Africana Studies
Office: 103 New England Bldg., Website: africanastudies.vassar.edu
Phone: (845)437–7490, e–mail: africastudies@vassar.edu
Director: Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina (English); Steering Committee:
Constance Berkley (Africana Studies), Joyce Bickerstaff (Africana Studies
and Education), Judith Casselberry (Africana Studies and Music), Patricia–Pia
Celerier (French), Lisa Collins (Art), Margo Crawford (English), Gretchen
Holbrook Gerzina (English), Diane Harriford (Sociology), Luke Harris (Political
Science), Tiffany Lightbourn (Psychology), Timothy Longmanab
(Africana Studies and Political Science), Lawrence Mamiyaa
(Africana Studies and Religion), Mia Mask (Film), Brian McAdoo (Geology
and Geography), Lizabeth Paravisini–Gebert (Hispanic Studies), Ismail
Rashidb (Africana Studies and History), Judith Weisenfeld (Religion).
The multidisciplinary program in Africana Studies provides students with
a comparative perspective in their approach to the study of the history,
politics, culture, and experiences of peoples of African origin in the
United States, Africa, and the African Diaspora (North and South
America and the Caribbean). Using the concepts and methodologies of history,
psychology, the social sciences, and literature and the arts, Africana
Studies encompasses the systematic study of peoples of African descent
in the United States and areas that comprise much of what is referred
to as the Third World, and is, therefore, a field of interdisciplinary
inquiry which spans African American cross–cultural studies, area
studies, and international studies in scope and focus.
Africana Studies has pioneered in offering for its students a cross–cultural
experience in Africa or the Caribbean under the Study Away program. Students
may choose Third World colleges and universities or, alternatively, one
of several designated historically Black institutions of higher learning
in the United States. Africana Studies also initiated the new Vassar
JYA program at Mohammed V. University in Rabat, Morocco, one of the great
cosmopolitan centers of the Mediterranean world. Morocco has been at the
juncture of one of the major historic crossroads of cultural and intellectual
ferment for Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Africana Studies courses
and foreign study opportunities emphasize comparative and multidisciplinary
methodologies and the exploration of multiple perspectives. The program
is concerned with the cultural, historical, political, economic, and psychological
consequences of the dispersion of Africans from their ancestral continent
to the diverse regions of the world, known as the Black Diaspora, over
the course of centuries.
Requirements for concentration: 101/2 units
are required and the cross–cultural field study experience is strongly
recommended for the major. Students who major in Africana Studies must
have a specialization in one of the three major disciplinary areas of
the program: (1) history; (2) literature and the arts; and (3) the social
sciences (political science/law, sociology/religion, and education). In
addition to the required concentration in one of the three disciplinary
areas, a required category of Core Courses is designed to provide students
with a general knowledge and synthesis of a critical body of literature
and methodology in a non–Western field of scholarship. Core Courses
are not cross–listed.
Distribution of unit requirements: (a) 41/2
units of Core Courses including Africana Studies 102, 210, 299, 300 (senior
thesis or project), 301; (b) 3 units from the disciplinary area of specialization
(history, literature and the arts, social sciences); 3 units of electives,
2 units at the 200–level, 1unit at the 300–level). NRO work
may not be used to satisfy the major requirements for the program in Africana
Studies.
Students who major in Africana Studies are encouraged to participate
in a cross–cultural field research and study experience in Africa,
the Afro–Caribbean, or in the southern region of the United States
at one of four historically Black colleges—Fisk University; Howard
University; Spelman College; Morehouse College. The program faculty considers
such an experience overseas or in the American South to be an integral
part of the Africana Studies specialization. The program hopes that nonmajors
at Vassar will also consider the unique educational advantages to be derived
from spending a junior year (or term) abroad at an African university
or, alternatively, a term at one of the historically Black colleges.
Advisers: Program director and program faculty.
Courses cross–listed with other departments may be selected for
credit under the rubric of Africana Studies or the traditional discipline.
Correlate Sequence in Africana Studies: Coursework in the correlate
sequence is organized to reflect both the regional and global nature of
the field of Africana Studies (African–Americans in the United States;
Africa and the Black Diaspora) and its interdisciplinary structure of
inquiry (history, literature and the arts, and the social sciences). The
correlate allows students to explore the links between African American
and African ancestry through a broad historic, geographic, and disciplinary
perspective celebrating the richness and diversity of American and African
cultures and traditions. For the student planning the correlate in Africana
Studies, it is useful to understand the interdependent nature of both.
Students electing a correlate in Africana Studies must take 6 units.
In addition to 3 units of required courses: Africana Studies 102;
210; and 301; students may choose 3 units of coursework from any
one (a, b, c) of the suggested concentrations of study which is structured
to provide depth of knowledge in a single area of disciplinary inquiry
and within one or both geographic regions. Two units must be at the 200–level,
1 unit at the 300–level.
Advisers: Program faculty.
Options of focus are as follows:
I. African–American Cultural Studies*
a) History: African American Cultural and Intellectual History.
235; 276; 330
b) Literature and the Arts: The Black Aesthetic. 202; 241; 247;
266; 270; 273; 297.07; 366; 369
c) Social Sciences: Race, Religion, and Socialization in America:
160; 206; 246; 258; 264; 268; 297.04; 297.05; 320; 321; 330
*Students who are planning a JYA at an historic Black college or a
cross–cultural experience in the American South are encouraged to
choose a correlate or appropriate courses from any one of the above areas
of concentration.
II. Africa and the Black Diaspora*
a) History: Ancestral Legacy. 141; 201; 230; 243; 271; 272; 373
b) Literature and the Arts: Ancient and Modern Traditions. 108;
203; 253; 254; 369
c) Social Sciences: Politics and Revolution in the Third World. 211;
243; 250; 297.08; 297.09; 310; 321; 352; 354
*Students who are planning a JYA in an African university or a field
study experience in Africa are encouraged to choose a correlate or appropriate
courses from any one of the above areas of concentration.
I. Core Courses 102a. Introduction to Third–World Studies: A Comparative Approach
to Africa and the African Diaspora (1)
An introduction to the basic concepts and literature in the disciplines
covered by Africana and/or Third–World studies. Provides a methodological
framework for the comparative approach in the systematic investigation
and analysis of non–Western peoples and cultures before and after
Western contact. Emphasis is placed on an examination of the various concepts
of the Third World, the African peoples in Africa, the Afro–Caribbean,
and North and South America. Ms. Bickerstaff.
210b. Great Books and Classics of Africa and the African Diaspora
(1)
This course provides an introduction to the accumulated thought arising
out of and/or concerning the cultural and intellectual experiences of
people of African descent, during the modern era. It enables students
to examine and discuss the philosophical assertion that "humans are
an end in themselves" as central to world views of people of African
descent. The texts include classics from social science, history, and
humanities that embody the essence of the African, North America African,
and African Caribbean experiences. Readings include: Africanite, Pre–Colonial
Black Africa, Eurocentrism, The Marrow of Tradition, Black Thunder,
Youngblood, Black Skins, White Masks. Mrs. Berkley.
301. Senior Colloquium (1)
Provides a forum for the intensive analysis and discussion of selected
topics from a multidisciplinary and comparative perspective. Scholars
in the particular areas of inquiry may be invited to address the colloquium.
The theme or topic varies from year to year.
Topic for 2001/02: Black Britain in Literature and Film. (Same
as English 301) Black people have lived in Britain since the sixteenth
century, yet their presence has been ignored in the past and contested
in the present. The course examines the past and current situations of
black people in Britain as described in literature and film. Issues concern
notions of "home" and citizenship, immigration, sexuality and
intermarriage, and the recent Stephen Lawrence murder case. Readings begin
with the major black writers of the eighteenth century, such as Olaudah
Equiano and Ignatius Sancho, and end with contemporary writers such as
Caryl Phillips, S.I. Martin and Zadie Smith. Films include Mona Lisa,
Sapphire, Secrets and Lies, and excerpts from British television documentaries.
Ms. Gerzina.
Open to junior and senior majors in Africana Studies or by permission
of instructor.
One 2–hour period.
II. Introductory
105a. Selected Topics in Africana Studies (1)
(Same as Religion 105) Topic for 2001/02: Religion and the Civil Rights
Movement. This course examines the ways in which religious beliefs,
practices and institutions helped to shape the modern Civil Rights Movement
and undergird its struggle for social change. Topics include theologies
of non–violent resistance, spirituals and freedom songs, religion
and gender in the movement, critiques of religious–motivated activism
and of non–violent resistance. Ms. Weisenfeld.
Open only to Freshmen. Satisfies requirement for a Freshman course.
108a. Introduction to the African Literary Traditions (1)
Examines the works of a number of African writers, both orally transmitted
textssuch as folklore and poetryand written genres, and their cultural
influence and impact upon European concepts about Africans before and
during the Renaissance, including the period of the 800 years of Moorish/Muslim
rule of Iberia. It also investigates how contemporary African writers
have tried to revive a sense of the African cultural continuum in old
and new literary works. Writers include: Horus, St. Augustine, Ibn Khaldun,
Achebe, Ba, Ngugi, Neto, Abrahams, Mazrui, and Salih. Mrs. Berkley.
141a. Tradition, History and the African Experience (1)
(Same as History 141) From ancient stone tools and monuments to oral
narratives and colonial documents, the course examines how the African
past has been recorded, preserved and transmitted over the generations.
It looks at the challenges faced by the historian in Africa and the multidisciplinary
techniques used to reconstruct and interpret African history. Various
texts, artifacts and oral narratives from ancient times to the present
are analyzed to see how conceptions and interpretations of the African
past have changed over time. Mr. Rashid.
Section .01 fulfills the Freshman Course requirement. It is open to freshmen
only. Section .02 is open to all classes.
160a. Books, Children, and Culture (1)
(Same as Education 160) Ms. Bickerstaff.
III. Intermediate
201a. African Conceptions: The Shaping of Freedom (1)
(Same as History 201 and College Course 201) In Africa and the United States
contemporary modes of thought about and the struggle for HUMAN RIGHTS
reaches back to Africa's "Golden Age" (before the European Renaissance
and before the period of European Navigation). This course recreates a
public memory that counteracts the caricature of the enslaved African
who could never be a symbol of freedom. It examines how African and African
American experiences reflect the struggle for a social contract that creates
and protects the human rights of all members of the world community, with
regard to economic guarantees of food, clothing, shelter, education and
recreation. As creative intellectuals, we must be concerned with how the
cultural system can allow for the most profound development of each individual's
personal human dignity. Materials are drawn from African and African American
history, literature and film. Authors may include Ibn Khaldun, Peter Abrahams,
Margaret Walker, Lorraine Hansberry, W.E.B. DuBois, Nelson Mandela and
others. Mrs. Berkley and Mr. Rashid.
202a and b. Black Music (1)
(Same as Music 202) An analytical exploration of the music of certain
African and European cultures and their adaptive influences in North America.
The course examines the traditional African and European views of music
performance practices while exploring their influences in shaping the
music of African Americans from the spiritual to modern times. Ms. Casselberry.
203b. The Origins and Development of Islamic Literature (1)
(Same as Religion 203) The course surveys the development of Islamic
literature from its beginning with the Qur'an, through the "golden
age'' of Islam, to today's urbane novelists. It reveals the close relationship
between the growth of Islam as a way of life and the literature which
developed among the more than a billion Muslims in the world. Authors:
Fazlur Rahman, Kritzeck, Jalal al Ehmad, Ahmed K. Hakkat, Tawfiq Awwad,
Driss Chraibi, Taha Hussein, Naguib Mahfouz, Daglarca, Yahya Haqqi, Tayeb
Salih, and Muhammad Abduh.
Mrs. Berkley.
Prerequisite: one course in religion or Africana Studies.
206b. Social Change in the Black Community (1)
(Same as Sociology 206) An examination of social issues in the Black
community: poverty and welfare, segregated housing, drug addiction, unemployment
and underemployment, and the prison system. Social change strategies from
community organization techniques and poor people's protest movements
to more radical urban responses are analyzed. Mr. Mamiya.
[211a. Religions of the Oppressed and Third–World Liberation
Movements] (1)
(Same as Religion 211) A comparative socio–historical analysis of
the dialectical relationship between religion and the conditions of oppressed
people. The role of religion in both suppression and liberation is considered.
Case studies include the cult of Jonestown (Guyana), the Iranian revolution,
South Africa, slave religion, and aspects of feminist theology. Mr. Mamiya.
Not offered in 2001/02.
[230a. Africa: Regional Geographic Perspectives] (1)
(Same as Geography 230)
Not offered in 2001/02.
[235a. The Civil Rights Movement in the United States] (1)
In this interdisciplinary course, we examine the origins, dynamics, and
consequences of the modern civil rights movement. We explore how the southern–based
struggles for racial equality and full citizenship in the U.S. worked
both to dismantle entrenched systems of segregation, disfranchisement,
economic exploitation, and discrimination and to challenge American society
to live up to its professed democratic ideals. Ms. Collins.
Prerequisite: 1 unit in Africana Studies or by special permission.
Not offered in 2001/02.
[241b. Introduction to Black Drama in America] (1)
(Same as Drama 241) An introduction to the literature, history, theory,
and technique of Black drama from the Black Renaissance in America to
the present. The plays of this period are analyzed and discussed, and
the course emphasizes the critical interpretation of Black drama and its
relationship to American drama. Mrs.Berkley.
Not offered in 2001/02.
[243a. Islamic Traditions] (1)
(Same as Religion 243) The religion of Islam in its historical expressions,
including sectarian developments and Sufi mysticism. Special attention
is given to the role of Islam in Africa through Arabic conquest and to
the impact of Islam with regard to the Black Muslim movement in American
culture. Mr. Mamiya.
Prerequisite: Religion 150, 152, or by permission of instructor.
Not offered in 2001/02.
[246a. African–American Politics] (1)
(Same as Political Science 246) This course analyzes the diverse ways
in which African Americans have engaged in politics in the United States.
After briefly considering challenges facing the African American community,
the course looks at approaches to politics including active engagement
in the political system, PanAfricanism and Black nationalism, accommodation
and assimilation, classbased struggle, and everyday forms of resistance.
The course concludes with a consideration of possible policy alternatives
advocated by various AfricanAmerican leaders. Writers to be studied may
include W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington, Malcolm X,
Martin Luther King, Jr., William Julius Wilson, bell hooks, Manning Marable,
Robin Kelley, Angela Davis, and Patricia WilliaMs. Mr. Longman.
Not offered in 2001/02.
[247a. The Black Woman as Novelist] (1)
An examination of the novels of black women writing in English. Particular
consideration is given to literary forms, cultural approaches to novelistic
expression, and the roles of black women in fiction and society. Authors
may include: Toni Morrison, Ann Petry, Gloria Naylor, Buchi Emecheta,
Jamaica Kincaid, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Zora Neale Hurston and others. Ms. Gerzina.
Prerequisite: 1 unit of 100–level work or by special permission
of the director.
Not offered in 2001/02.
250a. African Politics (1)
(Same as Political Science 250) This course introduces students to the
great diversity of peoples, ideas, cultures, and political practices found
on the African continent. The course first investigates the causes of
the contemporary social, economic, and political challenges facing African
states, then analyzes the ways in which African populations have responded
to foreign domination, authoritarian government, unfavorable economic
conditions, and social divisions. The course uses case studies of African
countries to explore political issues within specific contexts and pays
particular attention to international involvement in Africa. Instructor
to be announced.
253b. The Arts of Central, East and Southern Africa (1)
(Same as Art 253) A survey of the visual arts of Central, East and Southern
Africa, ancient to contemporary. Chronological examination of the development
of politically centralized kingdoMs. Examination of the art of presentday
Africa, as well as contemporary urban art from this broad region. Looks
at the impact of both Arab and European contact with African peoples from
a historical perspective. Emphasizes relationships between the past and
the present, the rural and the urban, and Africa, and the African Diaspora
throughout. Ms. Thompson.
Prerequisite: Art 105106, or one 200–level course in Africana Studies
254a. The Arts of West and North Africa (1)
(Same as Art 254) A survey of the visual arts of West and North Africa,
ancient to contemporary. Chronological examination of the art of ancient
Nubia and Egypt, the empires of the Western Sudan, and the kingdoms of
peoples from Morocco to Guinea to Cameroon, as well as contemporary urban
art of this broad region. Looks at the impact of both Arabic and European
contact with peoples of Africa from a historical perspective. Emphasizes
relationships between the past and the present, the rural and the urban,
and African and the African Diaspora. Ms. Thompson.
Prerequisite: Art 105106, or one 200–level course in Africana Studies
or by permission of instructor.
[258a. Race and Ethnicity] (1)
(Same as Sociology 258)
Not offered in 2001/02.
260b. African–American Religion (1)
(Same as Religion 260) A survey of the history of religion among Americans
of African descent from slavery to the present. Major topics include:
African religious backgrounds and transformations in the Atlantic world,
religion under slavery, the rise of independent black churches, black
women and religion, new religious movements, folk traditions, music, and
religion and the Civil Rights Movement. Ms. Weisenfeld.
264b. Black Women in American History: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
(1)
(Same as Women's Studies 264) This course explores the social and cultural
history of African–American women in the United States from the period
of enslavement to the present. We examine the intellectual, political
and social reform movements of black womenas abolitionists, suffragists,
civil rights and human rights activists, educational leaders and social
reformiststhe enslaved and the free, the urban and the rural, the public
and the private persona. Emphasis is placed on the diverse roles of black
women as thinkers, activists, and creators, and the significance of their
lives in the continuing effort of peoples of African origin to define
their cultural identities, their resistance to oppression, and their struggles
to change society. Inter–racial and gender conflicts and black feminist
theory in contemporary American society are among the twentieth century
topics explored. Alternate years: Ms. Bickerstaff, Ms. Collins.
2001/02: Ms. Bickerstaff.
265 African American History to 1865 (1)
(Same as History 265) This course traces the lives of African captives
from Africa across the Atlantic and explores their experiences in North
America. It addresses not only how bondage brutalized African Americans
but also the strategies they devised to counter slavery, including religion,
resistance, and the development of a distinctive African American culture.
Other topics include free black communities, black abolitionists, and
African Americans role in the Civil War. Ms. Taylor
[266a. African–American Arts and Artifacts] (1)
(Same as Art 266) An introduction to the artistic and material production
of African Americans in the U.S. from the colonial period to the present
day. We examine the multiple influences on (African, European, American,
diasporic, etc.) and uses for black creative expression. Working with
an expansive conception of art, we pay close attention to the work of
formally and non–formally trained artists in relation to their social,
cultural, aesthetic, and historical contexts. Ms. Collins.
Prerequisites: Art 105–106 or by permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2001/02.
267b. African-American History, 1861-Present (1)
(same as History 267) This course surveys the major themes, events, and
people in modern African American history, with an emphasis on the continuing
struggle for full citizenship, equality, and justice. Beginning with the
Civil War, the class explores the different modes and degrees of racism
that have shaped the black experience. But more than simply revisiting
the oppression, the course portrays African Americans as central actors
in their own history. In this vein, we examine tactics of protest and
activism, and methods of self-definition and self-assertion. Topics include
migration, culture, religion, feminism, and nationalism. Ms. Taylor
Two 75–minute periods
268b. Sociology of Black Religion (1)
(Same as Religion 268 and Sociology 268) A sociological analysis of a
pivotal sector of the Black community, namely the Black churches, sects,
and cults. Topics include slave religion, the founding of independent
Black churches, the Black musical heritage, Voodoo, the Rastafarians,
and the legacies of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Mr. Mamiya.
270a. The Harlem Renaissance (1)
A critical analysis of the outpouring of serious creative effort in poetry
and prose in Harlem during the early 1900s to 1930s by writers whose works
were influenced by an emergent sense of nationalism, cultural awakening,
self–awareness, and by an affirmation of the African past. The vigor
and versatility of the period is expressed in the works of such writers
as W. E. B. DuBois, Claude McKay, Alain Locke, Countee Cullen, James Weldon
Johnson, and Jean Toomer. Ms. Crawford.
[271a. Perspectives on the African Past: Africa Before 1800] (1)
(Same as History 271) Mr. Rashid.
Not offered in 2001/02.
[272b. Modern African History] (1)
(Same as History 272) A study of the major political, economic, social,
and intellectual developments in the unfolding of the African experience
from the early nineteenth century to the present time. Attention is directed
to the broad spectrum of contacts of Africa with the outside world in
trade, diplomacy, etc., prior to the nineteenth century. The course focuses
on the rise of the Pan–African movement, African nationalism, the
decolonization process, the emergence of independent African states, and
the dilemmas of post–colonialism: neocolonialism, development issues
and post–independence politics. Mr. Rashid.
Not offered in 2001/02.
[273b. African American Orators and Their Orations] (1)
Like their African counterparts, African Americans have an urgent concern
with the intellectual and emotive force of the word. Sound, meaning, and
manner of speaking the language undergirds the structure of human relationships
within the African American community. This course traces the art of and
the role of public speaking/oratory in the African American community
from its African origins, through slavery, up to the period of Malcolm X.
Mrs. Berkley.
Not offered in 2001/02.
276a. House Divided: The United States, 1830–1890 (1)
(Same as History 276)
281b. The Blues Tradition in African–American Literature (1)
What, exactly, is "the blues tradition" in the year 2001? Is
it an African–American musical tradition of a hundred–odd years
duration, tracing back from Keb'Mo and Shemekia Copeland through Charley
Patton and Bessie Smith to some unknowable first singer of a 12–bar
"blues–in–formation?" Is it the tradition of blues
fiction that evolves on the heels of the developing musical form, taking
blues musicians and their juke–joint milieu as its chosen subject?
Is it the poetic tradition that takes the 12–bar blues form as its
verse model and the taut lyric realism (admixed with wild fantasy) of
sung blues as its inspiration? What about blues plays, and the flourishing
genre of blues autobiography? Surely the blues tradition as a whole must
be grounded in some crucial way in what David Oshinsky has called "the
ordeal of Jim Crow justice," which is to say the grievous struggles
and redressive pleasures of rural black Southerners. We explore all these
questions, using a range of texts and musical examples, recorded and live.
Instructor to be announced.
283a The Politics of Culture and Economy in Africa (1)
(same as Political Science 283a) This course is situated at the interface
of the fields of cultural studies and political economy. The class examines
the political economy of culture- the material conditions under which
African people imagine, represent and reproduce their societies -as well
as the culture of political economy- the social framework of thinking
through which Africans engage the global market and the local contexts
of their daily economic production. At the point of intersection between
culture and economy are profound statement and actions that problematize,
pluralize, specify and contextualize African political thought. This course
therefore involves a set of interrogations around the notion of "the political"
in Africa. Particular attention is paid to forms of popular cultural production,
informal economies and the mechanisms of transaction and exchange that
work to generate new and dynamic understandings of territory, power, and
belonging. This course uses readings drawn from political economy, comparative
politics, cultural studies and African studies. Ms. Mwangi. Two 75- minute
meetings.
290a or b. Field Work (1/2 or 1)
Individual or group field projects or internships. The department.
Unscheduled. May be selected during the college year or during the summer.
Reading Courses
Note: prerequisites for all sections of 297, permission of instructor.
297.04b. Psychology of Black Experience in White America (1/2)
Mr. Mamiya.
297.05a. Multi–Ethnic Literature for Young Children: From Aesop
to Zemach (1/2)
Ms. Bickerstaff.
297.07a. Topics in Afro–American Literature and Drama (1/2)
Mrs. Berkley.
297.08a/b. Caribbean Politics (1/2)
Mr. Longman.
297.09b. African Religions (1/2)
Mr. Mamiya.
298a or b. Independent Work (1/2 or 1)
Individual or group project of reading or research. The department.
Unscheduled. May be selected during the college year or during the summer.
299b. Research Methods (1/2)
An introduction to the research methods used in the disciplines represented
by Africana Studies. Through a variety of individual projects, students
learn the approaches necessary to design projects, collect data, analyze
results, and write research reports. The course includes some field trips
to sites relevant to student projects. For 2001/02 the emphasis is on
technology and archival research, using the Library's new facilities in
these areas. Required of majors and correlates, but open to students in
all disciplines. Program faculty and Ms. Kurosman.
IV. Advanced
300a or b. Senior Essay or Project (1)
301 Black Britain in Literature and Film (1)
(Same as English 301) Black people have lived in Britain since the sixteenth
century, yet their presence has been ignored in the past and contested
in the present. The course examines the past and current situations of
black people in Britain as described in literature and film. Issues concern
notions of "home" and citizenship, immigration, sexuality and
intermarriage, and the recent Stephen Lawrence murder case. Readings begin
with the major black writers of the eighteenth century, such as Olaudah
Equiano and Ignatius Sancho, and end with contemporary writers such as
Caryl Phillips, S.I. Martin and Zadie Smith. Films include Mona Lisa,
Sapphire, Secrets and Lies, and excerpts from British television documentaries.
Ms. Gerzina.
[310b. Politics and Religion: Tradition and Modernization in the Third
World] (1)
(Same as Religion 310) An examination of the central problem facing all
Third World and developing countries, the confrontation between the process
of modernization and religious tradition and custom. Along with the social,
economic, and political aspects, the course focuses on the problems of
cultural identity and crises of meaning raised by the modernizing process.
Selected case studies are drawn from Africa and Asia. Mr. Mamiya.
Prerequisite: Sociology/Religion 261 or Africana Studies 268, or 2 units
in Religion or Africana Studies at the 200–level, or by permission
of instructor.
Not offered in 2001/02.
[320a. Up From Slavery: Schooling and Socialization of Blacks in America]
(1)
(Same as Education 320) This course is devoted to both theoretical and
empirical issues in the schooling of Black America from primary through
post–secondary levelseighteenth century to the present in the rural
and urban environment. Students become familiar with major sociological
themes in the study of education: socialization and learning; social and
cultural determinants of academic performance; relationships between families
and schools; inequality; the "culture'' of the school and problems
of change; institutional racism; and politicalization and social policy.
Ms. Bickerstaff.
Prerequisite: 2 units of Education or Africana Studies or by permission
of instructor.
One 2–hour period.
Not offered in 2001/02.
[321b. Cross–Cultural Studies in Education: Policy, Politics,
Power] (1)
(Same as Education 321) A comparative study of education and schooling
in selected contemporary societiesUnited States, Africa, Asia, South
America. Through the case–study method, this seminar examines formal
educational institutions from preschool to post–secondary education.
Educational ideology and practice as reflected in curriculum and school
organization are reviewed. Within the United States, the schooling
of culturally different populations is studied. Among them are: Appalachian,
Native American, black urban (north and south), and elite white independent
schools. Ms. Bickerstaff.
Prerequisite: 2 units of coursework from the social science division,
Africana Studies, or by permission of instructor.
Not offered in 2001/02.
330b. Black Metropolis: Caste and Class in Urban America 1800 to Present
(1)
The migration of African Americans from the rural South to the urban
North in late nineteenth and early twentieth century America was one of
the most significant internal mass movements in modern urban history.
This seminar traces the historical antecedents of the great migration
and examines the social, cultural, economic, and political dynamics and
consequences of this extraordinary demographic shift within black communities
and the larger society. Using the case study method, selected cities are
drawn from urban centers in the south and the north. Themes and locations
will vary from year to year. Ms. Bickerstaff.
One 2–hour period.
Prerequisite: 2 units in Africana Studies or Urban Studies or by permission
of the director.
[352a. Seminar on Multiculturism in Comparative Perspective] (1)
(Same as Political Science 352) This seminar explores the political significance
of cultural diversity. Based on the comparative analysis of the United States
and other multicultural states, the course examines how and why racial,
ethnic, linguistic, and religious identities become grounds for political
action. The course examines the formation of identity groups and considers
the origins of prejudice, racism, and discrimination. The course also
considers peaceful means that governments can use to accommodate cultural
diversity. In addition to the United States, countries studied may
include South Africa, Rwanda, India, and Yugoslavia. Mr. Longman.
Prerequisite: by permission of instructor.
One 2–hour period.
Not offered in 2001/02.
[354b. Seminar on the Politics of Religion in Africa and the Diaspora]
(1)
(Same as Political Science 354) In recent decades, the influence of religious
organizations and movements on politics has emerged as a major focus within
the social sciences. In this course, we consider issues of religion and
politics within the specific context of Africa and the African Diaspora.
Topics include religious involvement in democratization movements in countries
from South Africa to Haiti, the rise of Islamist political movements in
places such as Sudan and Algeria; conflict and interactions between religious
traditions; the political implications of syncretic religious movements
such as Umbanda and Kitawalism, and the significance of the Black church
in African American politics. Mr. Longman.
Prerequisite: by permission of instructor.
One 2–hour period.
Not offered in 2001/02.
365 A Resistant Spirit: Black Mississippi, Jim Crow, and Grass Roots
Activism, 1877-2000 (1)
(same as History 365) Perhaps nowhere in modern America can the racial
contest between white and black be more fruitfully studied than in the
state of Mississippi. Using white supremacy and black activism in Mississippi
as its focal points, this seminar explores the Civil Rights movement from
the end of Reconstruction to the present day. We examine the mechanisms
of racial violence, segregation, and political repression, while also
tracing how black Mississippians mobilized, organized and finally empowered
themselves. In addition, the course critiques various types of sources
- including oral testimony, biography, local studies, and state surveys-
in order to better understand this chapter in American race relations.
Ms. Taylor
One 2–hour period.
366b. Seminar in African American Art (1)
(Same as Art 366) Topic varies from year to year. The topic for 2001/02:
Creativity and Politics in the Harlem Renaissance and the W.P.A.
Focusing on the experiences and representations of African Americans in
the U.S., this seminar examines the arts, institutions, and ideas of the
Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and New Deal projects of the 1930s and
1940s. Analyzing paintings, sculptures, photographs, novels, "folk
arts," murals, illustrations, manifestos, films, performances, and
various systems of patronage, we explore relationships between art, politics,
and society. Ms. Collins.
Prerequisite: by permission of instructor.
One 2–hour period.
369a. Major Third World Author (1)
Studies of African or African–American literary themes or a major
author. Subject matter varies from year to year. Open primarily to Juniors
and Seniors.
Topic for 2001/02: Contemporary Voices From The Valley Nile."Wadi
Nile" (Valley of the Nile) has given birth to some of humankind's
earliest poetry and prose. Voices of the following writers are considered:
Abdel Rahman al Sharqawi, Francis M. Deng, Mohammed Abdel Hai, Hafiz Ibrahim,
Yusuf Idris, Tayeb Salih, Abdel Rahman Shukri. Mrs. Berkley.
[373b. Slavery and Abolition in Africa] (1)
(Same as History 373) The Trans–Saharan and the Atlantic slave trade
transformed African communities, social structures, and cultures. The
seminar explores the development, abolition, and impact of slavery in
Africa from the earliest times to the twentieth century. The major conceptual
and historiographical themes include indigenous servitude, female enslavement,
family strategies, slave resistance, abolition, and culture. The seminar
uses specific case studies as well as a comparative framework to understand
slavery in Africa. Mr. Rashid.
Not offered in 2000/01.
[374b. The African Diaspora and the Making of the Pan–African
Movement, 1900–2000] (1)
(Same as History 374) This seminar investigates the social origins, philosophical
and cultural ideas, and the political forms of Pan–Africanism from
the late nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth century. It explores
how disaffection and resistance against slavery, racism and colonial domination
in the Americas, Caribbean, Europe and Africa led to the development of
a global movement for the emancipation of peoples of African descent from
1900 onwards. The seminar examines the different ideological, cultural
and organizational manifestations of Pan–Africanism as well as the
scholarly debates on development of the movement. Readings include the
ideas and works of Edward Blyden, Alexander Crummell, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus
Garvey, Amy Garvey, C.L.R. James and Kwame Nkmmah. Mr. Rashid.
Not offered in 2001/02.
382a. Seminar on Zora Neale Hurston (1)
An intensive study of Hurston's oeuvre, focusing on six major works Jonah's
Gourd Vine; Mules and Men; Their Eyes Were Watching God; Moses, Man of
the Mountain, Dust Tracks on a Road: and Seraph on the Suwaneeplus
selected stories, plays and essays. Topics to be explored include the
shifting fortunes of Hutrston's critical reception; her pioneering work
as an anthropologist, folklorist, and celebrant of rural black southern
life; her participant–observer relationship with Florida blues culture;
her multiple positions as a black feminist, a comic realist, and Emersonian
individualist of conservative political leanings, a critic of American
imperialism, and the author (with Seraph) of a sympathetic African American
novel about life among the poor whites of Florida's Gulf Coast. Instructor
to be announced.
384b. From Dred Scot to Proposition 209: Race and Law in American
Society (1)
This course examines, from an historical and social perspective, the
legal struggle for human and civil rights for African Americans from colonial
America to the present. The course addresses critical issues as reflected
in the crises arising out of race relations in antebellum and post–bellum
America, the legal milestones, i.e. the Dred Scot Case, Plessey v. Fergusson,
the Scottsboro Cases, Brown v. Topeka Board of Education, Bakke, McClesky,
Swann, Proposition 209, interpretations of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth,
and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, the "separate but equal
doctrine," "affirmative action" and the quest for equal
justice under law. Ms. Browne–Marshall.
387a The Colonial State and Its Forms of Power (1)
(same as Political Science 387a) This seminar examines the late (19th
and 20th Century) colonial state. We begin from the premise that colonialism
was based on particular trajectories of thinking about such political
categories as "citizen", "subject" and "state."
We attempt to understand the conditions that made colonialism possible,
as well as examine the ways in the interaction between Europe and its
colonized spaces was embedded in the relationship between knowledge and
political rule. This dynamic interaction between colonizing powers and
colonized people had implications not only for the colonies and their
inhabitants, but also for metropolitan societies and their political communities.
Readings are drawn from political theory and comparative politics, as
well as the interdisciplinary and broad field of colonial and post-colonial
studies; material focuses mostly on colonialism in Africa and Asia. .
Ms. Mwangi. One 2-hour meeting.
389a Creative Writing: Illusory Horizons(1/2)
This creative writing seminar is taught by the famed Sudanese novelist
and journalist Tayeb Salih, whose novels include Season of Migration to
the North and The Wedding of Zein. Because the course depends to a great
extent upon a workshop style, the active participation of students is
necessary. Students who are not already accomplished creative writers,
but who have a keen desire to be writers, are encouraged in the course
to find their own writing voices by the introduction of various writing
techniques and modes of narration by practiced writers. Students writing
with the aim of stimulating constructive criticism is also discussed.
This course meets once every other week. Mr. Salih. One 2-hr meeting.
386b. Black Womanist Spirituality in Popular American Music (1)
(Same as Music 386) Spiritual text by African–American women recording
artists is found in many musical genres; jazz, rock, funk, rhythm and
blues, folk and a cappella. Our primary focus is on spiritual expression
from a Womanist (black feminist) perspective, outside of conventional
constructs of hierarchical modes of religion and worship. Particular attention
is given to content and conceptual approaches in West African traditional
cosmologies and ontologies, the transmission of beliefs and styles into
African–American spiritual expression, and the resultant constructed
spiritual identities. Included are the original work of Bernice Johnson
Reagon (of Sweet Honey in the Rock), Nedra Johnson, Abbey Lincoln, Me,
shell Ndegeocello, Dianne Reeves, Cassandra Wilson and Toshi Reagon. We
begin with overviews of the legacy of black feminist in the United States
and African diasporic/Black Atlantic spiritual systems, independent of
religious institutions. With these underpinnings, we then examine how
these ideologies are presented in popular American music. Utilizing an
interdisciplinary approach, we also briefly explore black women's –spirituality
in literature, theory, and film. Ms. Casselberry.
388b. Prejudice, Racism and Social Policy (1)
(Same as Psychology 388 and Urban Studies 388) Prejudice and racism is
one of the most enduring and widespread social problems facing the world
today. This course tackles prejudice and racism from a social psychological
perspective, and aims to give students an understanding of the theoretical
causes, consequences, and 'cures' of this pervasive phenomenon. We review
the empirical work on stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination and
then explore real–world examples of these principles in action in
the policy realm. In particular we examine historical and contemporary
cases that relate to affirmative action, segregation/desegregation, bilingual
education, urban policy, U.S. immigration policy, U.S. foreign policy
in Rwanda and Yugoslavia, etc. This course is intended to help upper–level
students acquire the theoretical tools with which to analyze prejudice
and racism research and the development of public policies. Ms. Lightbourn.
392b. Empire and Sexuality in the Cinema (1)
(Same as Drama 392) A senior seminar focusing on cinema and sexuality,
this course examines metaphors and allegories of empire as they have been
linked to displays of sexuality and structures of desire in narrative
cinema. The course includes both heterosexual and homoerotic displays
of desire. Films such as David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962),
John Huston's The Man Who Would Be King (1975), Bernardo Bertollucci's
The Last Emperor (1987), and Stephen Frears' My Beautiful Laundrette
(1987) reveal themselves as cinematic narratives linking power, pleasure
and the social constraints regulating bodies in colonial contexts. In
addition to film theory, and queer film theory, these films are interpreted
through the critical prism of colonial and postcolonial literature on
primitivism, sexuality, surveillance, and structures of power. Scholarship
by Frantz Fanon, Michael Foucault, Edward Said, and Ann Laura Stoler,
among others, is included. Ms. Mask.
399a or b. Senior Independent Work (1/2 or 1)
Senior independent study program to be worked out in consultation with
an instructor. The department.
Vassar JYA Morocco Program
The Africana Studies Program has initiated an academic semester–abroad
program with Mohammed V. University in Rabat, Morocco. Part of the program
will include an historical study tour. Prerequisites for participation
include 1) area studies, 2) two years French/or one year Arabic, and 3)
intensive summer four–week classical Arabic language study in Rabat.
Program coordinator: Mrs. Berkley. The following courses will be
offered:
120a. Elementary Modern Standard Moroccan Arabic and Culture (1)
Fundamentals of the language. Students learn to understand spoken Arabic,
to express simple ideas both orally and in writing, and to begin reading
Arabic.
Four hours per class, five times a week; one 2–hour seminar per
week on Moroccan culture
121a. Introduction to Modern Standard and Moroccan Arabic (1)
The objective of this intensive course is to enable the students to acquire
a basic knowledge of Modern Standard and Moroccan Arabic. The course contains
four hours classical Arabic per week and four hours Moroccan Arabic per
week. Classes are two hours each and include language labs. These sessions
refine knowledge of the phonology of Modern Standard Arabic and cover
the basics of the grammar and syntax of Modern Standard and Moroccan Arabic;
there are graded practice exercises.
220a. Anthropology of the Middle East and the Maghreb (1)
The objective of this course is to introduce the students to Middle Eastern
and Maghrebian cultures and societies, focusing on the major issues relevant
to the area. The course will cover cultural commonalities and diversities
in the Middle East and the Maghreb. Issues such as political systems,
kinship, gender, and social change will be covered and examined. Examples
will be drawn from the Machrek, the Maghreb, and Morocco.
221a. Cultural Ecology of Moroccan Landscapes (1)
This cultural geography course provides an introduction for the understanding
of patterns and processes of human interaction with the physical environment
in Morocco. Landscapes are a register of human history; they express the
social and cultural values of the people who have built them. The landscapes
of Morocco afford an opportunity to use the methods of cultural geography
to examine the social, environmental technological, and historical factors
that shaped past and present Moroccan cultural ecology. This course includes
a one week excursion to the Atlas Mountains and the desert at the end
of the program.
222a. Issues in the Contemporary History of Morocco and North Africa
(1)
This course examines the development of the Moroccan state within the
context of the larger Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia). The course
examines the religious, political and economic changes in Morocco's history.
The phenomena of colonialism, nationalism, and independence are examined.
223a. Independent Elective Study in English, Arabic or French (1)
This course may be chosen as a substitute for either 220a, 221a or 222a.
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