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African-American Studies (AAST)

AAST 141H - Black: From Africa to Hip-Hop. 3 Credits.

Offered annually. This course introduces students to the primary questions, themes, and approaches to African-American Studies. In addition to examining key historical periods such as Reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Civil Rights era, students will encounter Hip-Hop, African-American film, African-American religion, and contemporary identity politics. This course concludes by discussing the reasons for and new directions in African-American studies, including diaspora studies, Pan-Africanism, and post-colonial studies. Overall students will gain new insight into the social, cultural, political, and intellectual, experiences of a diverse people and into the history and contemporary experience of the United States.

Gen Ed Attributes: Historical Studies, Cultural Intl Diversity (X)

AAST 208H - Africa: From Ancient Egypt to Apartheids Origin. 3 Credits.

Offered intermittently. Interdisciplinary study of the history of pre-colonial Africa, focusing on social, economic, political and cultural institutions and traditions including the wealth, diversity and complexity of ancient and classical African civilizations and cultures.

Gen Ed Attributes: Historical Studies

AAST 225 - Race, Inequality & Education. 3 Credits.

Offered intermittently. This seminar-style honors course revolves around the question, "What is the relationship between racial inequality and education?" and explores how school systems in the United States have perpetuated racial inequality, while also considering if and how schools could instead work to combat racial inequality.

AAST 250 - Human Rights and Mass Incarceration. 3 Credits.

This course examines the historical development of prisons and policing in the United States and how these two mechanisms have been used as a form of social control, specifically against people of African descent. Explore themes such as convict leasing, the war on drugs, the prison-industrial complex, political prisoners in the United States and the school-to-prison pipeline among other vital issues.

AAST 260 - African Americans and Native Americans. 3 Credits.

Offered intermittently. A study of the broad scope of relations between African Americans and Native Americans in colonial and United States history. Topics explored through history, sociology, and cultural anthropology.

AAST 291 - Special Topics. 1-12 Credits.

(R-12) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.

AAST 360 - White Supremacy - History/Defeat. 3 Credits.

This course equips students to articulate and identify the history and development of key white supremacist groups in the U.S.; discuss the benefits and drawbacks of strategies used by key anti-racism groups in the U.S.; and implement and evaluate a project to dismantle white supremacy in the U.S. Usually includes a field trip to anti-racism conference.

AAST 372 - African-American Identity. 3 Credits.

Offered intermittently. Interdisciplinary course designed to explore and illuminate the multifaceted nature and development of African-American group and individual identity.

AAST 375 - Black Women: Race, Gender and Sexuality. 3 Credits.

Offered intermittently. This course offers an interdisciplinary examination of the historical and contemporary experiences of black women in the United States from the Antebellum Era through the present. The course explores key themes including labor and class, gender and sexual violence, as well as individual and collective forms of resistance.

AAST 391 - Special Topics. 1-6 Credits.

(R-6) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.

AAST 392 - Independent Study. 1-9 Credits.

(R-9) Prereq., consent of instr. Course material appropriate to the needs and objectives of the individual student.

AAST 491 - Special Topics. 1-6 Credits.

(R-6) Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.

AAST 492 - Independent Study. 1-9 Credits.

(R-9) Prereq., consent of instr. Course material appropriate to the needs and objectives of the individual student.

AAST 499 - Capstone/Thesis. 1-6 Credits.

(R-6) Prereq., consent of instr.