AAST - African-American Studies

AAST 100S Introduction to African American Studies (3 Credit Hours)

An interdisciplinary examination of the African American experience in America. The course examines the historical and contemporary conditions of African American people. It also explores the various modes of artistic expression, values and philosophical underpinnings of African American culture.

AAST 105H Interpreting the African Past (3 Credit Hours)

This course offers students a critical approach to interpreting the history of Africa. A fast-paced survey of African history, it affords students a grounding in the major themes of African history. The course focuses on the major economic, social, and political institutions of Africa, past and present, and explores how historical developments assist comprehension of present-day Africa.

AAST 201 Introduction to Historical Methods (3 Credit Hours)

Required of all history and secondary education social studies majors. Recommended prior to upper-division course work. Examines methods of historical research and primary and secondary source analysis, inclusive of internet usage. Explores historiography and historical writing. Introduces students to issues in the philosophy of history.

Prerequisites: HIST 100H or HIST 101H or HIST 102H or HIST 103H or HIST 104H or HIST 105H or HIST 126H or HIST 127H or HIST 205H

AAST 308 Research Design (3 Credit Hours)

Covers the design and implementation of quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry in social sciences.

Prerequisites: AAST 100S or permission of the instructor

AAST 310 Human Rights and Social Change in Africa (3 Credit Hours)

This course examines historical social movements in Africa such as economic, ethnic, women's, political, and religious social movements. This course will also link micro-level, meso-level, and macro-level implications for the social structures and cultures of various African nations and communities.

Prerequisites: General Education human behavior course

AAST 316 Politics of Africa (3 Credit Hours)

This course is intended to familiarize students with the struggles, advances, and setbacks of African peoples for state-building and socioeconomic development during the colonial and post-independence eras.

Prerequisites: AAST 100S or permission of the instructor

AAST 320 Introduction to Research Methods (3 Credit Hours)

This course is an introduction to social research methods. The primary purpose of this course is to survey the major research designs and research techniques that are the core of contemporary approaches used to study social phenomena as well as the lives and experiences of African Americans. Ethical implications of social research and data analysis will also be covered.

Prerequisites: General Education human behavior course

AAST 323 Sociology of Minority Families (3 Credit Hours)

Examination and explanation of minority families' lives in relationship to other societal institutions and historical developments. The course focuses on issues of minority families and places these issues in a sociological framework, e.g., stratification, poverty and gender.

Prerequisites: SOC 201S or permission of the instructor

AAST 361 African-American History to 1865 (3 Credit Hours)

The course examines African-American history from the African background through the Civil War. Emphasis is placed on an analysis of African-Americans' role in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the United States.

Prerequisites: AAST 100S or permission of the instructor

AAST 368 Internship (3 Credit Hours)

Individual practical experience in community-based organizations, public bureaucracies, administrative agencies and other organizations and firms. Student can gain exposure in the not-for-profit and profit sectors.

Prerequisites: Permission of program director

AAST 381 Africa in the 20th Century (3 Credit Hours)

This course surveys the political, social and cultural history of colonial and post-independent Africa. Major themes include colonization and resistance, anti-colonial movements, social and cultural transformations, urbanization and popular culture and post colonial challenges.

Prerequisites: AAST 100S or permission of the instructor

AAST 395 Topics in African American Studies (3 Credit Hours)

These courses are open to majors and non-majors. Ethnic studies majors may take these courses to satisfy requirements for the concentration. These courses will appear in the course schedule, and will be more fully described in information distributed to all academic advisors.

Prerequisites: AAST 100S or permission of the instructor

AAST 396 Topics in African American Studies (3 Credit Hours)

Prerequisites: AAST 100S or permission of the instructor

AAST 410 Africana Intellectual Thought and Economic Development (3 Credit Hours)

This course examines Africana philosophical and theoretical thought as it pertains to issues of race, labor and production. Through an examination of the social and economic legacy of slavery and colonialism, this course investigates how systems of exploitation have influenced the underdevelopment of Africa, the Caribbean and North America in its contribution to Western Capitalism.

Prerequisites: General Education human behavior course

AAST 412 Politics of the Civil Rights Movement (3 Credit Hours)

Examines the political activities which resulted in the passage of the nation's second Civil Rights policy, the 1960 and 1964 Civil Rights Acts, the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Fair Housing Act. The course will analyze the underpinnings, leadership, and political strategies of the Civil Rights Movement.

Prerequisites: Six hours in human behavior and junior standing

AAST 420W African American Political and Social Thought (3 Credit Hours)

This course is designed to introduce students to the historical and contemporary experiences of “Blackness” as it has been constructed, contested and affirmed in various historical, political and narrative contexts. Embracing the theme of duality, the course examines what it means for a culture and people to be both integral to and excluded from the American political and social community. This is a writing intensive course.

Prerequisites: Grade of C or better in ENGL 211C or ENGL 221C or ENGL 231C and a General Education human behavior course

AAST 426 Minority Group Relations (3 Credit Hours)

The study of the process of and responses to the oppression of racial, religious, ethnic, and national minorities in a variety of countries within a historical and comparative perspective. Special emphasis given to American minorities and especially African Americans.

Prerequisites: SOC 201S or permission of the instructor

AAST 451 Race, Ethnicity, Crime and Justice (3 Credit Hours)

This course will examine the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, crime, justice and the operation of the criminal justice system and will critically assess controversial issues surrounding race, ethnicity, crime, and justice. Students will discuss contemporary social justice issues as they relate to race, ethnicity, crime, and justice. The theoretical frameworks that explain the intersection between race, ethnicity, crime and justice will be examined. The course will also investigate the broad range of policy issues and recommendations impacting communities of color and the administration of criminal and social justice.

Prerequisites: CRJS 215S or SOC 201S or permission of the instructor

AAST 452 Diversity in Criminal Justice Organizations (3 Credit Hours)

This course examines the impact of diversity, culture, and ethnic origin in criminal justice organizations. The course is designed to better prepare students to meet the challenge of diversity in criminal justice organizations.

Prerequisites: SOC 201S or CRJS 215S or permission of the instructor

AAST 460 Psychology of African Americans (3 Credit Hours)

This course examines the issues and perspectives related to the psychological evolution of African Americans in the United States. Particular emphasis is placed on exploring the discipline of psychology from an Afrocentric focus.

Prerequisites: AAST 100S and junior standing or permission of the instructor

AAST 488 Introduction to Critical Race and Media Studies (3 Credit Hours)

In this course, students examine how media culture - both historic and contemporary - contribute to the intersectional production of race in the United States. A guiding question will be: How do media and popular culture - as texts, practices, industries, and sites of identity formation and pleasure - construct race? Although students will theorize the politics of representation, they will also work to situate texts within a larger historic, political, and discursive context in order to assess the type of cultural work they perform.

Prerequisites: AAST 100S and junior standing or permission of the instructor

AAST 490 Senior Seminar (3 Credit Hours)

This course will introduce students to the key concepts involved in developing and executing an interdisciplinary research project. Students will read and interpret research literature, execute a research project, write a final research paper, and present research findings in a professional setting.

Prerequisites: AAST 320

AAST 495 Topics in African American Studies (3 Credit Hours)

This course focuses on a variety of selected topics in African American Studies. These courses will appear in the course schedule, and will be more fully described in information distributed to all academic advisors.

Prerequisites: Senior standing

AAST 497/597 Independent Study (1-3 Credit Hours)

Students are exposed to opportunities to conduct independent research and/or study in areas focused on the political, social and cultural experiences of people of African descent in the U.S. and the African Diaspora.

Prerequisites: Junior standing or permission of instructor