(Offered as BLST 339[US], SWAG 338, ENGL 361) This course examines a significant portion of Toni Morrison’s body of work. Taking a primarily thematic approach, we will read several novels, essays, and other writings by Morrison. Our readings will also include critical reception of, and the wide-ranging scholarly reflections on Morrison’s work and her contribution to American and Black Diasporic literatures. Assignments will include: oral presentations, essays, and a research project.

Limited to 15 students. Fall semester. Professor Carol Bailey.

(Offered as HIST 326 [AF/TC/TE/TR] and BLST 326) Diamonds have a long history in global trade; for centuries, they were scarce enough to be among the most precious commodities. But in 1867, the discovery of diamonds in a remote part of the Cape Colony in southern Africa turned them into a commodity that helped to finance the construction of the British empire on the continent and fueled mineral exploitation and empire building by other colonial powers.

(Offered as COLQ 310 and BLST 310) Giving takes many forms and is known by many names - philanthropy, altruism, humanitarianism, benevolence, welfare, mutual aid, development etc. As a result of this diversity, giving is a rich site of social production and contestation that sheds light on dimensions of much larger social, cultural, and economic issues:. How and why do inequality and poverty persist? How and why are subjects such as the deserving and undeserving poor produced? Why do certain issues or crises elicit charitable outpouring while others do not?

[R] This seminar prepares students to conduct independent research. Although it concentrates on the field of Black Studies, it serves as a good introductory research course for all students in the humanities and social sciences regardless of major. The first part of the course will intensively introduce students to the library through a series of readings, exercises, and discussions aimed at sharpening the ability to locate information precisely and efficiently.

(Offered as BLST 280 [CLA], HIST 280 [LA/TR/TS] and LLAS 280) Slave resistance was caused by slavery itself. In a multitude of ways, from the moment they reached the shores of the Americas, Africans fought against their enslavement. The first slave ship to arrive in the Americas, which came to what is now the Dominican Republic, also brought the Americas' first recorded runaway slave, an African man who freed himself by immediately disappearing into the forest.

(Offered as BLST 268 [CLA], HIST 268 [LA/TE/TR/TSP], and LLAS 268) Students will gain in-depth knowledge of the experiences of Africans and their descendants, slave and free, from the time the first captives were brought to Hispaniola in 1503 until the time of abolition in Cuba in 1886 in this course. Regions to be covered include the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America, and the Andean and Southern Cone regions.

(Offered as ENGL 256 and BLST 256 [D]) In this course, we will develop a thoughtful understanding of the idea of Africa and the African diaspora and a complex appreciation of the meanings of black presence in the world. We will ask five questions that will allow us to explore the ways literary and philosophical texts from Africa and the African Diaspora challenge the Global Matrix of Power, question anti-Black racism in philosophy, literature, and cultural studies, and shape conceptions of being and identity in Africa and the African diaspora, namely: What is Africa?

(Offered as BLST 221 [US] and HIST 221 [US,TC, TR, TS]) This course examines the history of the southern United States from the colonial period through the present.  Its central preoccupation is race.  We will examine why white southerners denied political and other rights to African Americans and explore the varied responses of African Americans to exclusion and exploitation, including resistance to slavery, accommodationism (with Booker T.

(Offered as BLST 215[D] and ENGL 241) This course explores various musical forms and traditions as well as poetry from the Caribbean, South America, and the United States. We will explore thematic and stylistic synergies between the different genres and pay particular attention to their social, political, and ideological orientations. Musical forms will include: The Blues, Calypso, Reggae, Rap, and Spirituals and we will read poetry by Kate Rushin, Sonia Sanchez, Mutabaruka and others.  Limited to 20 students.

Fall semester. Professor C. Bailey

(Offered as LJST 105 and BLST 147) Understandings of and conflicts about place are of central significance to the experience and history of race and race relations in America.