Departments & Programs

African American & African Diaspora Studies

Course Descriptions
Introductory Courses
  • AAAD-A 150 Survey of the Culture of Black Americans (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS The culture of blacks in America viewed from a broad interdisciplinary approach, employing resources from history, literature, folklore, religion, sociology, and political science. Required for the major.
  • AAAD-A 201 Introduction to African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) CASE DUS Introduction to African American and African Diaspora Studies as a field of study: epistemological considerations, theories, and methods that have come to form what is called Africana studies.
Arts

A100, A104, A110, and A120 are performance courses which are open to undergraduates only and may be repeated individually or in combination for a maximum of 12 ensemble credit hours.

African American Art
  • AAAD-A 252 African American Art I: African Heritage (3 cr.) CASE A&H A historical and stylistic survey of the visual and plastic arts of sub-Saharan or black Africa, from the Nok culture (Nigerian) to the present. Credit given for only one of A252 or A351.
  • AAAD-A 352 African American Art II: African American Artists (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS A survey of the artistic traditions of the African in the New World, from the period of slavery in North and South America through contemporary African American and expatriate black American artists.
Dance
  • AAAD-A 100 African American Dance Company (2 cr.) P: Consent of instructor by audition. Emphasis on ethnic and jazz traditions, although other genres are regularly performed. Repertoire varies from semester to semester. Participation in on- and off-campus concerts, workshops, and lecture demonstrations required. Previous dance training desirable but not essential. May be repeated individually or in combination with A110 or A120 for a maximum of 12 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 102 Introduction to Black Dance Styles (2 cr.) Jazz dance technique with an African American historical perspective. Instruction includes basic dance technique vocabulary and movements with syncopated rhythm patterns.
  • AAAD-A 221 Dance in the African Diaspora (3 cr.) Introduction to the history, culture, music, and body movements of dances in the African American and African Diaspora tradition with a focus on African-derived dances, primarily from Cuba, Puerto Rico, and America. Instruction through classroom lectures, discussions, videos, readings, and movement sessions.
  • AAAD-A 300 Jazz Dance Movement Styles (2 cr.) P: Minimum of two years of dance movement and consent of instructor. Advanced study in jazz dance technique. Emphasis on three jazz technique styles developed by well-known dance artists Matt Mattox, Luigi, and free style.
  • AAAD-A 320 Black Dance History (3 cr.) CASE A&H Acquaints students with dancers and choreographers from the African American and African Diaspora who choose to communicate historical, political, recreational, and social themes through the modern, jazz, ballet, tap, and traditional (African and Caribbean) forms of dance and the expressive nature of movement from the black perspective and experience.
Film Studies
  • AAAD-A 277 Images of Blacks in Films: 1903-1950s (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS Images of blacks in films, mainly American, from before The Birth of a Nation (1915) to the 1950s. Course will include segments as well as complete feature films (also “race films” when available), shorts, cartoons, and documentaries viewed in historical perspective.
  • AAAD-A 278 Contemporary Black Film (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS Problems raised by proliferation of films acted, authored, directed, and/or produced by blacks. Exploration of legitimacy of “black film aesthetic” and its reception by various segments of the black community.
  • AAAD-A 330 African American Cinematic Experience (3 cr.) CASE A&H Examines the historical and contemporary portrayals of African Americans in Hollywood and in independent narrative film focusing on the social and political functions of film, its legitimization of race, and its oppositional formations, interventions, and practices. Considers how film mediates and interrogates race and social relations in American society.
  • AAAD-A 359 Ethnic/Racial Stereotypes in American Film (3 cr.) CASE A&H A study in cross-cultural stereotyping as evidenced in the film medium. Analysis of Native American, Asian, black, Hispanic, and Jewish groups. Features, shorts, and animations screened to illustrate the “classic” stereotypes of each group and to demonstrate their impact on American society.
  • AAAD-A 430 The Cinema of Africana Women (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS Historical and critical overview of films produced by African American women from the 1940s to the present. The course emphasizes how black women filmmakers combine their creative abilities with a desire to capture dominant issues that affect black women’s lives in America.
Music
  • AAAD-A 110 African American Choral Ensemble (2 cr.) P: Consent of instructor by audition. Performance of music by and about blacks, including spirituals, gospel, art songs, and excerpts from operas and musicals. Repertoire varies from semester to semester. Participation in on- and off-campus concerts, workshops, and lecture demonstrations required. Ability to read music desirable but not essential. May be repeated individually or in combination with A100 or A120 for a maximum of 12 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 112 Black Music of Two Worlds (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE GCC An exploration of the relationships among musics of West and Central African people and their descendents in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Emphasis placed on the conceptual and aesthetic continuities between musical expression in Old and New World contexts—a uniformity which exists because of shared African cultural ancestry. Credit given for only one of AAAD A112, FOLK E112, or FOLK F112.
  • AAAD-A 120 Soul Revue (2 cr.) P: Consent of instructor by audition. Introduces the richness and depth of black popular tradition through authentic performance practices. Repertoire varies from semester to semester. Participation in on- and off-campus concerts, workshops, and lecture demonstrations required. Ability to read music desirable but not essential. May be repeated individually or in combination with A100 or A110 for a maximum of 12 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 290 Sociocultural Perspective of African American Music (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS Survey of cultural, social, and political attitudes that influenced blacks in the development of and participation in blues, jazz, urban black popular music, and “classical” music.
  • AAAD-A 295 Survey of Hip Hop (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS Examines rap music and hip hop culture as artistic and sociocultural phenomena with emphasis on historical, cultural, economic, and political contexts. Topics include the coexistence of various hip hop styles, their appropriation by the music industry, and controversies resulting from the exploitation of hip hop as a commodity for national and global consumption. Credit given for only one of AAAD A295, FOLK E295, or FOLK F295.
  • AAAD-A 297 Popular Music of Black America (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS A chronological survey of Black popular music from 1945–2000: rhythm and blues, soul, funk, disco, hip hop, and their derivative forms. Emphasis placed on the context for evolution and the contributions of African Americans to the development of a multibillion dollar music industry. Credit given for only one of AAAD A297, AAAD A397, FOLK E297, FOLK F397, or MUS M397.
  • AAAD-A 345 Hip Hop Music and Culture (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS P: Junior or senior standing. Examines rap music as artistic and sociological phenomena with emphasis on its historical and political contexts. Credit given for only one of AAAD A345, AAAD A489, FOLK F345, or FOLK F389.
  • AAAD-A 388 Motown (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS This course surveys the development of Motown Record Corporation, Detroit Era (1959–1972). Through lecture, discussion, guided listening, and visual experiences, the course studies the musical works, creative processes, business practices, historical events, media, technology, and sociocultural factors that contributed to Motown's identity as a unique artistic and cultural phenomenon. Credit given for only one of A388, A389, or FOLK E388.
  • AAAD-A 393 History of Jazz (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS Periods, major performers, and composers, trends, influences, stylistic features, and related materials. Credit not given for both A393 and M393.
  • AAAD-A 394 Survey of African American Music (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS A chronological survey of sacred and secular African American musical traditions in North America from the African past to the present. Emphasis placed on context for evolution, musical processes and aesthetics, interrelationships among genres and musical change, issues of gender, and music as resistance. Credit given for only one of AAAD A394, FOLK E394, or MUS M394.
  • AAAD-A 395 (MUS-Z 395) Contemporary Jazz and Soul Music (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS P: Consent of instructor. A survey of contemporary jazz and soul (rhythm and blues) music and musicians in the United States. Credit not given for both A395 and M395.
  • AAAD-A 396 (MUS-M 396) Art Music of Black Composers (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS A study of black music and musicians in the United States with emphasis on the black composer in contemporary music. Credit not given for both A396 and M396.
  • AAAD-A 496 Black Religious Music (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS An in-depth investigation of Negro spirituals and gospel music, with some treatment of the traditions of lining-out and shape note singing. Examination of genres will address and integrate both the musical and the sociocultural perspectives. Credit given for only one of AAAD A496 or FOLK E496.
Theatre and Drama
  • AAAD-A 104 Groups Theatre Workshop (2 cr.) Open to summer Groups Program students only. Through a musical/theatrical piece chosen for study and performance, students are encouraged to explore and develop their abilities and to experience growth and motivation that comes from participating in a unified and motivating group experience.
  • AAAD-A 283 Blacks in American Drama and Theatre, 1767–1945 (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS Images of blacks as reflected in American drama from 1767 to 1945. Selected dramas of both white and black playwrights, such as Isaac Bickerstaffe, William Wells Brown, Eugene O’Neill, and Richard Wright, who depicted blacks on the stage. Credit given for only one of A283 or A383.
  • AAAD-A 384 Blacks in American Drama and Theatre, 1945–Present (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS Images of blacks as reflected in American drama from 1945 to the present. Emphasis on the contributions of black playwrights such as Lorraine Hansberry, Langston Hughes, Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Ted Shine, and Ed Bullins.
  • AAAD-A 385 Seminar in Black Theatre (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS P: One course from A379, A380, A283, A383, or A384; or consent of instructor. Contributions of blacks to the theatre in America. Reading and discussion of selected dramas and critiques with opportunities for involvement in the oral interpretation of one or more of the plays.
  • AAAD-A 485 Lorraine Hansberry: Black Dramatist (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS In-depth study of Lorraine Hansberry’s life and works with emphasis on her dramas and her essays on the theatre and the society she knew.
History, Culture, and Social Issues
  • AAAD-A 154 History of Race in the Americas (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC Exploration of the development of racism and racial ideologies in the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, and South America from colonial times to the present. Emphasizes the interaction among cultural, political, and economic factors in shaping patterns of conflict and collaboration, domination and resistance.
  • AAAD-A 156 Black Liberation Struggles against Jim Crow and Apartheid (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC A comparative perspective on American race relations, specifically the similarities and differences of the struggles against Jim Crow in America and against apartheid in South Africa. In both places, the late twentieth century witnessed a revolt against the legal and philosophical framework of white supremacy.
  • AAAD-A 198 Special Topics in Social and Historical Studies for African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) CASE S&H Focuses on issues that have shaped the diasporic experience of blacks in the United States, the world, and continental Africa in order to provide students with broad content to improve comprehension, writing, and analytical skills in preparing them for an interdisciplinary study of social and historical issues. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 199 Special Topics in Arts and Humanities for African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) CASE A&H Focuses on issues that have shaped the diasporic experience of blacks in the United States, the world, and continental Africa in order to provide students with broad content to improve comprehension, writing, and analytical skills in the arts and humanities. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 203 Studying Blacks of the New World: African Americans and Africans in the African Diaspora (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC A comparative study of the cultural, historical, and socioeconomic life patterns of African Americans and Diaspora–based Africans in the United States.
  • AAAD-A 205 Black Electoral Politics (3 cr.) CASE S&H The course will explore black participation in the formal structures of American government and in the processes by which these structures are accessed. Black participation in local, state, and federal government arenas will be focused upon, and the political benefits to the black community of these involvements will be assessed.
  • AAAD-A 210 Black Women in the Diaspora (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC Interdisciplinary examination of salient aspects of black women’s history, identity, and experience, including policies, cultural assumptions, and knowledge systems that affect black women’s lives. While the primary focus is North America, the lives of black women in other cultural settings within the African Diaspora are also examined.
  • AAAD-A 250 U.S. Contemporary Minorities (3 cr.) CASE S&H An interdisciplinary study of how members of four minority groups—Native Americans, Asian Americans, blacks, and Hispanics—combine their struggle for social justice with their desire to maintain their own concepts of identity.
  • AAAD-A 255 The Black Church in America (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE DUS The church’s role as a black social institution from slavery to the present, its religious attitudes as expressed in songs and sermons, and its political activities as exemplified in the minister-politician.
  • AAAD-A 263 Contemporary Social Issues in the African American Community (3 cr.) CASE S&H A seminar, primarily designed for sophomores and juniors, directed toward critical analysis of selected topics germane to the future socioeconomic and political position of African Americans.
  • AAAD-A 264 History of Sports and the African American Experience (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE DUS Examination of the historical participation and contributions of African Americans in sport. Students study African American sports pioneers and the social conditions affecting their participation. Period studied includes pre-slavery to the civil rights era (1500 to 1960s).
  • AAAD-A 265 Modern Sports and the African American Experience (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE DUS The impact of African American sports heroes, famous teams, and annual sporting events on the shaping of African American culture and the combating of American racism.
  • AAAD-A 292 African American Folklore (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS African American culture in the United States viewed in terms of history (antebellum to present) and social change (rural to urban). Use of oral traditions and life histories to explore aspects of black culture and history. Credit given for only one of A292, A392, and FOLK F354.
  • AAAD-A 304 Black Paris (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE GCC R: 3 credit hours of literature. The common and divergent experiences of African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and African travelers to the “City of Light,” from eighteenth-century New Orleans Creoles to twenty-first-century youth of African descent, as seen through literature, performance, film, and other arts. Issues of colonization, expatriation, immigration, exile, the Harlem Renaissance and “negritude,” race and diaspora, transnationalism. Credit given for only one of AAAD A304 and CMLT C363.
  • AAAD-A 350 Black Atlantic (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE GCC This course is an interdisciplinary and comparative study of historical, cultural, and political issues related to Africa and the African Diaspora (the Americas and Europe). Emphasis will also be on team teaching using IUB faculty. Course will be of interest to students in all university departments and schools.
  • AAAD-A 354 Transnational Americas (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC Comparative colloquium that explores the recent literature on racial connections between “the local” and “the global” in contemporary American experience. Through immersion in the new “transnational” critiques of the United States, students analyze texts that describe African, Asian, European, indigenous, and Latino sensibilities about culture, homelands, belonging, and exclusion.
  • AAAD-A 355 (HIST A355) African American History I (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE DUS History of blacks in the United States. Slavery, abolitionism, Reconstruction, and post-Reconstruction to 1900. Credit given for only one of A355 or HIST A355.
  • AAAD-A 356 (HIST A356) African American History II (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE DUS R: 355. 1900 to the present. Migration north, NAACP, Harlem Renaissance, postwar freedom movement. Credit given for only one of A356 or HIST A356.
  • AAAD-A 360 Slavery: Worldwide Perspective (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC Examines several aspects of the classical, indigenous, and modern political/social bondage.
  • AAAD-A 363 Research on Contemporary African American Problems I (3 cr.) CASE S&H A research seminar, primarily designed for juniors and seniors, directed toward critical analysis of selected topics germane to the future socioeconomic and political position of African Americans. Reading and discussion of relevant texts, studies, and articles. Includes theory construction, research design, and data collection.
  • AAAD-A 382 Black Community, Law, and Social Change (3 cr.) CASE S&H Legal evolution of civil rights and analysis of specific relevant legal decisions that stimulated social change (the role of slavery, racial segregation, inequality of educational opportunity, and voting laws).
  • AAAD-A 386 Black Feminist Perspectives (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE DUS Examination of the history, development, and manifestation of feminist consciousness among African American women. The course is particularly concerned with how black women’s lived experience defines that consciousness, and the differing impact it has among various groups of black women, and in their larger social, political, and cultural communities.
  • AAAD-A 387 Black Migration (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC Explores the process, patterns, and paradoxes of the incorporation of individuals and groups identified and/or perceived as “immigrants” from a comparative-interdisciplinary perspective. Focuses on persons from “sending” countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia to the United States. Also examines developments in other labor-importing, postindustrial countries such as France and England in relation to the people who settle there.
  • AAAD-A 391 Black Nationalism (3 cr.) CASE S&H Consequences of the black diaspora in North America; shifting views of blacks toward their native continent; analysis of current geographic, economic, and political relationships.
  • AAAD-A 398 Advanced Topics in Social and Historical Studies for African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) CASE S&H Advanced study and analysis of selected issues and problems within the African American and African Diaspora experience utilizing interdisciplinary interpretation through analytical reasoning and philosophical discussions. Varied topics primarily in the areas of history, politics, sociology, anthropology, and economics. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 399 Advanced Topics in Arts and Humanities for African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) CASE A&H Advanced study and analysis of selected issues and problems within the African American and African Diaspora experience utilizing interdisciplinary interpretation through analytical reasoning and philosophical discussions. Varied topics primarily in the areas of history, politics, sociology, anthropology, and economics. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 405 Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, 1954-1974 (3 cr.) CASE S&H Examines the fight for civil rights by protest organizations such as Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and Congress of Racial Equality; the emergence of black leaders such as King, Farmer, and Malcolm X; the challenge posed by Black Power advocates in the Black Panthers and Black Muslims; and the changes in American society made by the black revolution.
  • AAAD-A 407 African American and African Protest Strategies (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC An examination of the historical roles, structures, the impact of black protest strategies, and the origins of black movements to assess their impact on communities in Africa and in the diaspora.
  • AAAD-A 408 Race, Gender, and Class in Cross-Cultural Perspective (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE DUS Examination of the influence of race, gender, and class from a perspective of power and culture. Use of interdisciplinary sources, including essays, fiction, art, and social science research to examine how different social groups vie for representation, self-definition, and power in different social and cultural settings.
  • AAAD-A 415 The Political Impact of Black Religion (3 cr.) CASE S&H The course will focus upon politically oriented African American and African religious activity including protest movements, nationalist groups, and electoral involvements. Course goals include familiarizing students with important actors and events in black religious and political affairs and developing critical thinking by students about politics and religious involvement in politics.
  • AAAD-A 420 Transforming Divided Communities and Societies (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC Histories, theories, policies, and citizen, state, corporate, nonprofit sector models of transforming past and present societies divided by race, ethnicity, gender, class, caste, tribe, and religion through restorative and distributive justice movements and policies such as civil rights, affirmative action, reparations, and reconciliation tribunals.
  • AAAD-A 425 The Black Family in Twentieth-Century Rural America, 1900-1970 (3 cr.) CASE S&H Examines the economic, social, cultural, and political development of black families residing primarily in rural areas of the southern United States before 1970. Primary attention given to institutional development, race relations, population, and migration.
  • AAAD-A 447 Race, Crime, and Media (3 cr.) Focus on crime reporting in America, addressing the question of whether or not the media distort the picture of crime. In particular, this course explores the mass media treatment of African Americans in the coverage of crime.
  • AAAD-A 452 Historical Issues in Black Education (3 cr.) CASE S&H Education of black Americans and its relationship to the African American experience. Trends and patterns in the education of black Americans as they relate to the notions of education “for whom and for what.”
  • AAAD-A 481 Racism and the Law (3 cr.) CASE S&H Contemporary racial problems in American society with regard to law and constitutional principles of basic freedoms and associated conflicts. Effects of societal norms and impact of racism.
Literature
  • AAAD-A 131 Early African American and African Diaspora Literature (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE GCC Examines historical texts and introduces them and tropes emphasized by writers to articulate issues of freedom, identity, and salvation as perceived by blacks in diaspora communities. Teaches students how to relate literary works to historical and cultural contexts and how to think critically about ideas, images, and master narratives as presented by African American writers and writers of the black diaspora.
  • AAAD-A 132 Recent African American and African Diaspora Literature (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE GCC Examines recent literary texts and introduces students to transnational themes and tropes emphasized by black writers to articulate issues of freedom, identity, and salvation; utilizes interdisciplinary methods to teach students how to appreciate literary artistry; relate literary works to historical and cultural contexts; and think critically about ideas, images, and master narratives as presented by African American writers and writers of the black diaspora.
  • AAAD-A 169 Introduction to African American Literature (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS Representative African American writings including poetry, short story, sermons, novel, and drama.
  • AAAD-A 249 African American Autobiography (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS A survey of autobiographies written by black Americans in the last two centuries. The course emphasizes how the autobiographers combine the grace of art and the power of argument to urge the creation of genuine freedom in America.
  • AAAD-A 379 Early Black American Writing (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS African American writing before World War II, with emphasis on critical reactions and analyses. Includes slave narratives, autobiographies, rhetoric, fiction, and poetry.
  • AAAD-A 380 Contemporary Black American Writing (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS R: A379. The black experience in America as it has been reflected since World War II in the works of outstanding African American writers: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
  • AAAD-A 479 Contemporary Black Poetry (3 cr.) CASE A&H An examination of black poetry from Dunbar to the present, emphasizing the emergence, growth, and development of black consciousness as a positive ethnic identification.
  • AAAD-A 480 The Black Novel (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS R: A379 or A380. Analysis of the African American novel from the Harlem Renaissance to the present: genesis, development, and current trends. Emphasis on traditions arising out of the black experience and on critical perspectives developed by black critics and scholars.
Other Courses
  • AAAD-A 197 Topics in African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) Focuses on issues that have mapped the diasporic experience of blacks in the United States, the world, and continental Africa in order to provide students with broad content to improve comprehension, writing, and analytical skills. Varied topics that cut across departmental concentration areas. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 198 Special Topics in Social and Historical Studies for African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) CASE S&H Focuses on issues that have shaped the diasporic experience of blacks in the United States, the world, and continental Africa in order to provide students with broad content to improve comprehension, writing, and analytical skills in preparing them for an interdisciplinary study of social and historical issues. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 199 Special Topics in Arts and Humanities for African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) CASE A&H Focuses on issues that have shaped the diasporic experience of blacks in the United States, the world, and continental Africa in order to provide students with broad content to improve comprehension, writing, and analytical skills in preparing them for an interdisciplinary study of social and historical issues. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 298 Special Topics in Social and Historical Studies for African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) CASE S&H Focuses on issues that have shaped the diasporic experience of blacks in the United States, the world, and continental Africa in order to provide students with broad content to improve comprehension, writing, and analytical skills in preparing them for an interdisciplinary study of social and historical issues. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 299 Special Topics in Arts and Humanities for African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) CASE A&H Focuses on issues that have shaped the diasporic experience of blacks in the United States, the world, and continental Africa in order to provide students with broad content to improve comprehension, writing, and analytical skills in the arts and humanities. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 398 Advanced Topics in Social and Historical Studies for African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) CASE S&H Advanced study and analysis of selected issues and problems within the African American and African Diaspora experience utilizing interdisciplinary interpretation through analytical reasoning and philosophical discussions. Varied topics primarily in the areas of history, politics, sociology, anthropology, and economics. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 399 Advanced Topics in Arts and Humanities for African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) CASE A&H Advanced study and analysis of selected issues and problems within the African American and African Diaspora experience utilizing interdisciplinary interpretations through analytical reasoning and philosophical discussions. Varied topics primarily in the areas of dance, music, film, theatre and drama, and literature. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 400 Topics in African American Studies (3 cr.) Intensive study and analysis of selected African American studies problems and issues of limited scope, approached within an interdisciplinary format. Varied topics that cut across departmental concentration areas. May be repeated for credit if topic differs.
  • AAAD-A 486 Internship in African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) P: Junior or senior status with 15 credit hours of African American and African Diaspora Studies credit, and project approved by instructor. Directed readings, field research, research papers. Certain internship experiences may require research skills. May be repeated once for a total of 6 credits.
  • AAAD-A 493 Senior Seminar in African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) P: Senior status as African American and African Diaspora Studies major. Lecture/discussions on African American studies as an interdisciplinary field of inquiry and scholarship. Students will develop individual or group projects that synthesize their experiences as majors by demonstrating the interrelated nature of the department’s concentration areas.
  • AAAD-A 495 Individual Readings in African American Studies (3 cr.) A495 must be taken for 3 credit hours. Students who wish to enroll in A495 must (1) secure the written consent of the instructor and the departmental chairperson, and (2) file with the departmental secretary an approved list of readings to be completed during the semester.

    Topics may include:
    Reading in African American Fiction< /p> Reading in African American Film Studies
    Reading in African American Folklore
    Reading in African American History
    Reading in African American Nonfiction
    Reading in African American Poetry
    Reading in African American Sacred Music
    Reading in African American Secular Music
    Reading in African American Social Issues
    Reading in African American Theatre and Drama

    With prior approval, may be repeated for a maximum total of 6 credit hours.
  • AAAD-A 499 Honors Thesis (3 cr.) P: Approval of instructor and departmental honors advisor. Development, completion, and defense of honors thesis. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours.