Critical Social Inquiry 0236 - Black Power/Arts

This course will explore the history, ideas, voices and strategies African Americans employed in the struggle to secure rights and demand respect in the United States in the 1960s and 70s. This includes an exploration into the relationship between politics and the arts; the articulation of a black aesthetic; black performance politics; radical imaginaries, and print culture through the seminal theorists, artists, and activists of the period. While this course is centered on the struggles waged by Black people in the U.S., students will also grapple with the international events that influenced the radical politics of the period, as well as international locations of black communities (especially the Caribbean and Britain) impacted by U.S.-based social justice claims. Utilizing an array of primary documents from the period, and important secondary texts this course will deepen students understanding of the Black Power/Arts vision of social justice and trace the impact of these movements from the present day from the emergence of Black Studies departments to Hip-Hop culture.

Power, Community and Social Justice Independent Work Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research