African and African American Studies (AAAS)

Courses

*AAAS 114 INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES (3 credits)
Entry-level course designed to introduce students to the field of African American Studies. Through a multi-disciplinary approach, identifies and examines major issues, topics and questions addressed in scholarly literature. (D-D)

AAAS 115 INTRODUCTION TO CREOLE
(1-2 credits)
Focuses on either Haitian or Martinican Creole. Builds basic oral and written communication skills and introduces relevant cultural aspects. On campus, the course is especially intended for students participating in the May Term program in Haiti but is open to all students with an interest in French Caribbean languages and communication. Off campus, the course is required for students participating in the Martinique program.

*AAAS 150 EARLHAM SEMINAR (4 credits)
Offered for first-year students. Topics vary. (ES)

*AAAS 204 AFRICAN LITERATURE
(3 credits)
Studies in the development of a modern African Literature from "traditional" through "colonial" and "post-colonial" literatures with some attention to indigenous forms (including oral traditions), assimilationist/protest heritages, negritude and issues of audience. Authors may include Ama Ata Aidoo, Ngugi wa Th'iongo, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka. Prerequisite: An Earlham Seminar, an Interpretive Practices course or consent of the instructor. Also listed as ENG 204. (CP, D-I) (AY)

*AAAS 230 HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE (4 credits)
An introductory survey of the central historical events, people and faith perspectives that have shaped African American (or Black) religious experience in the United States. Includes the Middle Passage and "New World" Slavery, The Great Awakening and later Revival(s), Reconstruction, Jim/Jane Crow, Civil Rights, Black Power and Black Humanism. Also listed as REL 230. (D-D) (AY)

*AAAS 231 AFRICAN HISTORY TO 1880 (4 credits)
Introduces students to Africa's long and varied past. Surveys the development of the continent from the Nile Valley civilization to the loss of independence in the 1880s. Topics include Africa as the site of the earliest human development, ancient Egypt's relationship to the rest of Africa, the influence of Islam, the origins and nature of African states and empires, the organization and consequences of the Atlantic slave trade, the impact of European traders and missionaries, and the scramble for Africa in the 1880s. Prerequisite: An Interpretive Practices course or consent of the instructor. Also listed as HIST 231. (CP, D-I) (AY)

*AAAS 232 AFRICAN HISTORY SINCE 1880 (4 credits)
Surveys the African loss of sovereignty and the establishment of European colonial dominance in Africa. Focuses on economic, political and social distortions resulting from foreign domination. Considers the impact of African reactions to these developments. Special attention to the struggle for independence and the re-emergence of independent African states. Prerequisite: An Earlham Seminar, an Interpretive Practices course or consent of the instructor. Also listed as HIST 232. (CP, D-I) (AY)

*AAAS 240 TOPICS IN AFRICAN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES (3 credits)
Studies in African and African American experiences through the analysis of selected topics. Emphasizes the development of information, interpretation and bibliography along with reading, writing and research skills. (D-D)

*AAAS 255 AFRICAN AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY (4 credits)
Explores the emergent experience of being black in America, considering the nature of justice, thinking about the meaning of identity and questioning freedom. Investigates, interprets and criticizes theories of race and racism, social elevation, civil disobedience, black feminism and other African American cultural themes. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or above. Also listed as PHIL 255. (D-D)

*AAAS 304 AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE (4 credits)
An introduction to the study of literature focusing on the works of Americans of Black African ancestry, with possible attention to works of African Caribbean and African Hispanic Americans. Special attention to major developments in form and themes, major writers and the evolution of an African American literary tradition. Introduction to issues of Black literary theory and criticism. Prerequisite: An Earlham Seminar, an Interpretive Practices course or consent of the instructor. Also listed as ENG 304. (CP, D-D)

*AAAS 324 RACE AND ETHNICITY IN THE U.S. (4 credits) Research Credit.
Examines the pattern of changing social constructions of race and ethnicity in the U.S. and their profound effects on the political, social and economic lives of individuals and the country. Begins to untangle the historical roots of the social constructions of whiteness and race, and examines contemporary issues. Prerequisite: An Earlham Seminar, an Interpretive Practices course or consent of the instructor. Also listed as HIST 324. (D-D)

*AAAS 340 ADVANCED TOPICS IN AFRICAN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
(3 credits)
Studies in African and African American experiences through the analysis of selected topics. Emphasizes the development of information, interpretation and bibliography along with reading, writing and research skills. (D-D)

*AAAS 345 NEW VOICES: GERMANS OF COLOR (2 credits)
Introduces students to texts written by Germans of African descent and by authors who have immigrated to the Federal Republic. Texts represent new and often unheard voices in German literature. Students explore issues that arise in a culturally diverse German society and examine how some of these issues are confronted. Also listed as GER 345. Course also offered in English. (D-I) (AY)

AAAS 351 THE CIVIL RIGHTS FIELD TRIP (3 credits)
Readings on the modern civil rights movement supplemented by a field trip to cities and sites in southern and border states that were landmarks in the movement. Interviews with individuals involved in the movement and scholars of the movement. May Term.

*AAAS 355 READINGS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN'S HISTORY (4 credits)
Explores topics in the history of African American women from the era of antebellum slavery to the present. Includes such topics as gender relations in the slave community, the gendered nature of slave resistance and rebellion, the politics of economic emancipation, women's activism in the struggle against racial violence, and segregation and the role of women in the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. (D-D) (AY)

*AAAS 356 THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT (4 credits)
Surveys the history of the modern southern Civil Rights Movement. Focusing on the campaigns and struggles in the mid 1950s and 1960s when blacks and their white allies directly confronted Jim Crow segregation in an effort to gain full citizenship rights and economics opportunity. Focuses on mass movements, with some attention to other kinds of freedom struggles, particularly before the emergence of mass activism. Prerequisite: An Earlham Seminar, an Interpretive Practices course, or consent of the instructor. Also listed as HIST 356. (CP, D-D) (AY)

*AAAS 357 READINGS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN'S HISTORY (3 credits)
Explores select topics in the history of African American women from the era of antebellum slavery to the present, using such primary sources as slave narratives, autobiographies, documents and historical monographs. Topics include gender relations in the slave community, the gendered nature of slave resistance and rebellion, the politics of economic emancipation, women's activism in the struggle against racial violence and segregation and the role of women in the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. Also listed as HIST 357. (D-D) (AY)

*AAAS 362 READINGS IN FRENCH CARIBBEAN AND AFRICAN LITERATURE
(3-4 credits)
Offers an array of fiction, poetry and film by authors and cinematographers from West Africa and the French Antilles. Papers and discussions focus on cultural themes and issues such as tradition and modernity, urban and rural life, and men's and women's rules. Prerequisite: FREN 222, 301, 303 or consent of the instructor. (D-I) (AY)

*AAAS 368 AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY TO EMANCIPATION (4 credits)
A survey of African Americans from the era of the Atlantic slave trade to the passage of the 13th amendment. Topics include the paradox of the co-existence of slavery and freedom, the nature of the slave community, the issue of slave resistance and the role of free African Americans in the abolition movement. First-hand accounts and secondary materials give students an appreciation of the African American historical experience in the United States. Also listed as HIST 368. (D-D) (AY)

*AAAS 369 AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE EMANCIPATION (4 credits)
Surveys the history of African Americans from the era of Emancipation through the migrations that transformed blacks into a national, urban minority to the political, cultural and economic challenges in the era of conservatism. Topics include the struggle to define race and citizenship after the Civil War, the impact of migrations on black society and national politics, the consequences of the rise of a black industrial working class, campaigns for civil and human rights, and the emergence of the black power movement. Also listed as HIST 369. (D-D) (AY)

*AAAS 376 HISTORY OF WEST AFRICA (3 credits)
Surveys the history of the Sudanic and forest regions of West Africa from c.1000 BCE to independence. Primarily emphasizes discerning internal dynamics and external factors that shaped West Africa's development. Considers the cultural and social diversity of the region, the particular nature of the Sudanic and forest states, the importance of long-distance trade and Islam, the effects of the Atlantic slave trade, the impact of colonialism on African life, and the struggle for independence. Also listed as HIST 376. (D-I) (AY)

*AAAS 377 EAST AFRICA (4 credits)
Surveys the history of East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) from the time of the great migration through independence. Among the issues addressed are the differences between coastal and inland developments, the rise of the Indian Ocean trading network, the emerging interior states, the appearance of coastal trading systems, the early European distribution of coastal societies, the development of plantation economics, the impact of colonialism, the variety in the decolonization movements and the coming of independence. Also listed as HIST 377. (D-I) (AY)

*AAAS 378 HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA (4 credits)
Surveys the history of southern African society from the earliest times to the post apartheid era. Topics include the nature of early indigenous African societies, the entrenchment of European domination, the subjugation of African chiefdoms, the role of international capital in transforming the economy, African resistance to segregation and apartheid, and the dismantling of the apartheid state. Also listed as HIST 378. (D-I) (AY)

*AAAS 382 PHILOSOPHY, RACE AND RACISMS (4 credits)
Explores key moments in the history of western philosophy, disclosing the extent to which this history participates in the production of the concepts of race and racisms. Readings in classical, modern and contemporary discourses. Prerequisites: An Interpretive Practices course and one Philosophy course. Also listed as PHIL 382. (CP, D-D)

*AAAS 384 THEORIZING RACE (4 credits)
A critical study of the historical, cultural and political forces contributing to the formation of the concept of race across disciplines. Investigates a wide range of underpinnings and implications of competing theories of racial difference. Prerequisite: An Interpretive Practices course and Sophomore standing or above. Also listed as PHIL 384. (CP, D-D)

*AAAS 462 FROM NEGRITUDE TO CREOLENESS (4 credits)
Postcolonial issues brought to the forefront by a new and imaginative literature from the French Antilles. Voices obliterated in the past reclaim their history and celebrate their Creole culture and traditions. Also listed as FREN 462. (D-I) (AY)

*AAAS 463 TOPICS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE (4 credits)
Topics determined by the instructor might consider particular writers or literary movements as well as interdisciplinary or thematic concerns. For example: an exploration of the Slave Narrative and its influence on contemporary Black fiction; a close study of the Harlem Renaissance; an examination of contemporary literary critical debates in and about African American writing; attention to the nonfiction prose of DuBois, Morrison, Lorde Baldwin. Prerequisite: ENG 302. Also listed as ENG 463. (D-D) (AY)

AAAS 481 INTERNSHIPS, FIELD STUDIES AND OTHER FIELD EXPERIENCES

AAAS 482 SPECIAL TOPICS (3 credits)
Selected topics determined by the instructor for upper-level study.

AAAS 483 TEACHING ASSISTANTS (1-3 credits)

AAAS 484 FORD/KNIGHT RESEARCH PROJECT (1-4 credits)
Collaborative research with faculty funded by the Ford/Knight Program.

AAAS 485 INDEPENDENT STUDY (1-3 credits)
Investigation of a specific topic conceived and planned by the student in consultation with a faculty supervisor. Culminates in a comprehensive report prepared in the style of a thesis or research paper.

AAAS 488 SENIOR CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE (3 credits)
Includes intensive work designed to prepare students for comprehensives and a senior paper in African and African American Studies. Integrates past program experiences and fills in gaps of information and methodology.

Earlham College · 801 National Road West · Richmond, Indiana 47374-4095
Send corrections or comments to Web Editor.
Copyright Information

This page last updated: August 8, 2007