Study the Black Experience

This course chronologically explores the Black experience from a number of perspectives. Students study the progression of Black political and social thought, engagement and protest, and the struggle to enact change. Students gain a comprehensive introduction to the social, political, legal, and economic roots of the contemporary challenges faced by Blacks, with applications to the lives of other racial and ethnic groups in the United States and in other societies.

• This course utilizes a sociological perspective to explore the experiences of racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Drawing on sociological concepts and theoretical perspectives regarding minority-majority relations among racial ethnic groups, this course focuses on the role of power, privilege, and access to resources in the social construction of race and ethnicity. The course will explore the dynamics of institutionalized racism and address a variety of contemporary policy debates in order to better understand the roles that race and ethnicity play in shaping American society and culture. (*This inclusive course addresses multiple races and ethnicities)
• Prerequisites: MATH 001 Preparation for College Math I or MATH 010 Fundamentals of Mathematics and SOCI 104 Principles of Sociology; waiver by placement testing results; or departmental approval.

This course examines African American History from its West African origins to the end of Reconstruction. Special focus is placed on the Transatlantic slave trade, a comparative exploration of American slavery in the North and South, and an examination of such issues as the Black family and community, culture, and slave resistance. Other issues of note include the importance of Black participation in the American Revolution, the increased growth of slavery in the South after the war, free Blacks in urban cities who were impoverished and denied equal rights but influenced the culture, politics, and economics of the nation, the rise of abolitionism in the north, and how slavery’s expansion to the west became the pivotal issue just before the Civil War. The course concludes with an examination of the Reconstruction period that shaped the freedom experiences of the newly freed. Please note: HIST 145 and 146 may be taken in either order.
Prerequisites: ENGL 092 Preparing for College Reading II and ENGL 099 Introductory Writing; or waiver by placement testing results.

• This course examines African American History from the end of the Reconstruction period through the present. Special focus is placed on the Jim Crow Era, the Great Migration at the beginning of the 20th Century, the African American experience during the two World Wars, and a close review of the social and political developments of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. Included in this course is an examination of cultural aspects of African American history, including art, religion, and music from the Harlem Renaissance to the development of rap and hip hop. The course concludes with a review of the cultural, social, and political developments of the early 21st century. Please note: HIST 145 and 146 may be taken in either order.
• Prerequisites: ENGL 092 Preparing for College Reading II and ENGL 099 Introductory Writing; or waiver by placement testing results. (*African-American History I is Not a prerequisite for this course)

• This course explores the various musical traditions of Black people, with a specific focus on the United States. It examines the impact of African, European, and Native American traditions on music, as well as the role of music as an expression of Blacks’ aesthetics, traditions, and life. The course considers historical and contemporary forms of music, with selected video presentations of musical styles.
• Prerequisites: ENGL 092 Preparing for College Reading II and ENGL 099 Introductory Writing.

• This course examines films from history to our present and the changing images of Blacks in film. This course focuses on the evolution and development of African-American characters as they have been represented in theatrical, screen, and television presentations.
• Prerequisites: ENGL 092 Preparing for College Reading II and ENGL 099 Introductory Writing.

• This course surveys artworks made by Blacks in the United States and abroad. Students explore major art movements, such as the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement, and study the impact of political movements on visual artists and their work, including the Black Liberation Movement and #BlackLivesMatter. In addition, students consider how artists have contended with issues of race, gender, and sexuality by examining the works of Black visual artists. (*This course surveys artworks made by Blacks in the United States and abroad.)
• Prerequisites: ENGL 092 Preparing for College Reading II and ENGL 099 Introductory Writing; or waiver by placement testing results.

• This course examines the works of African-American writers and performers after the Harlem Renaissance to the present including the periods of Realism, Naturalism, and the development of the Black Arts movements of the 1960s. Emphasis is placed on political, historical, and cultural contexts of the readings, with a particular focus on contributions and challenges to Anglo-American culture and to simultaneous developments internationally among peoples of African descent. Since the course is based on time periods and major authors, African-American Literature II does not have to be taken after African-American Literature I.
• Prerequisite: ENGL 102 English Composition II. (* African-American Literature I is Not a prerequisite for this course.)