FACULTY
Dr. Ronald Dorris
Dr. Robin Vander
ASSOCIATE FACULTY
Dr. Thaddeo Babiiha
Dr. Violet Bryan
- Dr. Farrah Gaffard
Dr. Wendy Gaudin
Dr. Shamsul Huda
Dr. Steven Salm
INTERDISCIPLINARY MINOR
The Minor in African American Studies is a focused interdisciplinary program that explores the experiences and traditions of African Americans. The AFAM minor complements programs in the College of Arts and Sciences and other pre-professional and professional programs in the University. Students are introduced to historical origins and cultural foundations of African American society. Emphasis is centered on human organization, institutions, and socioeconomic development. The goal of the minor is to charter new and different directions of critical inquiry about African American contributions in the ongoing process of human development. Students declaring the AFAM minor are required to meet with the Coordinator of the African American Studies Program to formulate a suitable plan of study.
The Minor in African American Studies consists of eighteen (18) hours. For the minor, students are required to complete twelve (12) hours of specified courses and six (6) hours of courses in a specified concentration. The concentration may be taken from English, history, philosophy, psychology, music or other disciplinary course offerings centered on African American Studies.
SPECIFIED COURSES
AFAM 2000 Introduction to African American History and Culture
AFAM 2010 Introduction to African American Social Sciences
AFAM 3020 Special Topics in African American Studies
AFAM 3370 African Americans, Africa, and Pan-Africanism
Any student may select one of the above courses to satisfy the University
requirement in African American Studies. For the student who minors in AFAM, the remaining courses are required to fulfill the Minor. A grade of "C" or better must be earned in all courses taken in the minor. It is strongly suggested that each student with a minor in AFAM have knowledge of a
language other than English.
AFAM – AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
The Fall (Fa), Spring (Sp), or Summer (Su) semesters indicated are expected but are not guaranteed. Expansive Core Curriculum courses are denoted by EXP. Service Learning courses are denoted by SL.
AFAM 2000. Introduction to African American History and Culture. This course is an introductory survey of the history and culture of African Americans and a further examination of their philosophical and intellectual traditions. In the course, students are introduced to the African origins of African Americans, an interdisciplinary examination of their sociocultural development in the American context, and an investigation of their contributions to the development of United States history and culture. (3 FaSpSu)
AFAM 2010. Introduction to African American Social Sciences. This course will introduce students to a general conceptual framework for ordering the social/behavioral theories and methods that people of African descent have used to interpret and understand African American life experiences. In the course, students will be introduced to an interdisciplinary examination of areas of critical inquiry pertaining to the diversity and complexity of the African American experience as it relates to the social sciences. Particular emphasis will be placed on how variables associated with academic areas such as anthropology, communications, political economy, psychology, sociology, and popular culture interact with and impact African Americans. (3)
AFAM 3020. Special Topics in African American Studies. This course is designed to more fully develop topics, genres, periods, and texts that are touched upon in the Introduction to African American History course (AFAM 2000). The course is taught from an interdisciplinary perspective that emphasizes methodologies and approaches from both the humanities and the social sciences. The course may be taken up to three times as long as the content differs in the three Topics courses selected by an individual student. (3)
AFAM 2060 (SOCI 2060). Race and Ethnic Relations . This course is concerned with examining issues, problems, and research findings on race, ethnic, and minority group relations. Emphasis is on U.S. Black-White relations, American ethnic groups, religious conflict, and racial and ethnic group contacts in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Prerequisite: Any 1000 level sociology course. (3, EXP)
AFAM 3025 (SOCI 3025). African American Urban Life . This interdisciplinary course examines African Americans as agents in shaping the urban experience in the United States. The central focus of the course will be the development of cultural, social, religious, economic, educational and political institutions. Examples will be drawn from among communities such as Harlem, NY, the Central Avenue district of Los Angeles, Chicago’s south side, and the Auburn Avenue district of Atlanta, as well as others. Prerequisite: AFAM 2000. (3)
AFAM 3040. African American Inquiry. This course introduces students to ways in which scholars examine the African American experience. The theory component of the course is designed to introduce students to an interdisciplinary approach to framing inquiries about African American life, history, and sociocultural organization. The methods component of this course will examine various analytical and philosophical approaches central to study and research applicable to African American studies. Prerequisite: AFAM 2000. (3)
AFAM 3050 (HIST 3050). Gandhi and King: Nonviolent Philosophy of Conflict Resolution . This course examines the similarities and differences between Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. -- their leadership styles, personality traits, philosophical assumptions, the movements they led, and their tactics in particular campaigns. (3)
AFAM 3175 (ENGL 3175). Survey of African Literature . Introduction to African folklore, poetry, fiction, and drama. (3)
AFAM 3280 (ENGL 3280). Survey of African American Writers of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. A study of African American literary texts from the eighteenth century to the Harlem Renaissance, in their historical, cultural, and literary contexts (3)
AFAM 3290 (ENGL 3290). Survey of African American Writers of the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries . A study of major African American texts from the Harlem Renaissance to the contemporary period. (3)
AFAM 3350 (HIST 3350). African American History I . Chronological and in-depth study of specific issues affecting African Americans from their West African beginnings to Civil War. Major themes to be announced each semester. (3)
AFAM 3360 (HIST 3360). African American History II . Continuation of topical survey of main currents in African American life from the Civil War to the present. Major themes to be announced each semester. (3)
AFAM 3370. African Americans, Africa, and Pan Africanism. This course presents an interdisciplinary examination of the concept of Pan Africanism as a multidimensional, realistic, authentic, and effective mechanism by which people of African descent in the United States have related historically and culturally to the African dimension of their identity. The course will employ methods germane to the various disciplines. Factual information and theoretical analyses relative to the establishment and development of a consciousness among African Americans of an African past will be presented and discussed. The course will address also the implications of African Americans identification with Africa on the process of globalization and the formation of the African Diaspora. (3)
AFAM 4000. Seminar in African American Studies . Research and writing intensive seminar, exploring the critical issues and texts which define the interdisciplinary nature of African American Studies. Research is required that synthesizes knowledge gained from the concentration in African American Studies. It is recommended that students complete all core requirements in the African American Studies minor before enrolling in this course. (3)
AFAM 4010. Directed Studies. Concentrated examination of major figures and texts, historical periods and movements, and critical issues including cultural, economic, philosophical, political, religious, and social in a interdisciplinary context. Prerequisite: 2000- or 3000-level AFAM course. Open to selected students only. (3)
