The material on this page is from the 2000-01 catalog and may be out of date. Please check the current year's catalog for current information.

Professors: Taylor (English) (on leave, 2000–2001) and Kessler (Political Science); Associate Professors: Creighton (History), Bruce (Religion) (on leave, fall semester and Short Term), Fra-Molinero (Spanish) (on leave, fall semester and Short Term), Eames (Anthropology), Kane (Sociology), Nero (Rhetoric) (on leave, winter semester and Short Term), Carnegie (Anthropology), Chair, Hill (Political Science), and Jensen (History); Assistant Professors: Williams (Music and African American Studies), Johnson (Sociology) (on leave, winter semester), Smith (Education), Ulysse (African American Studies), and McClendon (American Cultural Studies and Political Science); Mr. Pope.L (Theater) (on leave, winter semester and Short Term) African American studies is an interdisciplinary program designed to enrich knowledge of the experience of African Americans from the past to the present, both within and beyond the United States. Attention is given to "race" as a critical tool of analysis for explaining the allocation of economic resources, the formation of personal and group identity, and the changing nature of political behavior. Study of African American experiences provides insight into secular cultural practices, intellectual traditions, religious doctrines and practices, and social institutions with attention to issues of class, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. The chair of African American studies provides a list of courses offered each year. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the program, students should 1) consult regularly with the chair or a faculty advisor in African American studies to ensure that their program has both breadth and depth and 2) devise programs of study approved by the chair or a faculty advisor by the fall semester of the junior year. Thesis advisors should be chosen by each student, in consultation with the chair, according to the subject matter of the thesis. Major Requirements. Students must complete eleven courses and a thesis. Required courses for the major include Introduction to African American Studies (African American Studies 140A), Interdisciplinary Studies: Methods and Modes of Inquiry (African American Studies 250), a junior-senior seminar, at least one course that has an experiential component, and a senior thesis (African American Studies 457 and/or 458). Moreover, four courses that emphasize race as a critical tool of analysis, feminist histories and analyses, research methods and modes of inquiry, and black life outside the United States should be taken from the following list: African American Studies 160. White Redemption: Cinema and the Co-optation of African American History. African American Studies/Women's Studies 240. "Black" Women's Narratives of Slavery. African American Studies/Anthropology/Music 262. Ethnomusicology: African Diaspora. African American Studies/Antropology 327. Haiti: Myths and Realities. African American Studies 330. Color in the Carribbean. African American Studies/Spanish s22. Africa in Me: Cultural Transmission in Brazil. American Cultural Studies 237. Multicultural Education. American Cultural Studies 348. Race and Ethnicity in America. Anthropology 250. Caribbean Societies: The Emergence of Post-Nationalism. Anthropology/African American Studies/Music 262. Ethnomusicology: African Diaspora. Anthropology 335. The Ethnographer's Craft. Education/Sociology 242. Race, Cultural Pluralism, and Equality in American Education. English 121I. Reading "Race" and Ethnicity in American Literature. English 250. The African American Novel. First-Year Seminar 224. Black Culture and Black Consciousness. History 243. African American History. Music/African American Studies/Anthropology 262. Ethnomusicology: African Diaspora. Political Science 229. Race and Civil Rights in Constitutional Interpretation. Political Science 235. Black Women in the Americas. Rhetoric 275. African American Public Address. Rhetoric 331. Rhetorical Theory and Practice. Sociology/Education 242. Race, Cultural Pluralism, and Equality in American Education. Sociology 305. Quantitative Research Methods. Sociology 306. Qualitative Research Methods. Spanish/African American Studies s22. Africa in Me: Cultural Transmission in Brazil. Women's Studies 201. African American Women and Feminist Thought. Women's Studies 266. Gender, Race, and Science. To complete the major the remaining courses may be selected from the following list of electives: African American Studies/Music 239. Black Women in Music. African American Studies/Music 249. African American Popular Music. African American Studies 390A. The Harlem Renaissance. Anthropology 155. Power and Perception: Cinematic Portraits of Africa. Art 291. Representations of Africa/African Representations. Art/Political Science 289. Hate, the State, and Representation. Art 378. Issues in Contemporary African Popular Culture. Classics 305. Africa and the Classics. English 395B. Dissenting Traditions in Twentieth-Century American Literature. German 260. Germany and Its Others. History 144. The Social History of the Civil War. History 261. American Protest in the Twentieth Century. Music/African American Studies 239. Black Women in Music. Music 246. American Music: A Tradition of Revolution. Music 247. Jazz and Blues: History and Practice. Music/African American Studies 249. African American Popular Music. Music s23. Drumming in West Africa: Rhythm, Texture, and Flow. Political Science 233. African American Politics. Political Science/Art 289. Hate, the State, and Representation. Religion 255. African American Religious Tradition. Rhetoric 255. Moving Pictures: The Rhetoric of Committed Documentary. Rhetoric 386. Language and Communciation of Black Americans. Rhetoric s18. Goldberg's Canon: Makin' Whoopi. Sociology 345. Beliefs about Social Inequality. Theater 225. The Grain of the Black Image. Theater 226. Minority Images in Hollywood Film. Theater 250. Twentieth-Century American Dance I. Women's Studies 267. Blood, Genes, and American Culture. Pass/Fail Grading Option. There are no restrictions on the use of the pass/fail option within the major. Courses 140A. Introduction to African American Studies. This course examines African American history and culture through four themes: fragmentation, exclusion, resistance, and community. Particular attention is given to the diversity of cultures in the African diaspora in the Americas. Enrollment limited to 40. L. Williams. 160. White Redemption: Cinema and the Co-optation of African American History. Since its origins in the early twentieth century, film has debated how to represent black suffering. This course examines one aspect of that debate: the persistent themes of white goodness, innocence, and blamelessness in films that are allegedly about black history and culture. Historical and cultural topics examined in film include the enslavement of Africans, Reconstruction, and the civil rights movement. Some of the films include the mini-series Roots, Mississippi Burning, the four versions of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Glory, Birth of a Nation, and Rosewood. Particular attention is given to films in the interracial male buddy genre, such as The Defiant Ones, In the Heat of the Night, 48 Hours, and Lethal Weapon. C. Nero. 239. Black Women in Music. Angela Davis states, "Black people were able to create with their music an aesthetic community of resistance, which in turn encouraged and nurtured a political community of active struggle for freedom." This course examines the role of black women as critics, composers, and performers who challenge externally defined controlling images. Topics include: black women in the music industry; black women in music of the African diaspora; and black women as rappers, jazz innovators, and musicians in the classical and gospel traditions. This course is the same as Music 239 and Women's Studies 239. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. L. Williams. 240. "Black" Women's Narratives of Slavery. This course examines the impact of socially constructed differences among women in the United States and the Caribbean. It focuses primarily on the influence of distinct patterns of labor, leisure, and movement in the making and remaking of race, color, class, and gendered identities. Using "black" women's emancipatory narratives, it analyses differences in women's daily lives to explore how these are manifestations of the cultural dynamics of power during the period of slavery. This course is the same as Women's Studies 240. Open to first-year students. G. Ulysse. 249. African American Popular Music. When Americans stared at their black-and-white television sets in the early 1950s, they saw only a white world. As with music, variety shows primarily spotlighted the talent of white performers. Change came slowly, and during the late 1950s American Bandstand introduced viewers to such African American artists as Dizzy Gillespie and Chubby Checker. Over the last two decades, however, the emergence of music videos has created the need for a critical and scholarly understanding of the emerging forces of African American music, dance, and drama in the United States from the 1950s to the present. This course is the same as Music 249. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. L. Williams. 250. Interdisciplinary Studies: Methods and Modes of Inquiry. Interdisciplinarity involves more than a meeting of disciplines. Practitioners stretch methodological norms and reach across disciplinary boundaries. Through examination of a single topic, this course introduces students to interdisciplinary methods of analysis. Students examine what practitioners actually do and work to become practitioners themselves. Prerequisite(s): any two courses in women's studies, African American studies, or American cultural studies. This course is the same as American Cultural Studies 250 and Women's Studies 250. E. Eames. 262. Ethnomusicology: African Diaspora. This introductory course is a survey of key concepts, problems, and perspectives in ethnomusicological theory drawing upon the African diaspora as a cross-cultural framework. This course focuses on the social, political, and intellectual forces of African culture that contributed to the growth of ethnomusicology from the late nineteenth century to the present. This course is the same as Music 262 and Anthropology 262. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 25. L. Williams. 320. Intersectionality and Fashion Theory. This seminar examines different theoretical approaches to studies concerning self-presentation. It focuses on the impact of analyses of beauty, fashion, and taste in recent discourses on identity formation and social relations, in expanding the boundaries of political economy. It considers the crucial role of distinction, through various forms and patterns of consumption, in the making of raced, classed, gendered, and sexualized subjectivities. The ultimate aim of this course is to make students aware of the systematic material and symbolic meanings hidden in commodity and expressive cultures, and challenge them to understand presentation or self-fashioning within the larger contexts of appropriation, reinscription, and/or subversion of stereotypes. Prerequisite(s): African American Studies 140, Anthropology 101, and Women's Studies 100 and 201. Recommended background: course in African American studies, American cultural studies, anthropology, and/or women's studies. Not open to first-year and sophomore students. Enrollment is limited to 15. G. Ulysse. 327. Haiti: Myths and Realities. Haiti has long been characterized as an oddity in the Caribbean region. This course examines the stereotypical images associated with the island. These misrepresentations are explored through ethnographies, film, and visual materials. Students consider the ways in which Haiti is similar to and different from other countries in the region. Emphasis is placed on the extent to which the islands colonial history continues to affect its current socio-economic and political conditions. Prerequisite(s): One course in African American studies or Anthropology. This course is the same as Anthropology 327. Enrollment limited to 15. G. Ulysse. 330. Color in the Caribbean. A Haitian saying asserts, "The rich black is a mulatto; the poor mulatto is a black." This course critically examines the prominence of color within the social order of Caribbean societies. Readings and discussions explore how color operates in the Caribbean context as it intersects with class. Students consider the complex role of color as a marker of status in the making of gendered identities. Themes covered include family, love and marriage patterns, ideals of beauty, national identities, and political leaders and representation. Prerequisite(s): any course in anthropology, African American studies, and/or American Cultural studies. Enrollment limited to 15. G. Ulysse. 360. Independent Study. Independent study of selected topics by individual students. Approval of the chair is required. Students must meet periodically with the instructor and complete papers or projects. Students are limited to one independent study per semester. Written permission of the instructor is required. Staff. 390A. The Harlem Renaissance. This course examines the extraordinary creativity in the arts and in other aspects of intellectual life by African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s. Although this cultural phenomenon was national in scope, most scholars agree that New York City, and Harlem in particular, was its epicenter. Possible topics include: the artist as iconoclast; contributions to the theater and the performing arts; racial and cultural identity in literature; the formation of a community of black critical theorists; the role in promoting the arts by political movements such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association; the visual arts and racial identity; and the New Negro Movement, campus revolts, and the "first wave" of demands for black studies in the college and university curriculum. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: English 250, Rhetoric 275, or History 243. Enrollment limited to 15. C. Nero. 399B. Junior-Senior Seminar in Ethnomusicology. This course introduces students to ethnomusicological methods by encouraging the development of critical and analytical tools of inquiry necessary for fieldwork and research. The course focuses on the social, cultural, political, and intellectual forces that shaped the growth of ethnomusicology in the United States and abroad. Students are expected to undertake an innovative research project on a theoretical approach to study music in its cultural and historical context. Students critically examine the music, current philosophical thoughts on ethnomusicology, and their own personal interviews with musicians. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: African American Studies/Music 249, African American Studies/Anthropology/Music 262, or Music 232. This course is the same as Music 399B. Enrollment limited to 15. L. Williams. 457, 458. Senior Thesis. The research and writing of an extended essay or report, or the completion of a creative project, under the supervision of a faculty member. Students register for African American Studies 457 in the fall semester and for African American Studies 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both African American Studies 457 and 458. Staff. Short Term Units s22. Africa in Me: Cultural Transmission in Brazil. Brazil is second only to Nigeria in population of people of African descent. Brazil, along with Cuba, has the longest history of slavery in the Western world in modern times. Slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1888, and its long history continues to have a decisive effect upon contemporary social and political institutions. This unit examines the impact of slavery in modern Brazil by examining African retentions in history, culture, and religion. This unit is the same as Spanish s22. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 60. B. Fra-Molinero, C. Nero, Staff. s31. Creative Survivalism in Haiti: Development, Everyday Resistance, and Service. This unit examines the important yet complex impact of service in the making and unmaking of development. Using anthropologist Michel-Rolph Trouillot's state-against-nation theory, this unit focuses on the role of a history of isolation, economic dependency, and foreign debt in Haiti's "underdeveloped" status. Students are introduced to these issues while on-campus. In Haiti, weekly seminars continue and students visit and participate in two different service-based projects. The first is an internationally supported hospital directed by the Sisters of Charity in Lewiston partnered with St. Boniface Haiti Foundation in Massachusetts. The second is a locally-run community cultural center in Mirebalais, the central plateau of the island. The aim of the unit is to use a praxis-oriented pedagogical approach that challenges students to critically reflect and question everyday actions of individuals (including themselves) as part of the collective role we all play in recreating both structures of economic power and resistance. Prerequisite(s): African American Studies 140A, 327, and some working knowledge of French. Recommended background: coursework in African American studies. Enrollment limited to 10. G. Ulysse. s50. Individual Research. Registration in this unit is granted by the program only after the student has submitted a written proposal for a full-time research project to be completed during the Short Term and has secured the sponsorship of a member of the program to direct the study and evaluate results. Students are limited to one individual research unit. Open to first-year students. Staff.