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Courses

Africana Studies (AFRO)
  • AFRO-A 106 Perspectives from the African American Diaspora (1-3 cr.) This course is a study of selected topics or issues in Afro-American/African Diaspora Studies usually coordinated with symposia and/or conferences sponsored by the AADS Program. This course will expose students to current trends in research techniques, new research, allow them to interact with nationally and internationally known scholars and leaders in the area of AAADS.
  • AFRO-A 140 Introduction to African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) Introduction to the theory, method and content of African American and African Diaspora Studies. Examines the social, political, cultural, and economic experiences of people comprising the African Diaspora. Utilizes an interdisciplinary approach and conceptual, theoretical, and analytical frameworks to illustrate the interconnectedness of black peoples experiences and the importance of studying AAADS as a field of scholarly inquiry.
  • AFRO-A 150 Survey of the Culture of Black Americans (3 cr.) The culture of blacks in America viewed from a broad interdisciplinary approach, employing resources from history, literature, folklore, religion, sociology, and political science.
  • AFRO-A 152 Introduction to African Studies (3 cr.) This course provides students with an interdisciplinary, introductory perspective on African continuities and changes. The course will focus on contemporary African societies while considering the lessons learned through the vestiges of slavery, colonization, aparteid and liberation struggles on the continent. 
  • AFRO-A 169 Introduction to African American Literature (3 cr.) Representative Afro-American writings including poetry, short story, sermons, novel, drama.
  • AFRO-A 200 Research in African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) Introduce students to basic tools, techniques and processes of scholarly research in African American and African Diaspora Studies. Students learn and apply technology as it pertains to research, address ethical issues, gain an understanding of basic statistical techniques in research and gain proficiency in reading, writing, understanding, and critiquing research articles, abstracts, and proposals. 
  • AFRO-A 255 The Black Church in America (3 cr.) History of the black church from slavery to the present emphasis on the church's role as a black social institution, its religious attitudes as expressed in songs and sermons, and its political activities as exemplified in the minister-politician. 
  • AFRO-A 303 Topics in African American and African Diaspora Studies (1-3 cr.) Interdisciplinary study of various figures and/or issues in Afro-American studies.
  • AFRO-A 305 Black Acting Methods (3 cr.) P: COMM T-133 (Introduction to Acting) or COMM T-265 (Fundamentals of Applied Theater) Using as its premise that Black theatre is an artistic reproduction of a slice of Black life and culture, this course is designed to encourage the growth of students' consciousness of the qualities of Black culture and its influence on the actors' ability to portray Black characters and their experiences.
  • AFRO-A 306 Globalization, Struggle, and Empowerment in the African Diaspora (3 cr.) Examines the shared cultural, political, social, and intellectual responses to the transoceanic experiences of African diasporic populations. Utilizes interdisciplinary tools and perspectives to understand the impact of colonialism, imperialism, and globalization on African populations of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and selected Western European nations during the modern era. 
  • AFRO-A 307 Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Black Playwriting (3 cr.) P: COMM T-133 (Introduction to Acting) or COMM T-265 (Fundamentals of Applied Theater) Designed for applied theatre majors and non-majors who want to write for the stage, this course will enable students to explore writing for the theatre from a distinctly Africana perspective.
  • AFRO-A 308 Black Radical Theatre (3 cr.) P: COMM T-133 (Introduction to Acting) or COMM T-265 (Fundamentals of Applied Theater) This class will focus on student leadership to address issues of power, privilege, social identity, and structures of oppression through the lens of theater arts.
  • AFRO-A 309 History, Cultural Signifiers, and Values of Black Theatre (3 cr.) P: COMM T-133 (Introduction to Acting) or COMM T-265 (Fundamentals of Applied Theater) This course is a broad survey of canonical African American plays and playwrights that exemplify critical achievements in the scope of African American theatrical productions from 1850 to the present.
  • AFRO-A 310 African American Religions (3 cr.) History of African American religions from the colonial era to the present. Topics may include the African influences on African American religion, the presence of conjure, black Methodism, black Baptist women's leadership, Islam, and new religious movements. 
  • AFRO-A 311 Religion and Racism (3 cr.) Explores the interaction of religion and racism.  Selected case studies may include the bible and racism, racial reconciliation among evangelical Christians, the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, and Islamophobia. 
  • AFRO-A 316 Women of the Diaspora: Race, Culture, and Education (3 cr.) Introduce students to film, music, poetry, literature, and writing dealing with the experiences of women throughout the African Diaspora, with emphasis on Sub Saharan Africa, Central America, North America, and the Caribbean. Students will be required to read four books in addition to short stories, poetry, and scholarly articles on the topic.
  • AFRO-A 319 Business of Black Popular Music (3 cr.) This course explores the evolution of the marketing of black popular music in the 20th century and beyond. It will engage the student in a dialogue that relates the subject to other aspects of the Afro-American experience. The course will utilize audio and video recordings along with the text. 
  • AFRO-A 323 The Rise of Hip Hop Entrepreneurship (3 cr.) This course examines the historical evolution of hip hop and the cultural, socio-political, and linguistic expressions that it spawned in the 1970's and beyond. It also examines strategies used by hip hop professsionals to become successful entrepreneurs and generate products and services to sell in the capitalist world economy. 
  • AFRO-A 324 South Africa in the Global Economy (3 cr.) Examines South Africa's movement from apartheid system of government to one that now embraces democracy and political pluralism. Also examines various theoretical frameworks explaining why apartheid developed in South Africa, discussing imperialism and the decolonization processes, the denigration of indigenous ethnic groups and communities, and the establishment of the political order. 
  • AFRO-A 326 Race, Beauty, and Popular Culture (3 cr.) This course explores and contextualizes the popular cultural meanings and implications of Western beauty standards as they relate to women and/or men of color. Considerations for the course can include discourses involving ideologies of femininity, masculinity, and beauty or attractiveness as they impact issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality. This course addresses questions such as: how are women and/or men of color represented in multimedia, popular culture, and literature? What have been the consequences of applying Western standards of beauty or attractiveness to women and men of color? And how do these standards affect men's and women's attitudes and understandings of how they should look, act, feel, and behave--both past and present? 
  • AFRO-A 327 Black Health Humanities (3 cr.) This course will examine Black Americans' historical relationships to health care systems, looking not only at medical exploitation and limited access to care, but also the roles as health care professionals and advocates for health justice
  • AFRO-A 352 Afro-American Art II: Afro-American Artists (3 cr.) A survey of the artistic traditions of the Africans in the New World, from the period of slavery in North and South America through contemporary and expatriate African American artists. 
  • AFRO-A 355 African American History I (3 cr.) A study of the history of African Americans in the United States. Includes the role African-American culture has played in the development of the American nation, Slavery, Abolitionism, Reconstruction and the post-Reconstruction to 1900. 
  • AFRO-A 356 African American History II (3 cr.) This course will explore each of the major historical events and Black leaders of those times and their influence on the social and political advancement of African Americans from 1900 to the present. 
  • AFRO-A 369 The African American Experience (3 cr.) This integrator course introduces students to the methodological and analytical tools needed to understand the historical background, contemporary challenges, and current policy debates about issues confronting the African American community, such as credit market discrimination, affirmative action, and reparations. A chief goal of the course is to expose students to broad themes in African American history, while also providing them with the necessary interdisciplinary tool (both qualitative and quantitative) to analyze contemporary economic problems and prospects. 
  • AFRO-A 369 The African American Experience (3 cr.) One of the main goals of this course is to expose students to broad themes in African-American history, while providing the tools to analyze contemporary economic problems and prospects facing the African-American population in the United States.
  • AFRO-A 402 Seminar in Afro-American Studies (3 cr.) Intensive examination with a seminar orientation searching out the ways in which the black experience has affected and been affected by the society at large.
  • AFRO-A 414 Seminar in African American and African Diaspora Studies (3 cr.) Senior capstone course in African American and African Diaspora Studies.  Involves intensive discussion of selected themes/topics related to AAADS.  Students are expected to engage in in-depth library and/or field research to apply diasporic theory concepts and analysis to real life, peoples, events, and/or issues impacting people of African descent. 
  • AFRO-A 440 History of the Education of Black Americans (3 cr.) This course focuses on the education of Black Americans and its relationship to the Afro-American experience. Trends and patterns in the education of Black Americans as such relate to the notions of education for whom and for what. 
  • AFRO-A 495 Individual Readings in African American and African Diaspora Studies (1-3 cr.) By arrangement with instructor. Investigation of topics of special interest to students that are not covered in the regular program curriculum or that students wish to pursue in greater detail. May be repeated once for credit. 
  • AFRO-A 503 Graduate Special Topics in Africana Studies (3 cr.) Graduate study of selected topics or issues in Africana studies taught by members of the Africana Studies program faculty.
  • AFRO-A 515 Theories in Critical Africana Studies (3 cr.) Using comparative and interdisciplinary studies of Africa, the U.S., the Caribbean with specific attention to their evolution over time and their continued significance in the Black public sphere. This course explores the diverse contours of Africana Studies and how new methods, questions and interventions have shaped its impact and evolution.
  • AFRO-A 530 Exploring Global Black Movements (3 cr.) This course will acquaint students with the historical, political, and cultural factors that ushered in, promulgated and sustained the greatest period of artistic expression in the western hemisphere-the United States, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.
  • AFRO-A 531 Theories of Africana Thought: Intellectual History and Critical Theory (3 cr.) Overview of major intellectual trends that have shaped ways in which Black thinkers have interpreted experiences of Blacks in the U.S., drawing from such fields as history, philosophy, and literature the class will discuss the social relevance of African American studies, the political origins of the discipline, and debate over Afrocentricity.
  • AFRO-A 569 Introduction to Africana Studies (3 cr.) The course will introduce the graduate student to the Africana Studies discipline. Its focus will engage a critical and systematic exploration of both the contemporary and historical shaping of the activist-intellectual tradition. Students will be encouraged to deploy scholarly interpretation and analysis of the study of global Black life.
  • AFRO-A 595 Independent Readings in Africana Studies (3 cr.) P: AFRO-A 569 By arrangement with instructor. Investigation of topics of special interest to students that are not covered in the regular program curriculum or that students wish to pursue in greater detail.