(Offered as BLST 210 [A] HIST 210 [AF] and RELI 220.) This course explores how Christianity, Islam, and indigenous African religious beliefs shaped the formation of West African states from the transformative nineteenth-century Islamic reformist movements and mission Christianity, to the formation of modern nation-states in the twentieth century.  The course provides a broad regional West African overview, paying careful attention to how religious themes shaped the communities of the Nigerian region — a critical West African region where Christianity and Islam converged to transf

Sectarianism and modernity are often understood as diametrically opposed phenomena. Subnational ethnic and religious identities, it is said, prevent the development of modern politics, cultures, and social affinities. And yet, sectarian difference in states like Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq seems to be a necessary condition for their coherence as modern political entities. What if sectarianism, which undermines the secular national ideal of universal citizenship, is instead understood as distinctly modern, its emergence dating no further back than the nineteenth century?

The United States currently keeps more of its own citizens behind bars than any other country. While the US’s emergence as the global leader in incarceration rates is a relatively recent development, the prison has loomed large in American public life for 200 years. In this course, we will approach the prison not as a marginal phenomenon, but as an institution central to American culture.

The story of race in America is inextricably tied to the story of the law, but the nature of that connection is controversial. Is the law a reliable tool for the pursuit of justice, or an obstacle that tends to create injustices of its own? Law has faced longstanding criticism for serving the interests of the powerful at the expense of everyone else. Yet, throughout US history, individuals working for justice have also looked to the law as a means for achieving lasting change.

Law takes many forms. Traversing social norms, statutory controls, constitutional provisions, international covenants, and enforcement mechanisms, law suffuses countless arenas simultaneously. Where there is law, order and disorder also thrive in unpleasant company. But what order does law ensure? And what kinds of disorder does law generate?

(Offered as BLST 311[A/D] and HIST 311 [AF].)  This course examines how postcolonial African migration and transnational African populations in Western countries have shaped African states and societies in the global era.  Drawing on key readings about the formation of nation-states in Africa and the historical sociology of transnationalism since World War II, we will discuss what concepts such as the nation-state, communal identity, global relations, and security mean in the African context and explore African transnational experiences in the context of state crisis and globalism

(Offered as BLST 210 [A] HIST 210 [AF] and RELI 220.) This course explores how Christianity, Islam, and indigenous African religious beliefs shaped the formation of West African states from the transformative nineteenth-century Islamic reformist movements and mission Christianity, to the formation of modern nation-states in the twentieth century.  The course provides a broad regional West African overview, paying careful attention to how religious themes shaped the communities of the Nigerian region — a critical West African region where Christianity and Islam converged to transf

The autobiography occupies a unique position as it can be read as a personal tale inscribed in a larger narrative about a community, race, or even nation.  And although an autobiography can be read as history, creative writers are not bound by rigorous research strictures as those imposed in the production of history, which gives them the license to make, unmake or remake history.

The course will provide a rigorous presentation of fundamental statistical principles and ethics as well as the standards that should guide the relationship of official statistical institutions and statisticians with policy making, research, press, and other institutions in the twenty-first century.  It will develop students' capacity to assess the conditions for the production of the official statistics of a country as well as identify areas for improvement.  The course is designed to satisfy the needs of students who may eventually be employed as producers of economic, soci