AFRICAN-AMERICAN AFRICAN-AMERICAN
STUDIES
"The problem of the
twentieth century is the problem of the color line."
W.E.B. Du Bois,
"Forethought," The Souls of Black Folk (1903)
The African-American Studies Program was developed to contribute to the intellectual richness of Vanderbilt University through teaching, research, scholarship, and creative production and performance which focus on the experiences and legacies, the articulations and creative expressions, of African and African-descended peoples throughout the world. In doing so the Program draws on virtually all fields of knowledge in the University (the Humantities, the Social Sciences, the Natural Sciences, and Fine Arts; Law, Medicine, Education, and Divinity) in order to provide rich, integrated sets of courses designed to enhance critical understanding and appreciation of African and African-descended peoples in behalf of enhanced life on a shared planet. Students may choose an interdisciplinary major or minor in African American Studies or take courses as electives. Those who choose to major or minor in the program must meet with the Program's Director to formally declare their intention to do so, to be advised regarding the requirements for a major or minor, and to be assisted in designing a course of study by which to fulfill those requirements and the student's own academic ambitions.
Lucius Outlaw, Jr., Director
VU Station B, Box 1516
2301 Vanderbilt Place
Nashville, TN. 37235-1516
phone (615) 343-6390
fax (615)343-1444
Majors in African-American Studies
Minors in African-American Studies
Spring 2002 Teaching Faculty And Advisory Committee Members
Major in African-American Studies:
The interdisciplinary major consists of 30 hours of core courses and 6 hours of electives. Requirements for the completion of the major include:
African American Studies 101: Introduction to African American Studies
African American History: History 279-280
African History: History 253-254
African American Humanities: Three hours in the humanities to be selected from English, Fine Arts, Music, Dance, and Religious Studies courses in the African-American Studies Program.
African Humanities: Three hours in the humanities to be selected from English, French, Humanities, Music, and Religious Studies courses in the African-American Studies Program.
African American Social Sciences: Three hours in the humanities to be selected from Anthropology, History, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology courses in the African-American Studies Program.
African Social Sciences: Three hours in the humanities to be selected from Anthropology, History, Political Science, and Sociology courses in the African-American Studies Program.
Electives: Six hours of elective credit selected from the approved lists of elective course offerings at Vanderbilt and Fisk universities. Consult the African American Studies program office for the approved lists of courses.
African American Studies 299 Project: Senior Project in African American Studies.
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Minor in African-American Studies:
Students who elect to minor in African American Studies must choose an emphasis either in African or African American Studies. Each minor consists of 18 credit hours and requires the completion of the two-course (six hours) history sequence in the student's chosen geograhic area (African or African American); and three each of humanities and social sciences course work in the respective geographic area. Six hours of electives must be chosen from the lists of approved courses offerec by Vanderbilt or Fisk universities, which may be obtained in the program office in 018 Furman Hall. Elective courses are not restricted to courses in the student's selected geographic area. Courses must be selected in consultation with the program director.
History 279-280 or History 253-254
Humanities: Students must complete 3 hours in the humanities to be selected from courses in the African-American Studies Program. These courses must be selected in the respective geo-cultural area (African or African-American).
Social Sciences: Students must complete 3 hours in the humanities to be selected from courses in the African-American Studies Program. These courses must be selected in the respective geo-cultural area (African or African-American).
Electives: Students must complete 6 hours of elective credit. These classes may be any course offered in the African-American Studies Program; therefore they are not restricted to the students' selected geo-cultural areas.
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African-American Studies Courses:
The African-American Studies Program offers courses that explore the experiences of African-descended people on the African continent and throughout the African diaspora. Since a number of courses required by the Program are only offered every other year, students must consult the Program Director soon after they decide to participate in the program to design a feasible course of study. Students may take courses on an elective basis or choose an interdisciplinary major or minor.Courses taken at Fisk University may be counted as electives in the Program.
African-American Studies Courses at Vanderbilt
AAST 101 01 - Introduction to African American Studies.
AAST 289 - Independent Study
AAST 294 - Special Topics
AAST 299 - Senior Project
HUMANITIES (African American):
African American Studies 114 - Introduction to African American Philosophies of Religion
African American Studies 145 - Interfaith Dialogue and African American Culture
African American Studies 263 - African American Literature
African-American Studies 294 01 - Special Topic: Contemporary Black Experience
Dance 114 - Black Dance in America
*English 115W 41 - FR SEM: African American Autobiography
*~English 115W 49 - FR SEM: Afro-Caribbean Women's Literature
*English 115W 50 - FR SEM: African American Literature
*English 115W 55 - FR SEM: Toni Morrison
*English 115W 56 - FR SEM: Harlem Renaissance
~English 271 - Caribbean Literature
English 272D - Movements in Literature: The Contemporary Black Experience
English 273C - Problems in Literature: Reading Race in 19th Century America
English 273D - Problems in Literature: Marginality in African American and South African Literature
English 274 01 - Major Figures in Literature: Toni Morrison
English 288G 01- African American Novel
English 350 01 - Special Problems in English and American Literature: Restoring Race in 19th Century American Literature
English 355 01 - Special Topics in English and American Literature: Afro-American Literature: Diaspora and Dissension
Fine Arts 293 - SR SEM: 20th Century African American Art
Fine Arts 294 01- Special Topic: African American Art: Harlem Renaissance
Fine Arts 325 - Special Topic: African American Art
Music 148 - Survey of Jazz
Philosophy294A 01 - Selected Topic: Philosophy of Race
Religious Studies 107 - African American Religious Tradition
*Religious Studies 115W 05 - FR SEM: Gandhi, Luthuli, and King
Religious Studies 204 - Evangelical Movement in America
Religious Studies 205 - Black Church in America
Religious Studies 219 - Martin Luther King Jr., and the Social Roles of Religion
Religious Studies 250 - Black Islam in America
Spanish 294 - Afro-Hispanic Literature
HUMANITIES (African):
*English 115W 63 - FR SEM: African Literature and Theory
French 239 - African Novel
Humanities 115 01 - African Literature
*Music 160 - Musical Cultures of the Non-Western World
Music 171 - African Music
African American Studies 276 - Anglophone African Literature
Religious Studies 294 - Special Topic: Religions in Africa
Religious Studies 294 - Special Topic: Traditional African Religions, Christianity and Islam
SOCIAL SCIENCES (African American):
African American Studies 255 - Racial and Ethinic Minorities in the U.S.
African American Studies 258 - Rise of the Iberian Atlantic Empires, 1492-1700
African American Studies 259 - Iberian Empire, 1700-1820
African American Studies 264- Brazilian Civilization
African American Studies 279 - History of Black Americans
African American Studies 280 - African American History to Reconstruction
African American Studies 294 02 - African American Women since Reconstruction
Anthropology 219 - Origins of African American Culture
Anthropology 224 - Political Anthropology: Crosscultural Studies in Conflict and Power
~Anthropology 237 - Ethnicity, Race, and Culture
History 172 - Comparative Slavery in the Americas
*History 295 01 - UG SEM: Black Protest
History 295 02 - UG SEM: Civil Rights Revolution
*History 295 07 - UG SEM: African Resistance and Adaptation in the Americas
History 381 - African American History in the 20th Century
Political Science 115W 02 - FR SEM: Race and Gender Politics
Psychology 266 - Interpersonal and Intergroup Relations
*Sociology 115W 03 - FR SEM: Otherness in the U.S.: Images of Race, Gender, and Sexual Preference
*Sociology 115 09 - FR SEM: Poverty and Inequality in the U.S.
Sociology 115 12 - FR SEM: Race and Race Relations in the Contemporary South
Sociology 255 - Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the U.S.
Sociology 258 - The South in American Culture
Sociology 262 - Interpersonal and Intergroup Relations
Sociology 294 - Special Topic: Race, Gender, and Sports
SOCIAL SCIENCES (African):
African American Studies 235 - Human Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa
African American Studies 253 - African History: Sub-Saharan Africa
African American Studies 254 - African History: Africa since 1800
African American Studies 294 - Special Topic: Genocides and Terrorisms in Africa
Anthropology 231 - Archeology of Africa
*History 115W 46 - FR SEM: Crises in the Horn of Africa
Histroy 264 - Brazilian Civilization
History 295 02 - Resistance and Adaptation to Slavery in Americas
Political Science 219 - African Politics
*Sociology 275 - Sociology of Contemporary African Societies
* denotes courses that count towards CPLE credit
~ denotes classes that count only as an elective for African-American Studies minors
NOTE: The subjects of special topic and seminar classes are subject to change (usually offered every other year); therefore credit is only granted towards those classes related to African or African-American topics.
Revised November 2001
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African American Studies Teaching Faculty and Advisory Committee Members, 2001-2002:
| Lucius Outlaw, Jr., Philosophy, Director | Larry Griffin, Sociology |
| Victor Anderson, Divinity | Yollette Jones, History |
| Lewis Baldwin, Religious Studies | Amy Kirschke, Art and Art History |
| Greg Barz, Blair School of Music | Jane Landers, History |
| Vereen Bell, English | William Luis, Spanish & Portuguese |
| Beth Boyd, Women's Studies & American and Southern Studies | Deak Nabers, English |
| Michael Cole, History | Anthere Nzabatsinda, French |
| Anne Demo, Communications Studies & Theatre | Ljerka Rasmussen, Blair School of Music |
| Dennis Dickerson, History | Wayne Santoro, Sociology |
| Teresa Goddu, English | Sheila Smith-McKoy, English |
Spring 2002 Course
Offerings:
AAST 101.01. Intro African American Studies.
Outlaw, L. [TR 1:10-2:25]
Description Forthcoming
AAST 226.01. Gender, Race & Class.
Boyd, E. [MWF 10:10-11:00]
Description Forthcoming
AAST 256.01. South in American Culture.
Griffin, L. [TR 1:10-2:25]
Description Forthcoming
AAST 259.01. Iberian Empire 1700-1820.
Cole, M. [TR 1:10-2:25]
This is an upper-level course on the late colonial history of Latin America.
For the benefit of those who will be taking this class without having taken
History 258 or for whom this might be their only Latin American history class.
this course will begin with a brief review of the Spanish, Amerndian, and
African populations which created Latin America and the structures of Spanish
colonial society. Thereafter, it will examine in depth the burbon reforms;
the social, economic, and polotical tensions in the mature colonial society
of the 18th century; and the wars of independence leading to the dissolutin
of the Spanish empire in the 19th century.
AAST 263.01. African American Literature.
Smith-McKoy, S. [TR 9:35-10:50]
Description Forthcoming
AAST 276.01. Anglophone African Literature.
Smith-McKoy, S. [TR 1:10-2;25]
Description Forthcoming
AAST 280.01. African American History Since Reconstruction.
Dickerson, D. [TR 9:35-10:50]
The political, socio-economic and intellectual history of African Americans
from the end of Reconstruction to the present. Cultural and institutional
issues and 20th century protest movements will be emphasized.
AAST 289.01. Independent Study.
Description Forthcoming
AAST 294B.01. Special Topic: Culture & Communication.
Demo, A. [MWF 1:10-2:00]
Description Forthcoming
AAST 299.01. Senior Project.
Description Forthcoming
English 272G.01. Race in America.
Bell, V. [TR 4:00-5:15]
A discussion-based examination of the nature of the conflict between black
and white cultures in America from the period just before the beginning of
the Civil Rights era and then following it to the present day. Reading assignments
will begin with Ralph Ellison's Invisible man and will inlcude fiction and
non-fiction (i.e. memorois and autobiographies) by black writers of the period.
These will be supplemented by some readings in social history and analysis
and by films by Spike Lee and others. In-class and a final exam.
English 273G.01. The Literature of American Civil Rights.
Nabers, D. [TR 11:00-12:15]
This course will examine the relationship between African-Aerican literary
forms and the development of civil rights movements and evolution of civil
rights thinking in America. We will focus in particular on the slave narrative
and the protest novel, and we will pursue questions such as : How are African-American
literary forms shaped by political exigencies, and in what sense might they
be said to shape such exigencies? What is the relationship between civil standing
and aesthetic authority in American culture? How are literary and political
authority connected in American civil rights movements? Authors to be considered
include Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass, William Wells Brown, William
and Ellen Craft, Harriet Jacobs. Zora Neal Hurston, Richard Wright, Chester
Himes, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, and Clarence Brown.
French 388.01. Seminar Francophone Literature.
Nzabatsinda, A [W 3:10-5:00]
Description Forthcoming
Music 148.01 Survey of Jazz.
Barz, G. [TR 11:00-12:15]
The goals of this Survey of Jazz course include increasing our awareness of
the social, political, and artistic worlds from which jazz emerges. In many
ways, jazz musicians have assumed critical roles in the social and cultural
history of the United States, perhaps the world. Yet jazz remains a uniquely
American art form. Thus, our "analysis" of jazz as an art form will
necessarily take into account the position of jazz in 20th century American
cultural history. This analysis will afford students a thorough understanding
of and appreciation for jazz, its roots, and the peoples who created (and
continue to create) the music.
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