AASP 100 Introduction to African American Studies (3)
This course has been designed as an inter-disciplinary approach to the central themes, methods, and scholarly development of the field of African-American studies. Black scholars such as W.E.B. Du Bois began offering university courses on Black history and sociology one hundred years ago. Today, the scope of the field has expanded while continuing to attract outstanding scholars of all races. This course will examine aspects of the history, literature, culture, and critical thought, and socio-economic status of African-Americans. Texts students examine include readings by Du Bois, Baldwin, and Andrew Billingsley, among many others.
AASP 101 Public Policy and the Black Community (3)
The purpose of this course is to provide students an introduction to public policy issues confronting Black communities. This goal will be achieved by examining the what's, who's, and how's of social policy formation. The course will emphasize the importance of political institutions and economic relations as determinants of the policy-making process and context. Specific policy concerns of the class will include: voting rights, education, housing, employment, poverty, and business development.
AASP 200 African Civilization (3)
This course is a general survey of African history, from the rise of human civilization to the present. Particular attention will be paid to political and religious concepts; forms of social and economic organization; and expressions of music, art, and literature. At conclusion of this course students must be able to (among other things): understand the significant contributions of Africa to the development of modern civilization in the Western world, examine the impact of European colonization in Africa.
AASP 202 Black Culture in the United States (3)
Examines important aspects of African-American life and thought as reflected in African-American history, literature, drama, music and art. Beginning with the cultural heritage of West Africa, the course surveys the changing modes of black cultural expression and their historical and political underpinnings from the nineteenth-century to the present. Texts used in this class have included Lawrence Levine's Black Culture and Black Consciousness: African American Folk Thought From Slavery to Freedom, and V.P. Franklin's Living Our Stories. Telling Our Truths.
AASP 298U Jazz as a Cultural Art Form (3)
Examines the creators, creation and continued development of the music known as jazz from the standpoint of social, political, and economic conditions in the U.S. National policy as it impacts upon the economics of popular American music, European classical music and the music known as Jazz, the behavior and history of the great innovators of Jazz as impacted by national and local public policy, ethnocentrism and racism and the artistic creations and contributions of some of the great innovators.
AASP 297 Research Methodologies for African American Studies Major (3)
This course is designed to introduce African American Studies majors to the basic research methodologies, sources and repositories for studying African Americans in the United States. Focuses on empirical research and teaches students how to develop research questions which will assist them in writing their senior thesis in African American Studies.
AASP 301 Applied Policy Analysis and the Black Community (3)
(Prerequisite: AASP 101 and either ECON 200 or ECON 201. Statistics recommended) Development and application of the tools needed for examining the effectiveness of alternative policy options confronting minority communities. Review of policy research methods used in forming and evaluating policies. Examination of the policy process.
AASP 310/310H African Slave Trade (3)
(Prerequisite: AASD 100 or AASD 202 or permission of the deparment) This course analyzes the Atlantic slave trade from the 16th century to the late 19th century. Topics covered will include: the impact of the slave trade on African underdevelopment; the problem of slavery in the 16th-19th centuries; the role of the slave trade in the rise of mercantile capitalism, a comparison of the development of slavery in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States; and the development and transformation of African culture in the Americas. Past readings have included oral histories, narratives, historical documents, and the most recent scholarship.
AASP 313 Black Women in U.S. History (3)
(Prerequisite: Sophomore standing. Also offered as WMST314 and HIST329E. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AASP498W, AASP313, HIST329E, WMST314 or WMST498N. Formerly AASP498W) TBlack American women's history is examined from slavery to the present. The principal focus of the readings discussions and student assignments will be based upon gaining a fuller understanding of the effect of race, class and gender on the life cycles and multiple roles of Black women as mothers, daughters, wives, workers and social change agents. A variety of primary source materials on black women's experiences will be utilized.
AASP 314 The Civil Rights Movement (3)
(Prerequisite: AASP 100 or HIST 157) This course examines four phases of the Civil Rights Movement. The first half of the course looks at the early years of the Movement when NAACP lawyers challenged Jim Crow and racial discrimination in the courts. The second half of the course focuses on the Movement after the 1963 March on Washington, when the assassinations of Kennedy, Malcolm X, and King forced a reassessment of both strategies and goals. The course will examine the growth of the Black Power Movement and the transition in the mid-1970s when the combination of Black Power and new federal voting rights laws helped to establish African-American electoral power, forcing politicians, white and black to answer to the black community.
AASP 386 Experiential Learning (3-6)
(Prerequisite: AASP major or certificate students; 2.8 for internship, 3.0 for UTA; Junior or Senior standing; Learning Proposal approved by the Career Center)
Seminar for Interns:
Provides AASP majors and certificate students an opportunity to integrate work experience with their theoretical understanding of the social, cultural, economic and political issues confronting African-American communities.
Seminar for UTAs:
Provides AASD majors and certificate students an opportunity to assist an AASP instructor in planning and teaching an undergraduate level course. The seminar focuses on teaching preparation and techniques.
AASP 397 Senior Thesis (3)
Directed research in African-American Studies resulting in the completion and defense of a senior thesis.
AASP 400/400H Directed Readings in African American Studies (3)
(Prerequisite: AASP 100 or AASP 202. For general honors students only. Permission required for 400H) The topics will be chosen to meet the specific needs and interests of AASD students. Topics from recent offerings include: Race and Ethical Issues in Medicine and Science; Black Neo-conservatives; The Status of Blacks in America, and the Black Family.
AASP 402/402H Classic Readings in African American Studies (3)
(Prerequisite: AASP 100 or AASP 202) Classic readings of the social, economic, and political status of Blacks, and other minorities in the United States and the Americas.
AASP 411 Black Resistance Movements (3)
(Prerequisite: AASP 100) This course considers the ways African-Americans have resisted imprisonment, institutionalized racism, constitutional repression, religious colonization, and systematic poverty. The first goal of this course is to study the formation and methods of resistance movements. This includes political consciousness, field organization, leadership, political agitation, and negotiation. The second goal of the class is to explore the impact of culture on political consciousness and movements. Culture can include racial identity, gender roles, religious beliefs, and art, music, and literature. The third goal of the course is to consider the impact and effectiveness of social change movements.
AASP 441 Science, Technology, and the Black Community (3)
(Prerequisite: AASP 100 or AASP 202 or HIST 255 or permission of the department.) This course examines the impact of scientific and technological advances on African-Americans by asking three interrelated questions: First, what cultural biases are contained in the technical skills and the problem-solving methods used in the sciences and mathematics and how can they be addressed? Second, how have Africans and African-Americans contributed to the many scientific and technological advances which have raised the quality of life for all people? Third, how have public policies governing science and technology affected the social and economic status of African-Americans and continental Africans?
AASP 443 Blacks and the Law (3)
(Prerequisite: AASP 100 or AASP 202 or HIST 255 or permission of department.) The relationship between African Americans and the law, particularly criminal law, criminal institutions and the criminal justice system. Examines historical changes in the legal status of blacks and the causes of racial disparities in criminal involvement and punishments.
AASP 478A African-American Literature: Beginning to 1910 (3)
(Prerequisite: two English courses in literature or permission of the department.) Beginnings of African-American literature including origins of literary expression in folk tales, songs, and spirituals; slave narratives; pamphlets, essays, and oratory; and the emergence of poetry and fiction. Emphasis is on interaction between literary forms and the salient political issues of the day.
AASP 478C Caribbean Literature in English (3)
(Prerequisite: Two lower level English courses, at least one in literature; or permission of the department) Political and literary traditions that intersect in the fiction, poetry, and drama written in English by Caribbean writers, primarily during the 20th century. In past semesters texts examined have included works by Sam Selvon, Merle Hodge, Edwidge Danticat, and C. L. R. James.
AASP 478P African-American Literature Since 1945 (3)
Examines African American literature from the middle decades of the twentieth century. The course will define the following African American literary contexts: the great migration, uplift the protest novel, naturalism and realism. Examines ideas of nationalism, race, gender, and the American Dream. Explores how African American writers share techniques and create new forms of expression in an effort to contribute to a diverse regional and historical identity. Authors studied in past semesters have included Baldwin, Himes, Petry, Ellison, Wright, Baraka, and Marshall.
AASP 499N News Media Coverage of Racial Issues (3)
Analysis of news medial coverage of issues relating to racial minorities in the United States, with special attention to Hispanics, Asian Americans, African Americans and Native Americans.
