African American Studies (AFRICAM)
AFRICAM R1A Freshman Composition 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks. 6 hours of Lecture and 2 hours of Discussion per week for 8 weeks. 8 hours of Lecture and 2 hours of Discussion per week for 6 weeks.
Prerequisites: UC Entry Level Writing Requirement.
Training in expository, argumentative, and other styles of writing. The assignments will focus on themes and issues in African American life and culture. Satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement.
Satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement
Formerly known as 1A.
AFRICAM R1AN Reading and Composition 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 5.5 hours of Lecture per week for 8 weeks. 7.5 hours of Lecture per week for 6 weeks.
To provide Summer Bridge students with training in expository, argumentative, and other styles of writing. The assignments will focus on themes and issues in African American life and culture. Satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement.
Satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement
Formerly known as 1AN.
AFRICAM R1B Freshman Composition 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks. 6 hours of Lecture and 2 hours of Discussion per week for 8 weeks. 8 hours of Lecture and 2 hours of Discussion per week for 6 weeks.
Prerequisites: UC Entry Level Writing Requirement and 1A.
Continued training in expository and argumentative writing, with more emphasis on literary interpretation. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement.
Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement
Formerly known as 1B.
AFRICAM 4A Africa: History and Culture 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks. 7.5 hours of Lecture and 2.5 hours of Discussion per week for 6 weeks.
Emphasis on pre-colonial social, cultural, political, and economic structures; introduction to art, literature, oral traditions, and belief systems.
Instructor: Nwokeji
AFRICAM 4B Africa: History and Culture 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 10 hours of lecture/discussion per week for 6 weeks.
Emphasis on social, political, and economic change in 20th century Africa; with further emphasis upon the roles of modernization, urbanization, and the emergence of contemporary African states.
Instructor: Nwokeji
AFRICAM N4A Africa: History and Culture 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 5 hours of Lecture per week for 8 weeks. 7 hours of Lecture per week for 6 weeks.
Emphasis on pre-colonial social, cultural, political, and economic structures; introduction to art, literature, oral traditions, and belief systems.
Off-campus course in Zimbabwe. Instructor: Mandaza
AFRICAM 5A African American Life and Culture in the United States 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks. 10 hours of Lecture per week for 6 weeks.
A study of the genesis, development, and scope of African American culture, approached through an examination of selected art forms, historical themes, and intellectual currents.
Instructor: Allen
AFRICAM 5B African American Life and Culture in the United States 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks. 8 hours of Lecture and 2 hours of Discussion per week for 6 weeks.
Emphasis on the social experience of African Americans. An interdisciplinary approach designed to help students understand the forces and ideas that are influencing the individual and collective African American experience.
AFRICAM 7A Elementary Wolof 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Recitation and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
This course introduces students to speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Wolof. Instruction is mixed English and Wolof. Emphasis is placed on developing student ability to create and to communicate with basic Wolof structures and vocabulary in culturally and socially appropriate context. Speaking and listening abilities are developed through oral exercises, class discussions, and recordings available from Berkeley Language Center. Reading and writing are developed through in-class exercises, independent reading projects, and compositions. This course not open to native or heritage speakers of Wolof.
Formerly known as C7A/Linguistics C7A. Instructor: Sow
AFRICAM 7B Elementary Wolof 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 1 hour of recitation, 1 hour of lab.
Prerequisites: C7A.
This course introduces students to speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Wolof. Instruction is mixed English and Wolof. Emphasis is placed on developing student ability to create and to communicate with basic Wolof structures and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context. Speaking and listening abilities are developed through oral exercises, class discussions, and recordings available from the Berkeley Language Center. Reading and writing are developed through in-class exercises, independent reading projects, and compositions. For students with no college level Wolof completed with passing grade; this course is not open to native heritage speakers of Wolof.
Formerly known as C7B/Linguistics C7B. Instructor: Sow
AFRICAM 8A Intermediate Wolof 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Recitation and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge of fundamental structures from Elementary Wolof and appropriate cultural contexts of these structures in oral and written communication. More grammar and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context is developed. Speaking ability is expanded through oral exercises, individual reports, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by instructor's materials.
Formerly known as C8A/Linguistics C8A. Instructor: Sow
AFRICAM 8B Intermediate Wolof 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Recitation and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: C8A.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge of fundamental structures from Elementary Wolof, and appropriate cultural contexts of these structures in oral and written communication. More grammar and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context is developed. Speaking ability is expanded through oral exercises, individual reports, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by the instructor's materials.
Formerly known as C8B/Linguistics C8B. Instructor: Sow
AFRICAM 9A Advanced Wolof 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 1 hours of recitation, 1 hour of lab.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge from Intermediate Wolof. Oral and written communication will be presented in appropriate cultural contexts. Developing oral language skills will be strongly emphasized as part of this course and will be expanded through individual presentations, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing, grammar, vocabulary, and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by the instructor's materials.
Formerly known as C9A/Linguistics C9A. Instructor: Sow
AFRICAM 9B Advanced Wolof 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 1 hour of recitation, 1 hour of lab.
Prerequisites: C9A.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge from Intermediate Wolof. Oral and written communication will be presented in appropriate cultural contexts. Developing oral language skills will be strongly emphasized as part of this course and will be expanded through individual presentations, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing, grammar, vocabulary and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by the instructor's materials.
Formerly known as C9B/Linguistics C9B. Instructor: Sow
AFRICAM 10A Intermediate Swahili 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Recitation and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge of fundamental structures from Elementary Swahili and appropriate cultural contexts of these structures in oral and written communication. More grammar and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context is developed. Speaking ability is expanded through oral exercises, individual reports, class discussions, and recordings available at Berkeley Language Center. Writing and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by instructor's materials.
Students will receive no credit for C10A after taking Linguistics 10A. Formerly known as C10A/Linguistics C10A. Instructor: Jibril
AFRICAM 10B Intermediate Swahili 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Recitation and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: C10A.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge of fundamental structures from Elementary Swahili and appropriate cultural contexts of these structures in oral and written communication. More grammar and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context is developed. Speaking ability is expanded through oral exercises, individual reports, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by instructor's materials.
Students will receive no credit for C11B after taking Linguistics 1B. Formerly known as C10B/Linguistics C10B. Instructor: Jibril
AFRICAM 11A Elementary Swahili 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of recitation and 1 hour of laboratory per week.
This course introduces students to the basics of speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Swahili. Instruction is mixed English and Swahili. Emphasis is placed on developing student ability to create and to communicate with basic structures and vocabulary in culturally and socially appropriate context. Speaking and listening abilities are developed through oral exercises, class discussions, and recordings available from Berkeley Language Center. Reading and writing are developed through in-class exercises, independent reading projects, and compositions. This course not open to native or heritage speakers of Swahili.
Students will receive no credit for C11A after taking Linguistics 1A. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Instructor: Mchombo
AFRICAM 11B Elementary Swahili 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Recitation and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: C11A.
This course introduces students to the basics of speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Swahili. Instruction is mixed English and Swahili. Emphasis is placed on developing student ability to create and to communicate with basic structures and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context. Speaking and listening abilities are developed through oral exercises, class discussions, and recordings available from Berkeley Language Center. Reading and writing are developed through in-class exercises, independent reading projects, and compositions. This course not open to native or heritage speakers of Swahili.
Students will receive no credit for C11B after taking Linguistics 1B. Formerly known as C11B/Linguistics C1B. Instructor: Mchombo
AFRICAM 12 Intensive Elementary Swahili 8 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 15 hours of lecture and 5 hours of laboratory per week for 8 weeks.
This will be an intensive introduction of the Swahili language to beginners specifically designed for second language Swahili learners. The course is equivalent to two semesters of studying Swahili, with a full academic year credit. In order to attain the necessary proficiency (1-1+, using Interagency Round Table (ILR) scale) by the end of 8 weeks, students will need to commit themselves to use the Swahili language at all times outside class. The primary focus is to develop speaking, listening, reading and writing skills with special emphasis on developing communicative language skills.
Instructor: Kyeu
AFRICAM 13A Elementary Zulu 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
This course introduces students to speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Zulu. Instruction is mixed English and Zulu. Emphasis is placed on developing student ability to create and to communicate with basic Zulu structures and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context. Speaking and listening abilities are developed through oral exercises, class discussions, and recordings available from Berkeley Language Center. Reading and writing are developed through in-class exercise, independent reading projects, and compositions. This course not open to native or heritage speakers of Zulu.
Formerly known as C13A/Linguistics C3A. Instructor: Sibanda
AFRICAM 13B Elementary Zulu 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: C13A.
This course introduces students to speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Zulu. Instruction is mixed English and Zulu. Emphasis is placed on developing student ability to create and to communicate with basic Zulu structures and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context. Speaking and listening abilities are developed through oral exercises, class discussions, and recordings available from Berkeley Language Center. Reading and writing are developed through in-class exercises, independent reading projects, and compositions. This course not open to native or heritage speakers of Zulu.
Formerly known as C13B/Linguistics C3B. Instructor: Sibanda
AFRICAM 14A Intermediate Zulu 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge of fundamental structures from Elementary Zulu. Oral and written communication is emphasized. More grammar and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context is developed. Speaking ability is expanded through oral exercises, individual reports, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by instructor's materials.
Formerly known as C14A/Linguistics C4A. Instructor: Sibanda
AFRICAM 14B Intermediate Zulu 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge of fundamental structures from Elementary Zulu. Oral and written communication is emphasized. More grammar and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context is developed. Speaking ability is expanded through oral exercises, individual reports, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by instructor's materials.
Formerly known as C14B/Linguistics C4B. Instructor: Sibanda
AFRICAM 15A Advanced Swahili 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Recitation and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge from Intermediate Swahili. Oral and written communication will be presented in appropriate cultural contexts. Developing oral language skills will be strongly emphasized as part of this course and will be expanded through individual presentations, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing, grammar, vocabulary and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by instructor's materials.
Formerly known as C15A/Linguistics C15A. Instructor: Mchombo
AFRICAM 15B Advanced Swahili 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Recitation and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Elementary Swahili C1A-C1B; Intermediate Swahili C10A-C10B; Advanced Swahili C15A.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge from Intermediate Swahili. Developing oral language skills will be strongly emphasized as part of this course and will be expanded through individual presentations, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing, grammar, vocabulary, and reading are expanded through compositions, research projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection, and supplemented by instructor's materials.
Formerly known as C15B/Linguistics C15B. Instructor: Mchombo
AFRICAM 19A Advanced Zulu 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge from Intermediate Zulu. Oral and written communication will be presented in appropriate cultural contexts. Developing oral language skills will be strongly emphasized as part of this course and will be expanded through individual presentations, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing, grammar, vocabulary, and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by instructor's materials.
Formerly known as C19A/Linguistics C19A. Instructor: Sibanda
AFRICAM 19B Advanced Zulu 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: C19A.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge from Intermediate Zulu. Oral and written communication will be presented in appropriate cultural contexts. Developing oral language skills will be strongly emphasized as part of this course and will be expanded through individual presentations, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing, grammar, vocabulary, and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by the instructor's materials.
Formerly known as C19B/Linguistics C19B. Instructor: Sibanda
AFRICAM 24 Freshman Seminars 1 Unit
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered.
Hours and format: 1 hour of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
The Berkeley Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small-seminar setting. Berkeley Seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester.
Course may be repeated for credit as topic varies. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 27AC Lives of Struggle: Minorities in a Majority Culture 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks. 8 hours of Lecture per week for 6 weeks.
The purpose of this course is to examine the many forms that the struggle of minorities can assume. The focus is on individual struggle and its outcome as reported and perceived by the individuals themselves. Members of three minority aggregates are considered: African Americans, Asian Americans (so called), and Chicano/Latino Americans. The choice of these three has to do with the different histories of members of these aggregrates. Such differences have produced somewhat different approaches to struggle.
Satisfies the American Cultures requirement
Instructor: Hintzen
AFRICAM 28AC Globalization and Minority American Communities 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
An examination of the movement of individuals, ideas, ideologies, and institutions between minority American communities in the U.S. (African Americans, Asians, Chicanos) and their cultures of origin, in the 19th and 20th centuries. The course will utilize the concepts of "migration," "diaspora," "otherness," "multiculturalism," and "global village" and will draw largely on social science perspectives.
Satisfies the American Cultures requirement
Instructor: Small
AFRICAM 30A Elementary Chichewa 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
This course introduces students to speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Chichewa. Instruction is mixed English and Chichewa. Emphasis is placed on developing student ability to create and to communicate with basic Chichewa structures and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context. Speaking and listening abilities are developed through oral exercises, class discussions, and recordings available from Berkeley Language Center. Reading and writing are developed through in-class exercises, independent reading projects, and compositions. This course is not open to native or heritage speakers of Chichewa.
Formerly known as C30A/Linguistics C30A. Instructor: Mchombo
AFRICAM 30B Elementary Chichewa 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: C19A.
This course introduces students to speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Chichewa. Instruction is mixed English and Chichewa. Emphasis is placed on developing student ability to create and to communicate with basic Chichewa structures and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context. Speaking and listening abilities are developed through oral exercises, class discussions, and recordings available from Berkeley Language Center. Reading and writing are developed through in-class exercises, independent reading projects, and compositions. This course is not open to native or hertiage speakers of Chichewa.
Formerly known as C30B/Linguistics C30B. Instructor: Mchombo
AFRICAM 31A Intermediate Chichewa 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge of fundamental structures from Elementary Chichewa and appropriate cultural contexts of these structures in oral and written communication. More grammar and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context is developed. Speaking ability is expanded through oral exercises, individual reports, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by the instructor's materials.
Formerly known as C31A/Linguistics C31A. Instructor: Mchombo
AFRICAM 31B Intermediate Chichewa 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: C31A.
This course reviews and expands students' knowledge of fundamental structures from Elementary Chichewa and appropriate cultural contexts of these structures in oral and written communication. More grammar and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context is developed. Speaking ability is expanded through oral exercises, individual reports, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by the instructor's materials.
Formerly known as C31B/Linguistics C31B. Instructor: Mchombo
AFRICAM 39B Freshman/Sophmore Seminar 2 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 15 hours of seminar per week for 4 weeks. 7.5 hours of seminar per week for 6 weeks.
Prerequisites: Priority given to freshmen and sophomores.
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.
Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 39D Freshman/Sophmore Seminar 2 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: Seminar format.
Prerequisites: Priority given to freshmen and sophomores.
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.
Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 39E Freshman/Sophmore Seminar 2 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: Seminar format.
Prerequisites: Priority given to freshmen and sophomores.
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.
Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 39F Freshman/Sophmore Seminar 2 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: Seminar format.
Prerequisites: Priority given to freshmen and sophomores.
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.
Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 39G Freshman/Sophmore Seminar 2 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: Seminar format.
Prerequisites: Priority given to freshmen and sophomores.
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.
Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 84 Sophomore Seminar 1 or 2 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered.
Hours and format: 1 hour of seminar per week per unit for 15 weeks. 1 and 1 half hours of seminar per week per unit for 10 weeks. 2 hours of seminar per week per unit for 8 weeks. 3 hours of seminar per week per unit for 5 weeks.
Prerequisites: At discretion of instructor.
Sophomore seminars are small interactive courses offered by faculty members in departments all across the campus. Sophomore seminars offer opportunity for close, regular intellectual contact between faculty members and students in the crucial second year. The topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment limited to 15 sophomores.
Course may be repeated for credit as topic varies. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 98 Directed Group Studies for Freshmen and Sophomores 1 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Offered for pass/not pass grade only.
Hours and format: Supervised research.
Supervised research on specific topics related to African American Studies.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Enrollment is restricted; see the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of this catalog.
AFRICAM 99 Supervised Independent Studies for Freshmen and Sophomores 1 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Offered for pass/not pass grade only.
Hours and format: Supervised research.
Supervised research on specific topics related to African American Studies.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Enrollment is restricted; see the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of this catalog.
AFRICAM 100 Black Intellectual Thought 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Reading and composition requirement.
This course, lets students explore the status of African American studies as a discipline. The class will discuss the social relevance of African American studies, the political origins of the discipline, and the debate over Afrocentricity. Special attention will be devoted to the contributions of black feminist theory and community scholars/organic intellectuals to the development of the discipline.
Instructor: Raiford
AFRICAM 101 Research Methods for African American Studies 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Laboratory per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Introductory statistics.
As an introduction to interdisciplinary research methods as they are applied to the study of African American communities, the course will examine theoretical and conceptual issues; techniques for identifying existing research; and sources and methods of social research and data collection. The main focus will be on qualitative methods.
AFRICAM 107 Race and Public Policy 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
This course examines the formation and implementation of public policies directly relevant to the black community. While the policies analyzed differ from year to year, basic public policy methodology will be introduced each year.
Instructor: Henry
AFRICAM 109 Black and Male in American Life 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Upper division status.
The course examines ways gender and race constructions shape the lives of African American males. Developmental in design, we examine black males in the context of childhood, adolescence, gender relations and family, and the world of work.
AFRICAM 111 Race, Class, and Gender in the United States 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks. 5.5 hours of Lecture per week for 8 weeks.
Prerequisites: Reading and composition requirement.
Emphasis on social history and comparative analysis of race, class, and gender relations in American society. Examines both similarities and differences, and highlights gender politics.
AFRICAM W111 Race, Class, and Gender 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 6 hours of Web-based lecture per week for 8 weeks. This is an online course.
A focus on patterns of globalization, migration, and race/ethnic relations with regard to African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans in the 1890s and 1990s. Key aspects like economics, politics, gender, and culture are examined. This course is web-based.
Formerly known as N111. Instructor: Small
AFRICAM 112A Political and Economic Development in the Third World 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
An examination of the structural and actual manifestations of Third World underdevelopment and the broad spectrum of theoretical positions put forward to explain it. Underdevelopment will be viewed from both the international and intranational perspective.
Instructor: Hintzen
AFRICAM 112B Political and Economic Development in the Third World 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
A critical appraisal of the theoretically based policies employed by Third World nations in their attempts at transition to modernized developed socio-political and economic systems and an examination of the international and intranational impediments to Third World development. The focus will be on actual examples that represent the diversity of developing countries.
Instructor: Hintzen
AFRICAM 114 Linguistic Structure of Bantu Languages 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Equivalent of Linguistics 5 (Language and Linguistics) or consent of instructor.
The objective of this course is to examine the major syntactic structures of Bantu languages with comments on the contributions made by African linguistics to general linguistics. Chichewa, also known as Chinyanja, a language spoken in east, central, and southern Africa, as well as Swahili, the major language of East Africa, and Ndebele or Zulu, languages of southern Africa, will constitute the main case studies. Data from those and other languages will be brought in to illustrate relevant aspects of Bantu linguistic structure.
Instructor: Mchombo
AFRICAM 115 Language and Social Issues in Africa 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks. 14 hours of Lecture per week for 3 weeks.
This is an upper division course dealing with the relevance of language to social issues in African societies. It will focus on political developments in Africa and the use of language in fostering national identity; attaining cultural emancipation; and as a tool of oppression, of maintenance of social relations, and of addressing issues of education and childhood development, etc. The course will examine such issues as the roots of national language policies as influenced by Africa's reaction to colonialism; the role of western languages in African society and the attitudes towards African languages and cultures; the challenges of nation-building in modern African states; the use of African languages in government, education, and technology; the role of language in dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and other health issues; minority languages, endangered languages, and language preservation; cultural responses to migration and African diaspora: the use of African languages in the age of globalization and information technology.
Instructor: Mchombo
AFRICAM 116 Slavery and African American Life Before 1865 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
This course will examine the origins of the African slave trade, and explore political, economic, demographic and cultural factors shaping African American life and culture prior to 1865.
Instructor: Taylor
AFRICAM 117 African Americans in the Industrial Age, 1865-1970 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
With emphasis given to the organization of labor after slavery, this course will explore the history of African American cultural, institutions and protest traditions from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement.
Instructor: Taylor
AFRICAM 118 The Slave Trade and Culture in the Modern Atlantic World 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
The course explores the role of the transatlantic slave trade in the evolution of the Atlantic world, comprising four continents: Africa, Europe, and North and South America. Although the course will deal with various aspects of the slave trade, it will emphasize cultural themes. The discovery of fresh data and the application of more sophisticated techniques have in recent years combined with a growing willingness of specialists to speak to a wider audience and to wider social implications.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Instructor: Nwokeji
AFRICAM 119 Selected Topics in the Sociohistorical Development of the Black World 1 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 1 to 4 hours of lecture per week per unit. 2.5 to 10 hours of lecture per week per unit for 6 weeks. 15 hours of lecture per week for 3 weeks.
Prerequisites: Determined by offering.
Topics will vary each semester.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 121 Black Political Life in the United States 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture and 1 hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: 5B or 116 and 117 or History 125A-125B.
Analysis of the theoretical and historical development of African Americans' political forms and expression. Examination of local, state, and federal political processes and activities, and the development of black political ideologies, organizations, and movements.
Instructor: Henry
AFRICAM 122 African American Families in American Society 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: 5B or introductory course in sociology.
Examines the historical roles and functions of families in the development of black people in America from slavery to the present.
AFRICAM 123 Social and Political Thought in the Diaspora 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
An examination of social and political thought of Africans traveling across the Diaspora, with particular focus on the 19th and 20th centuries.
Instructor: Small
AFRICAM W124 The Philosophy of Martin Luther King 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 6 hours of web-based lecture/discussion per week. This is an online course.
Using the thought and actions of Martin Luther King, this course examines the major events of the Civil Rights Movement. Reading includes original works by King as well as secondary sources with a special emphasis on African American religion, nonviolence, and integration. This course is web-based.
Formerly known as N124. Instructor: Henry
AFRICAM 125 History of the Civil Rights Movement 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks. 10 hours of Lecture per week for 6 weeks.
The objective of this course is to examine the modern civil rights movement. As understood traditionally, this period began with the United States Supreme Court decision of May 17, 1954, Brown vs. Board of Education, until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This course will seek to place this movement in the context of global developments and in the context of the broad sweep of United States history. Assigned readings consist of historical texts and autobiographies. Lectures will place the readings in context, discussing the material and its significance in the overall history and culture of African Americans. Visual and musical media will augment the class lectures.
Instructor: Taylor
AFRICAM 131 Caribbean Societies and Cultures 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Comparative study of Spanish, Dutch, English, and French-speaking Caribbean societies. Analysis of Caribbean social structure including the development of the plantation system, urban dynamics, ethnic politics, family structures, and ecology of African Caribbean religions.
Instructor: Laguerre
AFRICAM N131 Caribbean Societies and Cultures 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 12.5 hours of Lecture per week for 6 weeks. 19 hours of Lecture per week for 4 weeks.
This course will combine a broad overview of the Caribbean with a focus on specific issues that are central to the field of Caribbean studies. One of its aims is to introduce Caribbean social structure and expressive culture. This will be supplemented with specific discussions of the plantation system as a social structure, ethnic politics, the debate around Caribbean social stratification (class and status), forms of expressive culture, and the Caribbean political economy.
AFRICAM C133A/EDUC C181 Race, Identity, and Culture in Urban Schools 3 Units
Department: African American Studies; Education
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of seminar/discussion per week.
This course will focus on understanding urban schools as a part of a broader system of social stratification and the process by which students in urban schools come to a sense of themselves as students, as members of cultural and racial groups, and as young people in America. Topics include racial identity; race/ethnicity in schools; urban neighborhood congtexts; and schooling in the juvenile justice system. Students will also integrate course readings with their own first-hand experience working in one of several off-campus sites. This course has a mandatory community engagement component for which students will earn 1 unit of field study (197) credit.
Instructor: Suad-Bakari
AFRICAM 134 Information Technology and Society 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
This course assesses the role of information technology in the digitalization of society by focusing on the deployment of e-government, e-commerce, e-learning, the digital city, telecommuting, virtual communities, Internet time, the virtual office, and the geography of cyberspace. Course will also discuss the role of information technology in the governance and economic development of society.
Instructor: Laguerre
AFRICAM C134/AMERSTD C134 Information Technology and Society 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
This course assesses the role of information technology in the digitalization of society by focusing on the deployment of e-government, e-commerce, e-learning, the digital city, telecommuting, virtual communities, internet time, the virtual office, and the geography of cyber space. The course will also discuss the role of information technology in the governance and economic development of society.
Instructor: Laguerre
AFRICAM 137 Multicultural Communities 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
Examination of theoretical issues in urban anthropology and sociology pertaining to the United States as a multicultural society. Comparative analysis of the ecology and social structure of African American, Native American, Asian American, Mexican American and Afro-Caribbean urban communities with special emphasis on social class, ethnicity, and culture.
Instructor: Laguerre
AFRICAM 138 Black Nationalism 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: 5B.
Examines the concept of black nationalism and its historical and intellectual development. Special attention will be given to the role of African American religion and the attempt to develop "black socialism."
Instructor: Henry
AFRICAM 139 Selected Topics of African American Social Organization and Institutions 1 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2.5 to 10 hours of lecture per week per unit for 6 weeks. 1 to 4 hours of lecture per week per unit.
Prerequisites: Determined by offering.
Topics will vary each semester.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM C139/PSYCH C102 Psychology and African-Descent People 3 Units
Department: African American Studies; Psychology
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 8 hours of lecture per week for 4 weeks.
The course will provide a deconstruction of the use of Euro-American psychological research and theory pertaining to African-descent people and will present an African-centered theoretical perspective for understanding identity construction among selected populations within the African diaspora. Readings, lectures, and class discussions will facilitate increases in students' ability to conceptualize important issues and concerns as researchable questions and develop appropriate methodologies for conducting research.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Instructor: Mitchell
AFRICAM 140 Special Topics in Cultural Studies 1 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 1 to 4 hour of Lecture per week for 15 weeks. 2.5 to 10 hours of Lecture per week for 8 weeks.
Prerequisites: Determined by offering.
Topics will vary each semester.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 142A Third World Cinema 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of lecture, plus 2 hours of viewing/discussion per week.
Prerequisites: Reading and composition requirement.
Examines through lectures and a selection of films, the development and achievements of Third World motion picture artistry. Social, political, and cultural themes are discussed, with particular emphasis given to major works from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Other newly developed film sources from abroad are presented for critical assessment.
AFRICAM 142AC Race and American Film 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of viewing/discussion per week.
Prerequisites: Reading and composition requirement satisfied.
This course uses film to investigate the central role of race in American culture and history. Using films as the primary texts, the course will explore the relationship between these films and the social and political contexts from which they emerged. Looking at both mainstream and independent cinema, the course will chart the continuities and varieties of representations and negotiations of "race." The course spans the 20th century, covering (among other topics) Jim Crow in silent film, Hollywood westerns and melodramas, borderland crime dramas, documentary film, and experimental cinema. This class will concentrate on the history of African Americans in film, but we will also watch movies that consider how the overlapping histories of whiteness and ethnicity, American Indians, Asian Americans, Mexican Americans, the "Third World" and "multiculturalism" have been represented in film. Themes covered include representing race and nation; the borderlands; passing and miscegenation; the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality.
Satisfies the American Cultures requirement
Instructor: Raiford
AFRICAM C143A/THEATER C183A Performance: An African American Perspective 3 Units
Department: African American Studies; Theater, Dance, and Performance St
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: 1A or consent of instructor.
Introduction to the Research-to Performance Method, African American aesthetics and dramatic performance techniques. Course will survey wide range of writings on performance and investigate applications through exercises and improvisations. Students will also assist in information gathering for works in progress.
AFRICAM C143B/THEATER C183B Research-to-Performance Laboratory 3 Units
Department: African American Studies; Theater, Dance, and Performance St
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: 143A or consent of instructor.
Development of scholarly material for theatrical presentation and enhancement of dramatic performance techniques through discussions, improvisations and readings of work conceived by the class and/or writers in other African American Studies courses. All source material will be based on the research of scholars in the field of African American Studies.
AFRICAM C143C/THEATER C183C Black Theatre Workshop 3 Units
Department: African American Studies; Theater, Dance, and Performance St
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: 143A or equivalent or consent of instructor.
Study and production of a play by an African American writer. The play will be studied within its social and historical context. Students will be introduced to the various aspects of theatre production.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 144 Introduction to Cultural Studies: Black Visual Culture 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Reading and composition requirement.
This course examines theories of culture and contemporary issues in popular culture. The course focuses on the instrumentality of culture as a vehicle of domination and resistance. The goal of the course is to provide the student with a critical vocabulary for cultural analysis. Key issues to be examined are ideology, hegemony, articulation, race and gender formation. Students must have a willingness to engage new and difficult ideas.
Instructor: Raiford
AFRICAM 150B African American Literature 1920 to Present 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks. 8 hours of Lecture per week for 6 weeks.
Survey of African American literature from the Harlem Renaissance to the present. A close analysis of major writers, premises.
Instructor: Scott
AFRICAM N150B Survey of African American Literary Forms and Styles 1920 to 1980 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 15 hours of lecture per week for 4 weeks.
To survey major trends in poetry, fiction, and the essay form in African American literature from the 1920s to 1980s, both in terms of socio-political and literary content. As well as a study of major African Americans of the 20th century.
Instructor: Christian
AFRICAM C151B/THEATER C131B Contemporary African American Drama 4 Units
Department: African American Studies; Theater, Dance, and Performance St
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: 151A or consent of instructor.
Survey of contemporary plays by African American writers and the portrayal of the black experience in American theatre. Emphasis on predominant themes, structural tendencies, socio-historical context.
AFRICAM 152F Neo-Slave Narratives 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
This course explores African American fiction written during the 1970s and 1980s that attempt to re-present the ur-text of African American literature--and/or to represent for contemporary readers the lives of African slaves in the United States. In what ways do these authors imagine the experience and effects of slavery from their vantage point a century after emancipation, and with the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements shaping the context of their writing?
Instructors: Scott, D.
AFRICAM 153C Novels of Toni Morrison 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the Reading and Composition requirement.
We will closely read seven of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison's novels, as well as a short story and some of her essays, considering the works in relation to: her interest in creating what she calls "village literature" and in writing literature that does "trope work" that intervenes in American representations of blackness and racial identity; her contributions to the renaissance of black women's writing (and African American literature in general) in the 1980s and 1990s.
Instructors: Scott, D.
AFRICAM 155 Literature of the Caribbean: Significant Themes 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Prerequisites: Reading and composition requirement.
An introduction to representative works, themes, and discourses in Caribbean literatures--produced by authors from the Anglophone, Creolophone, Francophone, and Hispanophone areas within Plantation America. Includes examinations of indigenous folkways and nation languages as sources for a re-examination of Caribbean culture and literary history.
Instructor: Clark
AFRICAM 156AC Poetry for the People: Introduction to the Art of Poetry 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 10 hours of lecture/discussion per week for 6 weeks.
A large lecture/discussion class which introduces students to poetry as culture, history, criticism, politics, and practice. Focusing comparatively on poetry from three American racial/ethnic groups, this course requires students to learn both the technical structure of various forms of poetry as well as the world views which inform specific poetic traditions. The groups and traditions vary from semester to semester. This course satisfies the Arts and Literature breadth requirement.
Satisfies the American Cultures requirement
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 158A Poetry for the People: The Writing and Teaching of Poetry 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of seminar per week, plus community workshop teaching.
Prerequisites: 156AC plus consent of instructor.
The focus of this course is on the writing of poetry, and students undertake an intensive study of both the techniques of poetry and the social and cultural context of specific poetic traditions. Students must "imitate" the poems they study, write critical papers comparing poetic traditions, and complete an original manuscript of new poems. In addition, they must produce an on-campus poetry reading and are required to teach for five to seven weeks at one of the assigned Poetry for the People venues. This course satisfies the Arts and Literature breadth requirement.
Satisfies the American Cultures requirement
AFRICAM 158B Poetry for the People: Practicum 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of seminar, plus peer teaching and performance.
Prerequisites: 158A.
A teaching practicum, with the regular and active supervision of the instructor, for students who completed 156AC during the previous year and 158A in the previous fall. They serve as student teacher poets for 156AC. The focus of 158B is on the teaching of poetry. Each student poet is responsible for a group of seven to ten students, and, under the direct supervision of the instructor, helps the students in his/her group learn to read, criticize, and produce poetry.
Satisfies the American Cultures requirement
AFRICAM 159 Special Topics in African American Literature 1 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 1 to 4 hours of lecture per week per unit. 2.5 to 10 hours of lecture per week per unit for 6 weeks.
Prerequisites: Reading and composition requirement, plus those set by instructor.
Special topics in African American literature.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 173AC/RELIGST 173AC Gandhi and the Civil Rights Movement in America 3 Units
Department: African American Studies; Religious Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
This course surveys the impact of Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence and justice in American Civil Rights struggles. Through narratives, images from African American, itinerant Gandhian, and ethnic critics of race practice in American culture, we examine how Gandhian satyagraha shaped emergent civil resistance movements, as also the global appeal to nonviolent democracy. ACES component comprises internship with civil liberties partners that monitor local implementations of human rights treaties.
Satisfies the American Cultures requirement
Instructor: Bilimoria
AFRICAM C178/DUTCH C178/SPANISH C178 Cultural Studies 4 Units
Department: African American Studies; Dutch; Spanish
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of lecture/discussion per week.
Although the Caribbean has been recognized in recent years as being one of the most compelling areas in regard to questions of interculturality, hybridity, and miscegenation, the Dutch-speaking part of it has somehow been neglected. This course intends to give an opportunity to those who do not necessarily have a command of Dutch language, but wish to complete their knowledge of Latin-American and Carribean history, culture, and literature.
AFRICAM 190AC Advanced Seminar in African Diaspora Studies 3 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks. 7.5 to 10 hours of Lecture per week for 6 weeks.
For a four-unit course, an extra assignment/research component will be added to the course to increase contact hours with students. Possible components include additional readings, outside of class reserach projects and other projects which the instructor feels will add to the value of course. Topics to be announced at the beginning of each semester.
Satisfies the American Cultures requirement
Course may be repeated for credit as topic varies. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM H195A Senior Honors Thesis 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade. This is part one of a year long series course. A provisional grade of IP (in progress) will be applied and later replaced with the final grade after completing part two of the series.
Hours and format: Regular individual meetings with faculty sponsor.
Prerequisites: Senior standing and 3.5 GPA overall and in major.
The student will complete a primary research and writing project based on study of an advanced topic with faculty sponsor. Fulfills department thesis requirement. Application and details at departmental adviser's office. Students must enroll for both semesters of the sequence.
AFRICAM H195B Senior Honors Thesis 3 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade. This is part two of a year long series course. Upon completion, the final grade will be applied to both parts of the series.
Hours and format: Regular individual meetings with faculty sponsor.
Prerequisites: Senior standing and 3.5 GPA overall and in major.
The student will complete a primary research and writing project based on study of an advanced topic with faculty sponsor. Fulfills department thesis requirement. Application and details at departmental adviser's office. Students must enroll for both semesters of the sequence.
AFRICAM 197 Field Study in African American Life 1 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Offered for pass/not pass grade only.
Hours and format: Zero hours of Fieldwork per week for 15 weeks. 1 to 4 hour of Fieldwork per week for 8 weeks. 1 to 4 hour of Fieldwork per week for 6 weeks.
Supervised field work in off-campus organizations. Regular individual meetings with faculty sponsor and written reports required. Independent study form available in department office.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Enrollment is restricted; see the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of this catalog.
AFRICAM 198 Directed Group Studies for Undergraduates 1 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Offered for pass/not pass grade only.
Hours and format: 1 to 4 hour of Directed group study per week for 15 weeks. 1 to 4 hour of Directed group study per week for 8 weeks. 1 to 4 hour of Directed group study per week for 6 weeks.
Supervised research on a specific topic.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Enrollment is restricted; see the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of this catalog.
AFRICAM 199 Supervised Independent Study and Research 1 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Undergraduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Offered for pass/not pass grade only.
Hours and format: Zero hours of Independent study per week for 15 weeks. 1.5 to 6 hours of Independent study per week for 10 weeks. 1.5 to 7.5 hours of Independent study per week for 8 weeks. 2.5 to 10 hours of Independent study per week for 6 weeks.
Forms for independent study are available in the department office.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Enrollment is restricted; see the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of this catalog.
AFRICAM 201A Interdisciplinary Research Methods 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
This seminar will provide a detailed introduction and working knowledge of the various methodological techniques appropriate for interdisciplinary research on the African Diaspora.
AFRICAM 201B Qualitative Research Methods for African American Studies 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
A review of competing epistemologies in qualitative research of African Americans.
Instructor: Small
AFRICAM 201D Theories of the African Diaspora 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
This course is intended to provide students with an initial background for the composition of the position paper discussing the concept and study of African Diaspora necessary for passing department qualifying exams. It will introduce some of the theoretical frameworks for, and approaches to, scholarship concerning the African Diaspora.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Instructor: Scott
AFRICAM 240 Special Topics in Cultural Studies of the Diaspora 1 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered.
Hours and format: 1 to 4 hour of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
One hour of lecture per week per unit. Topics will vary from term to term depending on student demand and faculty availability.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 241 Special Topics in Development Studies of the Diaspora 1 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 1 to 4 hour of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
One hour of lecture per week per unit. Topics will vary from term to term depending on student demand and faculty availability.
AFRICAM 242 Special Topics in African Linguistics 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.
Topics will vary to suit student demand or interest. The seminar will require solid grounding in linguistic theory.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Instructor: Mchombo
AFRICAM 250 Black Intellectuals: Social and Cultural Roles 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
The course will examine the development of an intellectual group in African American life from the 18th century to the present. Implicit in the examination is consideration of the social and cultural roles, writers, scholars, artists, and other thinkers have played in American and African American culture.
AFRICAM 256B Diaspora, Citizenship, and Transnationality 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
This seminar analyzes the social construction and reproduction of diasporic communities in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. It examines the relations of the diaspora to the homeland in the context of the globalization process. The role of transnational migration and deterritorialization in the production of bipolar, fragmented, and multiple identities will be analyzed. Postnational models of citizenship--differentiated, transnational, and multicultural--will be assessed in light of poststructuralist theories.
Instructor: Laguerre
AFRICAM 257A Identity Politics in the Caribbean and Africa 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
An exhaustive examination of the conditions under which identity constructs (race, ethnicity, nation, religion, language, region, etc.) come to occupy the symbolic center in the organization of mass political movements in non-industrialized Third World societies. The course will be comparative in scope using case histories from Africa and the Caribbean. It will focus on the relationship between the "politics of identity," national economic decision making, and the distribution of economic, social, cultural, and symbolic capital.
Instructor: Hintzen
AFRICAM 257B Power, Domination, and Ideology 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall and spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
This course will focus on theories and realities of power, domination, and ideology as they pertain to issues of identity in the post-World War II political economies of Africa and the African diaspora.
Instructor: Hintzen
AFRICAM 262 Black Feminist Criticism 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
This course will focus on the development of a black feminist criticism(s). We will be specifically concerned with the writings of significant black women critics of the 19th and 20th centuries who have used intersections of class, race, and gender to analyze major issues of their time.
AFRICAM C265/EDUC C265C Research Advances in Race, Diversity, and Educational Policy 3 Units
Department: African American Studies; Education
Course level: Graduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
This introductory graduate seminar will engage the research literature on race, diversity, and educational policy to provide a foundation for examining contemporary issues in American public schooling. We will examine research on race, culture, and learning alongside more policy driven research on school structures, governance, finance, politics, and policy. In doing so, we will blend micro level examinations of teaching and learning with macro level considerations of politics and policy.
Instructors: Nasir, Perry, Scott,J.
AFRICAM C286/EDUC C286 The Education of African-American Students 3 Units
Department: African American Studies; Education
Course level: Graduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 3 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
This seminar will examine a wide range of perspectives on the education of African American children and adolescents in the United States. Readings will support students in understanding some of the key issues and tensions in African American education and school achievement, including the roles that culture, identity, parents, families, and communities play in the education and schooling of African American students; systemic issues in educational improvement and the perpetuation of "achievement gaps"; and language and power.
Instructor: Suad-Bakari
AFRICAM 296 Directed Dissertation Research 1 - 13 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Hours and format: 1 to 8 hour of Independent study per week for 15 weeks. 2.5 to 20 hours of Independent study per week for 6 weeks.
Prerequisites: Advancement to Ph.D. candidacy.
Open to qualified students who have been advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree and are directly engaged in doctoral dissertation research.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
AFRICAM 298 Master's Examination Preparation Course 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Term course may be offered: Spring
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 4 hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.
This class is designed to prepare second year graduate students for the spring Master's Examination in African Diaspora Studies. Basing our syllabus upon the established reading list, we will meet weekly to discuss individual texts, methods of interpreting and critiquing works across disciplines, strategies for reading, studying, and ultimately taking the exam itself.
AFRICAM 299 Individual Study or Research 1 - 4 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: Forty-5 hours of work per unit per term.
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.
Individual study or research program to be worked out with sponsoring faculty before approval by department chair. Regular meetings arranged with faculty sponsor.
AFRICAM C375/ETH GRP C375 Critical Pedagogy: Instructor Training 4 Units
Department: African American Studies; Ethnic Studies Graduate Group
Course level: Professional course for teachers or prospective teachers
Term course may be offered: Fall
Grading: Letter grade.
Hours and format: 2 hours of seminar and 2 hours of practicum per week.
The seminar provides a systemic approach to theories and practices of critical pedagogy at the university level. Examines the arts of teaching and learning and current disciplinary and cross-disciplinary issues in African/diaspora and Ethnic Studies. Participation two hours per week as practicum in 39, "Introduction to the University: African American Perspectives" is mandatory. The course is required for students expecting to serve as graduate student instructors in the department.
Instructors: Clark, Wong
AFRICAM 602 Individual Study for Doctoral Students 2 - 12 Units
Department: African American Studies
Course level: Graduate examination preparation
Terms course may be offered: Fall, spring and summer
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Hours and format: Individual conferences.
Prerequisites: 201A-201B.
Individual study, in consultation with group faculty, to prepare students for the doctoral oral examinations. A student will be permitted to accumulate a maximum of 8 units toward examination preparation. Units earned in this course may not be used to meet academic residence or unit requirements for the master's or doctoral degree.
Course may be repeated for credit. Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
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