African and African-American Studies

Faculty

Clifton C. Crais
Professor of History (on leave)

Judith C. Fagan
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies

Marla R. Kohlman
Director, Assistant Professor of Sociology

Theodore O. Mason Jr.
John B. McCoy-Bank One Distinguished Teaching Professor of English (on leave, second semester)

Hewlet G. McFarlane
Assistant Professor of Psychology

Glenn M. McNair
Assistant Professor of History

Peter Rutkoff
Professor of American Studies

Howard L. Sacks
Professor of Sociology; Associate Provost

Ric S. Sheffield
Associate Professor of Sociology and Legal Studies

David N. Suggs
Professor of Anthropology

Jonathan E. Tazewell
Assistant Professor of Drama

The concentration has four central goals: (1) to offer students a structured program in African and African-American studies, (2) to help students explore the variety of cultural types and formations in the African Diaspora, (3) to expose students to the connections between African studies and African-American studies, and (4) to promote curricular and extracurricular interest in and awareness of African and African-American culture for the campus as a whole.

The program in African and African-American studies consists of (1) AAAS 110 Introduction to African and African-American Studies; (2) 1 unit of foundation courses (1/2 unit in African studies and 1/2 unit in African-American studies); (3) 1 1/2 units of advanced courses (in no fewer than two departments); and (4) a 1/2-unit senior seminar.

Each spring the director of the concentration, in consultation with the program’s advisory committee, will list the courses offered during the upcoming academic year that will fulfill the various program requirements. Courses counted toward a student’s major may be counted toward concentration requirements.

Students who wish to declare a concentration in African and African-American studies should consult with the program director. The director for African and African-American studies for 2002-03 is Marla Kohlman in the Department of Sociology.

Note: The symbol designates a course particularly appropriate for first-year students or upperclass students new to the concentration.

First-Semester Course

Individual Study
AAAS 493 (1/2 unit)
Staff

This course offers independent programs of reading and writing on topics of a student’s own choice. The course is limited to seniors who are unable to study their chosen subject in a regularly scheduled course. Prerequisites: permission of instructor and concentration director.

Second-Semester Courses

Introduction to African and African-American Studies
AAAS 110 (1/2 unit)
Kohlman

This discussion-based course introduces students to the various possible approaches to African and African-American studies. Students taking this course will find themselves engaged with a variety of disciplines (e.g., anthropology, history, literary study, psychology, sociology, visual and performing arts). Though texts will change from year to year, the focus of this course will be to undertake a preliminary investigation into the connections and the relationship between Africa and other parts of the world. Since the program defines “American” accurately, we will focus not simply on the United States but also on the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. Neither will we neglect the significant African presence in Europe and Asia. Enrollment limited to first-year students and sophomores.

Senior Seminar
In 2002-03, the requirement for the senior seminar can be fulfilled by taking SOCY 463 Intersection Theory, taught by Assistant Professor of Sociology Marla Kohlman. Please contact Professor Kohlman if you are interested in taking this seminar.

Individual Study
AAAS 494 (1/2 unit)
Staff

This course offers independent programs of reading and writing on topics of a student’s own choice. The course is limited to seniors who are unable to study their chosen subject in a regularly scheduled course. Prerequisites: permission of instructor and program director.

Courses to be offered in 2002-03 that meet African and African-American Studies Concentration requirements are as follows:

Foundation courses
ANTH 113 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
ENGL 288 Introduction to African-American Literature
HIST 145 Early African History
HIST 146 Modern Africa
HIST 175 African-American History: Slavery to Emancipation
HIST 176 Contemporary African-American History
HIST 290 Slavery in the African-American Experience
SOCY 244 Race, Ethnicity, and American Law

Advanced courses
AMST 381-382 North by South: The Great African-American Migration, 1900-1960
ENGL 488 Richard Wright and Toni Morrison
HIST 312 African Americans in the Age of Jim Crow
PSYCH 345 Psychology of Race and Ethnicity
PSYC 424 Research Methods in Cross-Cultural Psychology