their own final research papers.

Location

Meliora Room 218 (R 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

Female genital cutting encounters vaginal cosmetic surgeries at the intersection of poverty and wealth, race and class, barbaric practices and the pleasure principle. Bodies of poor, African, and mostly black women and children embody a fateful condition that can be redeemed by technologies of progress and humanitarian discourses. This course invites students to challenge assumptions related to agency, race, class, the representation of the body, and the fragmented transnational sisterhood. The discussion expands to bodies caught in domestic violence, rape, lynching, and skin whitening. Readings and films: Alice Walker's "Warrior's Marks" and "Possessing the Secret of Joy"; "Manya Mabika"; "Fantacola"; "Sarabah"; "Women with Open Eyes"; "Black Sisters, Speak Up"; "The Suns of Independence"; "Desert Flower"; and Maryse Condé's "Who Slashed Célanire Throat?" Conducted in English.

Location

Lechase Room 182 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

Independent studies on some aspect of the problems of energy resource development in lower-income countries, solutions to it, and relationship to development issues, including work with the instructors Access to Hydrocarbon Energy for African Development project, can be done within this course. Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

Experience in an applied setting supervised on site. Approved and overseen by a University instructor.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.