Africana Studies Course Descriptions
Fall 2007
To request enrollment in one of the courses below, please visit the Department of Africana Studies, 330 O'Shaughnessy Hall, send you request to astudies@nd.edu, or contact the department by phone at (574)631-5628 from 8:00AM-5:00PM.
AFST 10401 Introduction to Jazz Larry Dwyer
crosslisted w/Music Dept MWF 12:50 pm-1:40 pm
A music appreciation course requiring no musical background and no prerequisites. General coverage of the history, various styles and major performers of jazz, with an emphasis on current practice.
AFST 10716 Intro to Social Problems Curt Sobolewski
crosslisted w/Soc. Dept. T R 9:30 am-10:45 am
Today's society is beset by many serious social problems, for example, crime and deviance, drug abuse and addiction, domestic violence, hunger and poverty, and racial/ethnic discrimination. How do we think about these problems in ways that lead to helpful solutions? In what ways does one's own social background and role in society affect his/her views of these problems? In this course, students will learn to take a sociological perspective not only in examining the causes, consequences, and solutions to some of society's most troubling social problems, but also in taking a critical look at their own perceptions of the problems.
AFST 20082 Introduction to Africana Studies Jacquetta Page
T R 12:30 pm-1:45 pm
Students will be introduced to issues and topics that address African Diasporan life, traditions, beliefs, cultural, and studies. This course will present thematic concepts like family, education, religion, double consciousness, the talent tenth, and other areas related to African Diasporan lived experiences and research. Surveying literature, history, social science, and art, it will be interdisciplinary in nature. This course will meet the writing intensive (WI) requirements of the University.
AFST 20201 American Men, American Women Heidi Ardizzone
crosslisted w/Amer. Studies Dept. T R 2:00pm-3:15pm
What does it mean to be male or female in America? How different are our ideas about gender from those of other cultures? This course will focus on the 20th century and look at the origins and development of masculine and feminine roles in the United States. How much have they changed over time and what aspects have been retained? We will explore the ways that cultural images, political changes, and economic needs have shaped the definition of acceptable behavior and life choices based on gender. Topics will range from Victorian ideals through the Jazz Age and war literature to movie Westerns, '50s television families, and '60s youth culture; and into recent shifts with women's rights, extreme sports, and talk shows.
AFST 20583 Islam: Religion and Culture Asma Afsaruddin
crosslisted w/Classics Dept. T R 2:00pm-3:15pm
This introductory course will discuss the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century of the Common Era and its subsequent establishment as a major world religion and civilization. Lectures and readings will deal with the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an and its role in worship and society, early Islamic history, community formation, law and religious practices, theology, mysticism, and literature. Emphasis will be on the core beliefs and institutions of Islam and on its religious and political thought from the Middle Ages until our own time. The latter part of the course will deal with the spread of Islam to the West, resurgent trends within Islam, both in their reformist and extremist forms, and contemporary Muslim engagements with modernity.
AFST 30202 Jacksonian American Dan Graff
crosslisted w/History Dept. T R 9:30 am-10:45 am
This course explores the early 19th-century history of the United States, from the close of the War of 1812 to the coming of the Civil War (1815-48). Although the era and course take their name from President Andrew Jackson, we will cover much more than national politics and affairs of state. We will explore the birth of mass political parties, conflicts between nationalism and sectionalism, early industrialization and the rise of class conflict, the development of slavery and antislavery, changing gender roles and the rise of feminism, evangelical religion and reform, and Native American resistance and removal.
AFST 30601 Race, Ethnicity, Dianne Pinderhughes
and American Politics T R 12:30 pm-1:45 pm
crosslisted w/Pol.Sci. Dept.
This course explores American conceptions of race and ethnicity, how these have ordered institutional and philosophical developments in American politics, and examines how these conceptions matter today. We examine the major theories that discuss race and ethnicity in U.S. politics. Substantively, we consider the political experiences of specific groups: Native Americans, African Americans, Latinas/os, Asian Americans and European Americans. By examining these specific groups’ political experiences within broader theoretical, historical and institutional contexts, we hope to understand the bases for continuing conflicts and dilemmas, and to explore the possibilities for solidarity and
coalition building. Finally, we consider how race and ethnicity interact with other identities such as gender and class in animating political action.
AFST 30784 Archaeology of the African Diaspora Mark Hauser
MW 11:45am-1:00pm
This course is designed to serve as an in-depth undergraduate level introduction to archaeological perspectives on the African Diaspora. In this course, we examine the formation and transformation of the Black Atlantic World beginning with the transatlantic slave trade to the middle of the 19th century through the study of archaeological and historical sources. The emphasis in this course is on English- speaking African America, where the vast majority of archaeological investigations have been undertaken. A major objective of this course is to understand the material world of communities of the African Diaspora within the context of the history and historiography of the Black Atlantic. This course is organized around the following themes: 1) Diaspora and the Atlantic World 2) Material Life of the Diaspora 3) Diverse Communities of the Diaspora 4) Intersections of Race, Class, Gender, and Representation.
AFST 30785 Caribbean Historiography Mark Hauser
MW 3:00pm-4:15pm
This class will introduce students to major events in Caribbean History and the various ways in which these histories have been represented. This course will present a picture of the Caribbean very different from that held by many North Americans. For 500 years,
this region has been the site of encounters and clashes among Native Americans, Europeans, Africans, and Asians. For three centuries Europe's leading states fought each other to control these islands, which were the most valuable real estate in the Atlantic world. At the same time Dutch, English, French and Spanish colonists imported millions of enslaved men, women, and children from Africa to work on the sugar and coffee plantations that made the region so profitable for its masters. Supported by racism and colonialism, plantation slavery left its mark on the Caribbean long after emancipation and
independence. We will be emphasizing recent, representative texts, monographs and essays but placing them in the context of early research.
AFST 35775 Creole Language and Culture Karen Richman
crosslisted w/Inst. of Latino Studies M W 1:30pm-2:45pm
This course introduces students to the vivid, sonorous language of Kreyòl, or Creole, and to the fascinating culture of its speakers. This intensive, beginning-level course is intended for students with no knowledge of Creole. In small-group teaching sessions, students will be prepared for conversational fluency with basic reading and writing skills, emphasizing communicative competence as well as grammatical and phonetic techniques. Our study of Kreyòl is closely linked to our anthropological exploration of how the language is tied to Caribbean society and culture. The course takes a holistic, anthropological approach to the history, political economy, and religion of Haiti. In addition to class work, audio tapes, music and film enhance the study of the Haitian language and culture. Evaluation of student achievement and proficiency will be conducted both informally and formally during and at the conclusion of the course. To give participants additional immersion in the Haitian-speaking environment they will have an opportunity to participate in a Haitian meal and in activities of Notre Dame's Haiti Working Group, including Haiti Awareness Week in February. Those looking to develop or improve their language skills are welcome to the class. The program is designed to meet the needs of those who plan to conduct research in Haiti or in the Haitian diaspora, or who intend to work in a volunteer or professional capacity either in Haiti or with Haitians abroad.
AFST 40107 African American Literature Ivy Wilson
crosslisted w/English Dept. T R 2:00pm-3:15pm
Close readings of various 20th-century African-American literatures, with foci on how "black subjectivity" is created; the relationship between literature, history, and cultural mythology; the dialectic of freedom and slavery in American rhetoric; the American obsession with race; and the sexual ideology and competing representations of domesticity.
AFST 43075 Gullah People Miller-McGraw
Apply on-line through the CSC (Center for Social Concerns)