African American Studies
Note: the courses on this page reflect Summer Term 2008 offerings.
Please check back on December 15 for a list of courses available during Summer Term 2009.
College of Arts and Sciences
CAS AA 207 Introduction to Ethnic, Race, and Minority Relations
The social definition of race and ethnicity. The impact of conquest,
slavery, and immigration on American minority relations. How the U.S. experience
of racial and ethnic conflict compares to the patterns found in other societies
like Brazil, South Africa, and Western Europe. Meets with CAS SO 207. 4 cr.
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CAS AA 502 Studies in African American Literature
Topic for Summer 2008: From New World to New Negro: Major African American Writers of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. The writings of Wheatley and Equiano, who discussed slavery and Middle Passage; of Douglass and Jacobs, who constituted a slave-narrative tradition; and of Washington, Hopkins, Griggs, and Harper, who wrote about racial uplift in the post-slavery era. Meets with CAS EN 587 A1. 4 cr.
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CAS AA 502 Studies in African American Literature
Topic for Summer 2008: From New Negro to Postmodernism: Major African American Writers of the Twentieth Century. The writings of DuBois, who reflected on the New Negro; of Toomer and Larsen, who described the Harlem Renaissance; and of Wright, Ellison, Baraka, and Morrison, who represented naturalism, social realism, Black Arts, and postmodernism. Meets with CAS EN 588 B1. 4 cr.
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CAS AA 507 Literature of the Harlem Renaissance
Prereq: junior standing or consent of instructor. A study of the major writers of the Harlem Renaissance.
Explores how they proclaimed a renewal of racial consciousness and cultural
pride, and how they challenged racial and cultural barriers in American society.
Meets with CAS EN 377. 4 cr.
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College of Fine Arts
CFA DR 508 Contemporary Drama: August Wilson
Studies August Wilson’s epic cycle and its place in American
art and history. When he died in 2005, August Wilson achieved
what few other dramatists – contemporary or classical – have: a
complete epic cycle, addressing matters of culture, history, and society. Wilson’s
ten plays form the foundation for this course, through which we examine the
story of African Americans in this country, as well as the African American
voice in arts and letters. Supporting materials include historical documents,
contextualizing theoretical writings and criticism, and the plays of other
African American dramatists of Wilson’s era. Classes will be based in
rigorous discussion, rather than lecture. Students from disciplines across
the university are welcome. 4 cr.
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Courses of Related Interest
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