Black Studies (BLST)

BLST 8036  AFRICANA RELIGIONS (3 credits)

An introduction to religions in Africa and the diaspora, including African Traditional Religions, Christianity, Islam, and Afro-Caribbean religious traditions, using anthropological, historical, and other academic approaches to the study of religious and spiritual traditions. In particular, students will learn about the role of spirits, ancestors, witches, and other invisible agents in ideas and practices regarding health and healing. Finally, the class will examine the complex inter-relationships between religious ideas and practices and contemporary post-colonial political-economic realities, including the consequences of genocide and other human rights violations and the role of religious communities in social and economic development. (Cross-listed with RELI 8036, RELI 4030, BLST 4030).

BLST 8080  SPECIAL TOPICS IN BLACK STUDIES (3 credits)

Special Topics in Black Studies will cover courses on a particular or specific topic, not otherwise specifically covered in the courses of the BLST curriculum, using the theoretical and methodological tools of the discipline of Black Studies. The course will trace the historical evolution of that topic from its points of origin into the present, presenting a survey of the Black Studies discipline and research concerning a specific topic. Students will read works about and within the topic area, situating it within its economic, political, and social contexts as they relate to the Black Studies discipline and Africana communities.

Prerequisite(s): graduate standing

BLST 8110  GLOBAL SOCIAL ISSUES: CREATIVE AND CRITICAL ANALYSES (3 credits)

This course focuses on global cultural and social forces and how they interact to form nexuses of both opportunity and obstacle to constructive human engagement on a wide array of social issues. An overview of topics covered in the Cultural and Global Analysis concentration in the Master of Arts in Critical and Creative Thinking. This course will provide students with the analytical tools, collaborative engagement skills, and applied problem-solving techniques that will help students succeed in this concentration and program. (Cross-listed with CACT 8110)

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing.

BLST 8126  BLACK WOMEN LEADERS IN LIBERATION MOVEMENTS (3 credits)

This course studies scholarship on race, gender, and leadership with a specific focus on African and African descended women's roles in liberation movements in the U.S. and worldwide. Especial focus will be on the use of their personal narratives to analyze the wide range of ideas in the conception and execution of leadership. (Cross-listed with BLST 4120, WGST 4120).

Prerequisite(s): graduate standing or permission of instructor

BLST 8156  AFRICAN AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY (3 credits)

African American Psychology traces the psychological history of Africans and African Americans from self-attributes and identity, through race and racism, to cognition, learning, and language. This course will review concepts relevant to understanding the psychology of African Americans, methodological and research issues, and best practices. (Cross-listed with BLST 4150, PSYC 4150, PSYC 8156).

Prerequisite(s): BLST 1000 and Junior standing or Instructor permission

BLST 8216  THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE (3 credits)

"The Harlem Renaissance" was the name given to the explosion in cultural, artistic, and social awareness that occurred primarily in Harlem, an area of New York City, between the end of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. This course will familiarize students with the general characteristics of African American literature produced during this period and its relation to African American literature and American literature writ large. The selected texts and writers will provide particular insight into the historical experiences of African Americans in the U.S. primarily between the two world wars and inform the subsequent cultural production of African Americans in later years.(Cross-listed with ENGL 8216, ENGL 4210, BLST 4210).

BLST 8226  PAN AFRICANISM & BLACK LIBERATION (3 credits)

The Pan-Africanism and Black Liberation course will expose students to the historical origins and development of Pan-Africanism, and the connection to global Black liberation movements. In this course, students will learn about the origin of Pan-Africanism, including major Pan-African leaders and historical events; the definitions of Pan-Africanism, Black Nationalism, Ethiopianism, and Negritude; and the commonalities and linkages between African continental and disasporic Pan-African liberation movements. Students will critically examine the differences between Pan-Africanism as an ideological, political, and cultural movement, and will explore the evolution of Pan-African ideology and philosophy in the 21st century. (Cross-listed with BLST 4220).

Prerequisite(s): BLST 1000, BLST 2410, or permission of instructor.

BLST 8266  WOMEN OF COLOR WRITERS (3 credits)

Women of Color Writers is designed to introduce graduate students to the multicultural, literary experience, creativity and contributions of women of color writers to contemporary world literature. (Cross-listed with BLST 4260)

BLST 8356  THE BLACK ATLANTIC (3 credits)

This course examines the cultural and ethnic history of Black people who comprised "The Black Atlantic." The course is organized historically and begins with a brief overview of the European slave trade on the West African Coast in the 15th century. From there, we look critically at the arrival of Africans to the New World, examine varieties of slavery and freedom in the Americas, and conclude with slave revolts and emancipation activism in the 18th and 19th century. We will use the Haitian Revolution (in which Haiti became the first country to be founded by formerly enslaved people) as a special case study, a conduit for our exploration of this socio-cultural, economic, and Diasporic space. (Cross-listed with BLST 4350, HIST 4080, HIST 8086).

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing

BLST 8476  SOUTH AFRICA & THE SOCIO POLITICS OF APARTHEID (3 credits)

South Africa and the Socio Politics of Apartheid examines the lived experiences of South African people under the Apartheid system, and their long struggle against European colonial oppression and racial segregation throughout the 20th century. Students will examine the laws, tools, and strategies that developed and sustained Apartheid, and the anti-Apartheid movements and international pressure that led to its repeal and South African democratic elections. (Cross-listed with BLST 4470, PSCI 8476, PSCI 4470, SOC 8476, SOC 4470).

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing

BLST 8570  SEMINAR IN BLACK STUDIES (3 credits)

This graduate seminar offers topics to be covered related to the academic field of Black Studies. The seminar topics may vary but will focus on the theories, methods, and intellectual traditions of the Black Studies discipline. The course will use scholarly documents and texts to cover historical and contemporary fundamentals related to the discipline and will vary in different semesters.

Prerequisite(s): graduate standing

BLST 8580  SEMINAR IN RESEARCH AND WRITINGS OF W.E.B. DUBOIS (3 credits)

This course examines the life and writings of W.E.B. DuBois, who stands as the most eminent intellectual produced by people of African descent in the United States. Perhaps, next to Cheikh Anta Diop, DuBois is the most respected and honored African scholar of the 20th century. Within the context of Western traditions, DuBois is in the top category of prodigious intellectuals developed in the West. He is the father of modern American sociology, the founder of reconstruction history, the leader in urban analysis, the first serious student of inter-racial relations, as well as a novelist, poet, playwright, and essayist.

BLST 8586  COMMUNICATING RACE, ETHNICITY & IDENTITY (3 credits)

This is an undergraduate/graduate course that provides students with definitional and experiential knowledge about the origin of racial concepts, theories, and practices, definitions of ethnicity and identity, and the communicative relationship between race, ethnicity, and identity. (Cross-listed with BLST 4580, CMST 4580, CMST 8586)

BLST 8596  AFRICAN-AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC FROM BEBOP TO HIP-HOP (3 credits)

This course is intended for music majors who wish to undertake a comprehensive survey of African-American popular music literature from c. 1900-present. The objective will be to provide the student with a broad overview with special attention given to musicians and individual works which typify a style or form. Listening assignments will be an integral part of the course, and attendance at live performances will supplement the lectures, discussions and readings. (Cross-listed with BLST 4590).

BLST 8656  SLAVERY AND RACE RELATIONS IN THE AMERICAS (3 credits)

Slavery and Race Relations in the Americas examines the historical relationship between the trans-Atlantic slave trade and American race relations, connecting the enslavement of Africans in the Americas to race relations in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States. (Cross-listed with BLST 4650, HIST 4070, HIST 8076, LLS 4650, LLS 8656).

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing

BLST 8700  AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY (3 credits)

Explores ancient, traditional and contemporary philosophical/theological concepts and doctrines of Africans through an investigation of their cosmological, metaphysical, ontological, and ethical world view.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate status.

BLST 8716  BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION (3 credits)

Brown v. Board of Education traces the educational history of African Americans from segregation to desegregation to re-segregation. This course will review the legal cases before and after the Supreme Court's Brown decision, their aftermath, and the effects on educational policies and practices. (Cross-listed with BLST 4710, PSCI 8136, PSCI 4130).

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing or instructor permission

BLST 8756  CRITICAL QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS (3 credits)

This online undergraduate/graduate course is a comprehensive source for foundational concepts in quantitative behavioral research. The course is designed to expose students to the role and importance of critical quantitative research of marginalized and underrepresented groups. Students will examine and gain definitional and empirical knowledge about conducting culturally relevant quantitative research and will learn both the logic behind and procedures for critical quantitative research, including research ethics, correlational and experimental designs, data collection, sampling, analysis, and reporting. (Cross-listed with BLST 4750).

Prerequisite(s): Graduate student or instructor permission

BLST 8886  BLACK LEADERSHIP IN AMERICA (3 credits)

Designed as a senior and graduate seminar, Black Leadership in America will examine the meaning and attributes of effective leadership strategies of African Americans, particularly as it relates to Black student leaders. The role of Black leadership will be explored using leadership and community theory, and will highlight the impact of Black culture within the broader American experience. (Cross-listed with BLST 4880).

Prerequisite(s): Senior or graduate student or instructor permission.