2018-2019 University Catalog 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2018-2019 University Catalog archived

Africana Studies (AFCA)


Africana Studies is an interdisciplinary program which offers a minor that spans several disciplines, including art, history, literature, music, politics, and sociology.

Program Head: Mohamed Kamara

Core Faculty

First date is the year in which the faculty member began regular faculty service at the University. Second date is the year of appointment to the present rank.

Niels-Hugo Blunch, PhD.—(2006)-2018
Professor of Economics
Ph.D., George Washington University

Marc C. Conner, Ph.D.—(1996)-2008
Jo. M and James M. Ballengee Professor of English
Ph.D., Princeton University

Theodore C. DeLaney, Ph.D.—(1995)-2001
Associate Professor of History
Ph.D., College of William and Mary

J. Tyler Dickovick, Ph.D.—(2004)-2010
Associate Professor of Politics
Ph.D., Princeton University

Timothy M. Diette, Ph.D.—(2004)-2013
Associate Professor of Economics
Ph.D., University of North Carolina

Robert Matthew Gildner, Ph.D.—(2012)-2012
Assistant Professor of History
Ph.D., University of Texas, Austin

Michael Hill, Ph.D.—(2018)-2018
Professor of Africana Studies
Ph.D., Harvard University

Mohamed Kamara, Ph.D.—(2001)-2008
Associate Professor of Romance Languages
Ph.D., Tulane University

Lucas E. Morel, Ph.D.—(1999)-2009
Class of 1960 Professor of Ethics and Politics
Ph.D., Claremont Graduate School

Courses listed below meet the requirements of the Africana studies minor, but other courses across the curriculum that include an appropriate proportion of material on Africans or Africans in the Diaspora may be substituted with the approval of the program’s advisory committee. In such cases, students may petition the committee to allow other relevant courses.

Africana Studies Courses

Africana Studies courses are as follows:

and when appropriate:

Degrees/Majors/Minors

Interdisciplinary Minor

Courses

  • AFCA 130 - Introduction to Africana Studies


    FDR: HU
    Credits: 3


     

    This seminar, taught collaboratively in four discrete modules, introduces students to the issues, debates, and moments which have shaped and continue to shape the broad and complex field of Africana Studies and the multifaceted experiences and aspirations of peoples of African descent. Among other effects, students who take this class gain a broad appreciation of the historical and philosophical context necessary for understanding the specific identities and contributions to world cultures and civilizations of Africans, African Americans, and Africans in the greater Diaspora; and develop thinking, analytical, writing, and collaborative skills as students complete a major project with one or more of their classmates. Staff.


  • AFCA 295 - Seminar in Africana Studies


    Credits: 3 credits in fall or winter, 4 in spring


    Prerequisite: Completion of FW requirement. Students in this course study a group of African-American, African, or Afro-Caribbean works related by theme, culture, topic, genre, historical period, or critical approach. In the Spring Term version, the course involves field trips, film screenings, service learning, and/or other special projects, as appropriate, in addition to 8-10 hours per week of class meetings. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

    Winter 2019, AFCA 295A-01: Seminar in Africana Studies: The Art and Politics of Rap Music (3). Since its emergence in the 1970s, hip-hop culture has changed the United States and the world, with rap music playing a significant role in those changes. Looking at rap as an art form, a political expression, and a commodity, this course studies how, from 1988 to 2018, rap music used end-rhymed verse and sampling to refine black self-expression. Analyzing singles and albums, we explore the socio-historical context out of which the music arose, the diverse creative strategies that its practitioners employed, and the major shifts in the art form’s development. Additionally, we think about the eras in rap music’s history and the prospects for its future. This course provides a space to meditate on the relationship between cultural products, racial identity, political progress, and economic destiny and, more specifically, invites students to confront the myths and the truths surrounding one of the late 20th century’s more controversial artistic permutations. (HU) Hill.


  • AFCA 403 - Directed Individual Study


    Credits: 3


    Prerequisites: AFCA 130, completion of six credits in Africa-focused and African Diaspora-focused courses, at least junior standing, and instructor consent.

    This course facilitates individual reading, research, and writing in an area of Africana Studies not covered in-depth in other courses. May be repeated for degree credit and/or used for the capstone requirement in the minor in Africana Studies. Staff.




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