Africana Studies

Program Director. James Braxton Peterson, Ph. D. (UPENN)

Office of Interdisciplinary Programs 610-758-3996; incasip@lehigh.edu

Africana Studies Faculty. Elizabeth N. Fifer, Ph.D. (Michigan), Professor of English; William R. Scott, Ph.D. (Princeton), Professor of History; Vera Fennell, Ph. D. (Chicago), Associate Professor of Political Science; Heather Johnson, Ph.D. (Northeastern), Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology; Kashi Johnson, MFA (Pittsburgh), Associate Professor of Theatre; Seth Moglen, Ph.D. (UC Berkeley), Associate Professor of English; James Braxton Peterson Ph. D. (UPENN), Associate Professor of English; Saladin Ambar, Ph. D. (Rutgers), Assistant Professor of Political Science; Kwame Essien, Ph.D. (Texas) Assistant Professor of History; Tanya L. Saunders Ph.D. (Michigan), Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology; Bruce Whitehouse, Ph. D. (Brown), Assistant Professor of Anthropology;

The purpose of the Africana Studies Program is to engender in Lehigh students an intellectual appreciation of the life and culture of peoples of sub-Saharan Africa and the worldwide diaspora, especially in the Americas (the United States and Canada, the Caribbean, Central and South America), thereby enriching the Lehigh curriculum and increasing its relevance to a culturally diverse society and world. In the best tradition of a liberal arts education, Africana Studies expands Lehigh students’ critical understanding of their own heritage in interaction with other cultures.

The major and minor in Africana Studies constitute an interdepartmental and comparative program of study for undergraduates who wish to integrate the insights and methods of several disciplines to understand the history, culture, social, and political experience of people of African descent globally.

The Major

The major in Africana Studies consists of a minimum of ten (10) courses, constituting at least 30 credit hours and no less than four (4) upper level courses. It entails training across disciplinary lines as well as concentrated study in a single discipline:

Introductory Course	(1)
Humanities	(3)
Social Sciences	(3)
Disciplinary Concentration	(3)

In addition, students are encouraged to pursue independent study opportunities to enhance their knowledge of specific aspects of Africana Studies.

The Minor

The minor consists of a minimum of five (5) courses, constituting at least 15 hours of study that includes an introductory course and no less than two upper level courses in the field.

Core Courses: Core courses concentrate on subject material directly relevant to the study of past and present experiences of people of African descent.

AAS 3. Introduction to Africana Studies (4)

An interdisciplinary examination of the roots, culture, and politics of the modern black world through study of classic works in Africana Studies with emphasis on the continuities among African peoples worldwide and the social forces that have shaped contemporary black life in Africa and the Americas. (SS)

AAS 5. (HIST 5) African Civilization (4)

Sub-Saharan Africa through the millennia of the ancient world to the present. Human origins, state and non-state systems, the external slave trade; colonialism, resistance to European rule; independence movements; neocolonialism. (SS)

AAS 38. (ENGL 38) Introduction to African Literature (3)

Sub-Saharan African literary themes and styles, historical and social contexts, African folk tales, oral poetry, colonial protest literature, postcolonial writing, films on contemporary Africa. (HU)

AAS 103. (SSP 103) Race and Ethnicity (4) fall

Examines race and ethnicity from a sociological perspective. Focus on the role of the major racial and ethnic communities in modern American society. Explores the roles of race and ethnicity in identity, social relations, and social inequality. Topics include racial and ethnic communities, minority/majority groups, assimilation, prejudice/discrimination, identity and the social construction of the concept of “race.” H. Johnson (SS)

AAS 104. (ANTH 104) Contemporary Issues in African Societies (4)

Using an anthropological lens to engage issues confronting African societies today, we examine local-level ethnographic accounts and analyses on continent-wide trends, and consider a range of topics including famine, political violence, AIDS, poverty, and corruption. Where does Africa fit into the current neoliberal world order and what is the role "African culture" plays in shaping all these issues? Whitehouse (SS)

AAS 106. (LAS 106, SSP 106) Race and Ethnicity in Latin America and the Spanish Speaking Caribbean (4)

A sociological examination of race and a look at an individual’s experience. We consider how concepts like “race” and “ethnicity” have been defined and how they have been institutionalized in law, government, social policy, social thought, and economic structures. We consider the importance of concepts like “race,” “cultures,” and “mestizaje” to our understanding of citizenship and national identity, and we address contemporary African and indigenous movements against racial inequality. Saunders (SS)

AAS 117. (PHIL 117) Race and Philosophy (4)

An introduction to the philosophy born of struggle against racism and white supremacy. We will read the work of philosophers, mostly European, who quietly made modern racism possible by inventing the category of race, but we will concentrate on the work of philosophers, mostly of African descent, who for 200 years have struggled to force a philosophical critique of the category of race and the practice of white supremacy. (HU)

AAS 120. (ENGL 120) Literature from Developing Nations (4)

Contemporary literature from Africa, Central and South America, and Asia. Prerequisite: six hours of freshman English. (HU) Cannot be taken pass/fail.

AAS 121. (ENGL 121) Topics in African-American Literature (4)

Selected works of African American literature and/or the literatures of the African Diaspora. May be repeated for credit as title varies. Prerequisite: six hours of first-year English. (HU) Cannot be taken pass/fail.

AAS 128. (MUSIC 128) Jazz History I (3) fall

A study of the roots of jazz. Starting in West Africa, the course traces the synthesis of African and European elements to 1945. Musicians covered are Gottshalk, Bolden, Morton, Armstrong, Hawkins, Basie, Ellington, and others. Warfield (HU)

AAS 129. (MUSIC 129) Jazz History II (3) spring

A survey of modern jazz from 1945 to present. Musicians covered include Parker, Gillespie, Monk, Davis, Coltrane, Hancock, and Coleman. Can be taken independently of Jazz History I, but the first course would be helpful. Warfield (HU)

AAS 130. (HIST 130) African American History (4)

Blacks in America from the first importation of Africans to the implementation of civil rights laws. West African origins, slave trade, slavery, free blacks and emancipation and study of Reconstruction, segregation, urbanization, and the struggle for racial equality. Staff (SS)

AAS 132. (THTR 132) Hip Hop Theatre (4)

Introduction to the creation and performance of Hip Hop Theatre. Exploration of the history and culture of Hip Hop through original written material, live performance, music, film, video and web based content. Public Performances. Prerequisite: Audition. Consent given by instructor. (HU)

AAS 133 (LAS 133, MLL 133, FREN 133, HIST 133, POLS 133) Lehigh in Martinique: Globalization and Local Identity (4)

History, culture and politics of the French Caribbean island of Martinique, from its position as a key site of the 18th century Atlantic World economy to becoming an official French department and outpost of the European Union. Interdisciplinary perspectives on the complex nature of social identity, historical memory and impact of globalization. No French is required. Offered during winter inter-term through Lehigh Study Abroad.

AAS 138. (ENG 138) Introduction to African American Literature (4)

Survey of African American prose narrative and poetry from the 18th century to the present. Features writers from the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, and the post Black Power era. (HU)

AAS 140. (THTR 140) African American Theatre (4)

Foundations of African American theater: historical, literary, and practical. K. Johnson (HU)

AAS 144 (SSP 144) Global Hip Hop and Social Change (4)

Hip Hop has become a global phenomenon. In this course we will analyze how and why socially Conscious Hip Hop, as a tool for social change, has expanded to Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Saunders (SS)

AAS 145. (WGSS 145) African American Women Writers (4)

Literature by African American women writers with a focus on the experiences and images of black women in the U.S. Explores the written portraits and voices of 20th century black female novelists and poets, including Hurston, Petry, Morrison, Angelou, and Walker. (HU)

AAS 155. (SSP 155, LAS 155) Afro-Latino Social Movements in Latin America & the Caribbean (4)

This course focuses on Afro-Latinos who make up nearly 70% of the population of the Americas. Despite the large amount of people of African descent living in the Americas, Afro-Latinos are an understudied population who face significant amounts of racial discrimination in their countries. Who are Afro-Latinos? Where do they live? How are they challenging the racism that they face? These are questions we will tackle in this course. Saunders (SS)

AAS 166. (SSP 166) Wealth and Poverty in the United States (4)

Examines the sociology of wealth and poverty affluence and disadvantage, “rags and riches” in American Society. Focus is a critical analysis of the wealth gap, its causes, consequences and social context. We will consider the roles of wealth and poverty in determining life chances and structuring opportunity, as well as their roles in the perpetuation of social inequality across generations. We will address contemporary debates surrounding public policy, tax laws, antipoverty programs and other reform efforts aimed at decreasing the gap between the “Haves” and the “Have-Nots.” H. Johnson (SS)

AAS 177. (SSP 177) Cuba: Race, Revolution and Culture (4)

This course analyzes the role of race & “culture” in the Afro Cuban struggle for equality. By focusing on the arts: particularly music, film & literature, this course will analyze the development of race during Cuba’s colonial period; the Afro Cuban challenge to the “race blind” political and cultural movements of the Cuban Republic. We will then wrap up the semester by addressing the significance of contemporary cultural movements that challenge the social issues currently facing Afro Cubans.

AAS 179. (HIST 179) Black Political Thought in America (4)

Black leadership, organizations, and philosophy in America from Reconstruction to the Civil Rights Era; ideas and programs of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Scott, Ambar (SS)

AAS 183 (ANTH 183) Peoples and Cultures of Africa (4)

Studies African modernity through a close reading of ethnographies, social stories, novels, and African feature films. (SS)

AAS 205 (POLS 205) The Political Development of American Race Relations (4)

This course examines the distinctive role race has played in shaping the political history of the United States. Ambar (SS)

AAS 230. (POLS 230) Social Movements and Legacies of the 1960s (4)

The lessons and legacies of 1960s social and political movements. Students examine civil rights, black power movements, the New Left, campus protests, the Vietnam war and antiwar movement, the counterculture, women's ecology movements and assess their connection to democracy, today's world and their own lives. Morgan (SS)

AAS 263. Caribbean Artistic and Cultural Traditions (4)

Representation of contemporary popular culture in the Caribbean in literature, music, painting and other artistic expressions. Major attention is devoted to the influences on tradition, folklore and religion in modern Caribbean life. (HU)

AAS 310. (SSP 310, WGSS 310) Gender, Race and Sexuality: The Social Construction of Differences (4)

This course will provide the student with an opportunity to engage current debates about the meaning and use of racial and sexual classification systems in society. Using a multidisciplinary approach, we will examine the historical and sociological contexts in which specific theories of racial and sexual differences emerged in the U.S. Additionally, we will explore the ways in which changes in images have implications for the role racial, gender, and sexual identity plays in our understanding of the relationship between difference and inequality. Prerequisite: WGSS 001, or department permission. Saunders (SS)

AAS 312. (FREN 312) Modernity in the Maghreb (4)

Emergence of the modern self through a comparative study of textual as well as visual representations of postcolonial subjects by male and female writers and film makers. Study of the way the sociopolitical context of countries such as Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia informs the constitution of subjectivity within a multicultural and multilingual community. Issues such as patriarchy, nationalism, colonialism, post colonialism, identity, gender, and Islam in North African literature and film from Franco-Arab traditions. Berrada

AAS 313. (SSP 313) Social Movements (4)

Explores the origins, dynamics, and consequences of social movements through both sociological theory and empirical case studies. Covers questions of what constitutes a social movement, where and when social movements arise, who joins a social movement, and how social movements are able to contribute to change. Answers to these questions highlight issues of social movement recruitment and leadership, interactions between movements and the media, the state, and the broader public, ideology, strategies and tactics, and the factors contributing to the success and failure of social movements. Course readings drawn from case studies on civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, the environment, American Indians, abortion, globalization, antiapartheid, democratization, peace, and Islamic fundamentalism. Prerequisite: One 100-level SSP course. Munson (SS)

AAS 318. (ENGL 318) Topics in African-American Literature and Culture (4)

Special Topics in African American culture and/or the cultures of the African diaspora. Topics may be focused by period, genre, thematic interest or interdisciplinary method including, for example, “Nineteenth-century African American Literature and Politics”, “African-American Folklore”, “Black Atlantic Literature”, “The Harlem Renaissance”, “African-American Women Writers”. May be repeated for credit as title varies.

AAS 324. (ANTH 324, GS 324) Globalization and Development in Africa (4)

This course examines the challenges Africa presents to expectations of modernization and development. It poses these questions: Have African societies been left behind by globalization, shut out from it, or do they merely reflect an unexpected side of globalization processes? What is Africa's place in the neo-liberal world order? What role does "African culture" play in generating or blocking social change? And, how can anthropology illuminate prospects for change on what has long been regarded as the "dark continent"? Whitehouse (SS)

AAS 331. (HIST 331) United States and Africa (4)

Reciprocal relationships between North America and the African continent from the slave trade in the seventeenth century to the twentieth century Afrocentric movement; impact of Americans on shaping of modern Africa, Pan-African relations; influence of African Americans on U.S. policies toward Africa. Scott (SS)

AAS 332. (HIST 332) Slavery and the American South (4)

The emergence and demise of the “peculiar institution” of African American slavery in British North America and the Old South. African background, colonial beginnings, 19th century slave community, the ruling race and proslavery ideology, the death of slavery and its aftermath, slavery and freedom in a comparative context. (SS)

AAS 343. (ASIA 343, GS 343, POLS 343) Global Politics of Race: Asia and Africa (4)

An examination of the concept of "race" and its impact on domestic and international politics. V. Fennell (SS)

AAS 345. (SSP 345) Colonialism and the Black Radical Tradition (4)

Karl Marx was not the only figure who developed an influential theory of social revolution. A cadre of theorists from the Global South have extensively theorized about the issues facing their particular nations, and they have developed social theories that have challenged social and global inequality. This course is a theory based course that will focus on the anti-colonial and post-colonial thought of radical black intellectuals from the Black America, the Caribbean, and West Africa. Saunders (SS)

AAS 371, 372. Independent Study (1-3)

Independent study in advanced areas of Africana Studies. Independent research with an individual faculty member in the Africana Studies program. Consent of director (ND)

AAS 379. (SSP 379) Race and Class in America (4)

The ways in which race and class intersect in the social, economic, and political structures of American society. Through sociological literature, fiction, nonfiction, film, and other media we will explore the place of race and class in American society. We will examine how race and class operate on a personal, “micro” level, while at the same time operating on a large-scale, “macro” level. H. Johnson (SS)

AAS 381. Special Topics. (ND)

AAS 382. Seminar on a topic in Africana Studies. (ND)

Collateral Courses

HIST 334 American City in the 20th Century

MUS 130 Jazz Masters (3)