The African-American Studies Program is an interdisciplinary program of courses organized to provide an overview and introduction to the experiences of African Americans in the United States and to connect those experiences to the literatures, histories, and cultures of Africa and of Latin America and the Caribbean. Courses in the program expose students to classical and contemporary literature, to issues of public policy, to critical debates in history and social science, and to main currents of historical and contemporary cultural expression. Students may elect a major in African-American/American studies or they may elect a minor in African-American studies built upon courses in anthropology, history, literature, economics, government, music, religious studies, and sociology. The program exposes students to the history and culture of Africans and people of African descent throughout the Americas. However, the primary focus of the program is on the literature, history, and culture of African Americans in the United States.

Requirements for the Major in African-American/American Studies
Fifteen courses selected from American studies, literature, social science, and music, including American Studies 276 or African-American Studies 276, American Studies 271, 493, English 343, 355, 356, History 131, 132, and 247; English 426; one course selected from Music 232, 234, 238, or American Studies 282; either History 342 or 442; two courses selected from American Studies 493, Anthropology 211, 217, 231, 254, Government 319, Religious Studies 356, Sociology 214, 252, 354, 355, 357, or Women's Studies 221; and at least one course focused on Africa or the Caribbean, preferably selected from Anthropology 231, 237, 254, History 161, 363, or 364. Course substitutions and exchanges may be made in consultation with the advisor.

Requirements for the Minor in African-American Studies
Seven courses including African-American/American Studies 276; either English 343, 413 (when appropriate), or 426; History 247; one course selected from Music 232, 234, 238, or American Studies 282; at least one course focused on Africa or the Caribbean; and two courses selected from American Studies 493, Anthropology 217, 231, 254, Government 319, Religious Studies 356, Sociology 214, 252, 354, 355, 357, or Women's Studies 221 (when appropriate). Course substitutions and exchanges may be made in consultation with the advisor.

Interested students may also consider an independent major in African-American studies or an independent major that combines African-American studies with another relevant discipline. Minors and majors are instructed to inform faculty that they are African-American studies minors or African-American/American studies joint majors when seeking the permission of the instructor to register for courses or when asking that prerequisites be waived.

Course Offerings

231s Caribbean Society and Culture An examination of the historical and contemporary development of the Caribbean; careful consideration to the racial and ethnic composition of its people. Issues such as family, class, color, gender, politics, and economic underdevelopment provide an understanding of the problems currently facing the region. Also listed as Anthropology 231. Four credit hours. S, D. MS. STRAUGHAN-WILLIAMS

238s Burnt Biscuits and Green Onions: From Rhythm and Blues to Soul An examination of African-American popular song during the rhythm-and-blues era, from its origins in the 1930s and '40s in the blues, small band "jump blues," and black swing bands to its transformation into soul in the mid-1960s. A focus on analysis of the musical styles of individual musicians and groups as well as on a study of the way these styles make critiques and comment on the culture(s) in which they are embedded. Also listed as Music 238. Prerequisite: Music 111, 133, or 153. Four credit hours. A, D. MR. MACHLIN

254f Women of the African Diaspora Investigates the ways in which race, class, and gender have structured the lives of women of the African Diaspora. Case studies from Brazil, the United States, and the Caribbean examined to learn how these factors shaped the political, economic, and social positions of the women in their respective societies. Also listed as Anthropology 254. Prerequisite: Anthropology. Four credit hours. S, D. MS. STRAUGHAN-WILLIAMS

276s African-American Culture in the United States An interdisciplinary examination of black cultural expression from the slave era to the present--including folk tales, blues, gospel music, work songs, jazz, sermons, dance, literature, and social institutions--tracing the stages of development of a distinctive black culture in America, its relationship to the historical, social, and political realities of African Americans, and its role in the cultural formation of the United States. Also listed as American Studies 276. Four credit hours. S, D. MS. RAWLINGS

491f, 492s Independent Study Individual study of special problems in African-American studies in areas where the student has demonstrated the interest and competence necessary for independent work. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor and of the program director. One to four credit hours. FACULTY

Courses that apply to the African-American/American studies major
American Studies
271 Introduction to American Studies: The Material Culture of Modern Life
493 Seminar in American Studies

Anthropology
211 Indigenous Peoples and Cultures of North America

English
355 Studies in American Literary History
356 Studies in American Literary History
413 Authors Courses (when appropriate)

History
131 Survey of United States History, to 1865
132 Survey of United States History, 1865 to the Present

Music
133 American Music

Courses approved for the African-American studies minor and for the African-American/American studies major
American Studies
276 African-American Culture in the United States
282 American Popular Culture

Anthropology
213 Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples
217 Race and Ethnicity: Cross-Cultural Perspectives
231 Caribbean Society and Culture
237 Ethnographies of Africa
254 Women of the African Diaspora

English
343 African-American Literature
413 Authors Course (when appropriate)

Government
319 Law and Social Change: Women and Minorities

History
161 Introduction to African History
162 History of Modern Africa
247 African-American History, from Slavery to Freedom
342 Crisis and Reform: American Society and Politics in the 1960s
442 Seminar: African-American Thought and Leadership

Music
232 Jazz History
238 Burnt Biscuits and Green Onions: From Rhythm and Blues to Soul

Religious Studies
356 African-American Religious Experience

Sociology
214 African-American Elites and Middle Classes
252 Race, Ethnicity, and Society
354 Sociology and the American Race Problem
355 African-American Women and Social Change
357 Civil Rights, Black Power, and Social Change

Women's Studies
221 Gender, Race, and the Politics of Difference