African American Studies

Department of African American Studies
College of Arts and Sciences
732 Clemens Hall
North Campus
Buffalo, NY 14260-4680
(716) 645-2082/2083
Fax: (716) 645-5976
Web: African American Studies
James G. Pappas, Chair

The Program
The program in African American Studies provides students with a diverse understanding of the African American experience and of the African diaspora. It features examinations and analyses of the unique historical, political, and social-cultural experiences of African Americans in the context of U.S. history and society. It also relates the African American experience to African history and to cognate experiences of people of African descent living in Latin America and the Caribbean. The department's curriculum covers a broad spectrum of topics in the arts, humanities, and social sciences that are pertinent to these historical and sociological experiences.

The Department of African American Studies offers a bachelor of arts (B.A.) degree in the College of Arts and Sciences. The department also encourages joint majors (students take 67 percent of requirements from both departments), double majors (students take all requirements from both departments), double degrees (students take 30 credit hours above the bachelor-level requirements), and taking advantage of the CIRTASS (Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Teaching Africana Studies in Schools) program (students can become certified as secondary social science teachers). Candidates for a University at Buffalo degree are subject to university and College of Arts and Sciences requirements beyond those of the selected departmental major.

Career Opportunities
Graduates of African American studies who pursue further study most often complete graduate or professional degrees in law, education, the social sciences, and the arts. Those majors who choose to pursue a career immediately after completion of their baccalaureate degree are best able to use their knowledge to work in corporate and community organizations, as well as in a wide range of local, state, and federal institutions. Law enforcement, health care, museums, banking, government services, and public advocacy are a few of many fields in which graduates have been welcomed.

Advisement
The office of the Director of Undergraduate Studies is the main and initial locus of advisement within the department. A student, upon admission and based on the individual's interest, may be assigned by the Director to an individual faculty member.

Transfer Policy
Students who wish to transfer to the University at Buffalo and pursue a major in African American studies must first be accepted by the university's admissions office before applying to the Department of African American Studies. Such students will usually be referred by the Academic Advising Center or College of Arts and Sciences Student Advisement to this department so that all courses that the student wishes to transfer for credit may be evaluated and applied toward departmental requirements.

The Department of African American Studies attempts to keep current with the curricular offerings of a number of feeder institutions. But because these offerings are subject to change, transfer students are advised to have course descriptions and syllabi on hand for those occasions when the director of undergraduate studies may need further guidance.

1. Completion of AAS100 Introduction to African American Studies or equivalent course and any other two departmental courses



2. Maintenance of an overall 3.0 GPA



3. Maintenance of a 3.25 GPA in the department's prerequisite courses



4. Students must be in good academic standing and have progressed to at least their sophomore year.

Requirements
Students in the African American studies honors program must satisfy the requirements outlined for majors. They must also maintain a minimum 3.25 GPA in courses within the major.

Project
Students in the African American studies honors program must complete AAS464 Honors Seminar at a level that is considered more advanced than in the B.A. major program. This advanced level is reflected in the course's 6-credit-hours value for honors students (1 credit hour beyond that required for majors outside the honors program). The senior research project must be awarded at least a "B+" grade (3.33) to be accepted as an honors project.

Special Features
CIRTASS is a collective project between the faculty of education and the College of Arts and Sciences that seeks to promote interdisciplinary research, professional development, and teacher preparation for culturally relevant teaching of the African American experience.

A continuing strength of the department is the link it provides between the university and the surrounding communities. The department provides access to internships at various sites through its Community Service Program.

African American Studies (AAS)

100 Introduction to African American Studies (3) (F; Sp)
Approaches and methods designed to explore and understand the African American experience and the African diaspora. The course aims to acquaint students with the nature of African American studies as a field of intellectual inquiry and as a degree program offered by the University at Buffalo. LEC

118 Introduction to African American Music (3) (F)
Introduces major themes in the development of African American music. The course traces this music from its African roots through the period of slavery and follows its establishment and elaboration up to the present period. LEC

119 Research: Essential Composition Skills (1) (F; Sp)
As a writing course, moves beyond the basic levels of remediation by helping students hone their ability to craft effective prose. Students are therefore required to write in the discipline on a weekly basis through the utilization of correct English grammar and construction. SEM

184 Classic Black Prose (3)
Examines the best short prose fiction of African American writers. Time-honored themes, as well as contemporary ones, are explored. Toward the end of the semester, we read a full-length novel that incorporates many of these themes. LEC

230-239 Topics in African American Studies (3) (F; Sp)
SEM

253 Blacks in Films I (3) (F; Su)
Views the African American experience through the lens of black filmmakers. In identifying blacks in films, we analyze the various aspects of motion picture presentation. Students are introduced to critical film viewing so they are able to evaluate the various images used in the portrayal of blacks. LEC

254 Blacks in Films II (3) (Sp)
Covers various themes in the African American experience. Different sub-themes are used each semester to adopt a multidisciplinary approach in examining the black experience. Through the use of various cinematic forms, the course examines the lives of the performers; the social, political, and cultural aspects of American life. LEC

260 Major Issues in African American Studies (3) (Sp)
Overview of the major issues in the field of African American studies. Offered as a series of lectures and assigned readings, this course uses a variety of disciplines to survey the conditions and development of African Americans from the Atlantic slave trade to the present. LEC

261 Survey of the African American Experience (3)
Surveys the history and culture of African American in the United States from the period of arrival in North America to the present. The course involves study of the African American social, economic, and political institutions and their slavery-north and south theories of the social and psychological impact of slavery, the black freedman; emancipation and reconstruction to discrimination; changing art forms north and south; development of fold and jazz styles in music, dance, and theater. LEC

264 Black Child in America (3) (Sp)
Examines experiences of black children in America in various historical and sociological settings. A theoretical framework is employed to explain the black child's unique experiences in modern America, including the impact of racism. The course also includes cross-cultural perspectives on black boys and girls, comparing their experiences in America with those elsewhere. SEM

270 Major Issues in Caribbean Studies (3) (F)
Focuses on the twentieth century, offering generous historical treatments of earlier periods, wherever they may be illuminating. Care is taken also to ground discussion in an adequate understanding of the geography and economy of the region. The course pays special attention to social and cultural issues and phenomena, from creative literature to local religion and popular pastimes. But it is by no means indifferent to political expression and debate, or indifferent to the special experiences and identities of some particular territories in the region. LEC

280 Survey of African Studies (3) (Sp)
Examines the major issues in African studies, including the cultures, political systems, arts, and history of the continent. The course is intended to provide the student with a deeper understanding of traditional and modern African lifestyles. It examines the European conquest and colonization of Africa in the nineteenth century against the background of the Arab and Atlantic slave trade from Africa. As an interdisciplinary course, it enables the student to evaluate questions concerning the role of African heritage in shaping the experiences of black peoples throughout the world. LEC

293 Race and the Law (3) (F)
Offers a series of readings, lectures, and exercises focusing on changing and diverse issues and questions within the historical development of public policy related to African Americans and other non-European peoples as reflected in statutory and case law in the American colonies, and in federal, state, and local jurisdictions of the United States. SEM

315 Ancient Africa (3) (F)
Examines intensively humans and society in ancient Africa, stretching back to the evolution of humankind and includes an analysis of early forms of African state formations; Ancient Africa includes the following themes: (1) prehistoric ancient Africa; (2) the desiccation of the Sahara and its consequences; (3) African and Mediterranean civilizations; (4) Christianity and Islam in ancient Africa; (5) Africa's ancient state formations; (6) the Bantu migration hypothesis; (7) the mystery of the Great Zimbabwe; and (8) the international slave trade and Africa's misfortunes. All of these lead to an examination of the dynamics of civilizations in ancient Africa, including their failed forms, using Arnold Toynbee's perspectives on the rise and fall of civilizations as a theoretical point of departure. LEC

326 African American Political Development (3) (Sp)
Examines the politics and policies that have shaped the development of peoples of African descent in America. Using topical issues, ideas, policies, institutions, and historical movements that have impacted the social, political, and economic life changes of blacks in the United States, the course utilizes both the individual and the community as comparative units of analysis, and emphasizes political consciousness and political mobilization as key requirements for realizing political development. LEC

327 Current African History (3) (Sp)
Looks at the history of African nations south of the Sahara during the 1980s and 1990s. Our focus is on countries undergoing major upheavals, such as Liberia, Somalia, and Nigeria. Also, attention is given to the matter of U.S. relations with African nations. SEM

333 Race, Ethnicity, and Education (3) (F)
Examines how factors of race and ethnicity affect the relationship between schooling and society in the United States. Among the issues covered are school curriculum, equality of educational opportunity, socialization, power and ideology, school-government relations, and educational reform. LEC

345 American Ethnicities (3) (F)
Examines the phenomenon of ethnicity as a salient principle of social organization in America. The course seeks also to clarify what is unique about black ethnicity in America, analytically and historically, and to determine if African Americans find the experience of ethnic groups relevant. LEC

355 Race, Class, and Society (3) (Sp)
Considers how the social divisions of race, gender, ethnicity, and class in the United States today influences the functioning of society in terms of politics, economics, culture, and so on. This course places special emphasis on the current and historical African American experiences in discussing the various issues. SEM

358 African Diaspora: Social and Cultural Evolution (3) (Sp)
Examines the many-sided processes, and results, of African social and cultural adaptations to Western Hemisphere conditions in the Americas and in the Caribbean using anterior analyses of African society, and of the slave trades, as cultural, economic, and political phenomena. SEM

363 Methods and Directed Readings (4) (F; Sp; Su)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor
Interdisciplinary course for African American studies majors to familiarize them with the classic insights and important perspectives in their major. Compiling an authenticated, annotated bibliography and crafting a bibliographic essay on a selected subject is a favored exercise in this course; an exercise designed equally to equip students with the essential research tools of the field and to inform themselves in areas of personal interest. TUT

372 Selected African American Writers (3) (F)
Focuses on an adherence to traditional themes in the African American canon and those writers whose outstanding efforts have continued the evolution of that canon. The themes of community and freedom and literacy, as well as the trope of black signifying, are discussed. LEC

377 Caribbean Literature (3) (Sp)
Examines the literature of the colonized and postcolonial anglophone and francophone Caribbean from a number of topical vantage points. Attention to the long anchorage of the literature in the sociology of the region is inescapable, but our examination does not lack notice of dissonances and of engagements resistant to the dominant discourses. SEM

386 Male-Female Relationships (3) (Sp)
Examines the function of various societal traits that dominate a relationship and how religion, education, economic status, family beliefs, racial beliefs, and friends influence the way a couple interacts. There are many struggles in relationships that take on such forms as dominance or subservience, fear or hope, and jealousy or acceptance. SEM

392 The Black Church (3) (F)
Explores the origin and development of the African American church and its role in the sociopolitical and economic organization of African Americans in a comprehensive historical and sociological overview of the Afro-American religious experience. This course examines elements of the black church that have survived from Africa and includes considerations of the black presence in the Bible. It considers in some detail the enlarged black church in the post-emancipation era, including its social roles in the economy, education, etc., and its transformation during the great migration of the World War I era. The course also considers the contribution of black theology to twentieth-century black liberation and the Civil Rights movement. SEM

393 Survey of Black Middle Class (3) (Sp)
Simultaneously examines two centuries of the black middle class' virtues and vices, while each student carries out a self-examination of his/her own middle-class aspirations. The second exercise is achieved with the aid of interest tests that serve as guides for each student's five-year plan after graduation. LEC

399 Community Projects (1-5) (F; Sp)
Students are assigned a research project with a community-based organization, agency, or center. Much time is spent studying how the agency structures and disseminates its services. Provision for effective research enables the student to participate in the black community and observe the dynamics of community activities and the role of the black community in decision making in government and social agencies and in the development of cultural and economic activities. TUT

414 Health Problems in the Black Community (3) (Sp)
Addresses issues of health and disease in the African diaspora from the point of view of the biology and culture of the African people. This course includes African healing traditions in the Caribbean and North America, as well as black responses to modern medical revolutions. Selected public health issues in black communities, such as AIDS and homicide, are examined. SEM

415 Black Face/White Forum (3) (F)
Studies how African Americans have survived in what are called "predominantly white institutions." This course examines what has happened to the African American whose struggle included breaking down barriers by using various techniques to survive. We examine life for blacks in "corporate America," the entertainment industry, political institutions, and some of the various religious denominations. SEM

416 Black/White View of America (3) (Sp)
Examines how we view ourselves and how we view the opportunities available to us. We look at how the supposed differences in the viewpoints of blacks and whites divide American society into the haves and the have-nots, and how the similarities remain a secret hidden by our educational system and mass media. LEC

417 Contemporary Black Film Culture (3) (F; Sp)
Introduces the major image elements of sound, light, space, and time-motion, and how they are used in film and television to influence perception. The course is designed to provide students with criteria helping them judge and experience media-articulated messages at different intellectual and emotional levels. Specially selected television and film materials are analyzed and discussed in terms of how media elements can be used to influence perception and emotions. Students are encouraged to do comparative analyses of different types of mass media communications to discover relevant cultural elements and the principles underlying their uses. SEM

463 Senior Seminar: Senior Research Project (5) (F; Sp; Su)
A one-semester course builds on AAS363 and culminates in a research project in cooperation with a member of the department's faculty. Students complete AAS463 with an awareness of the history of the discipline, its changing foci and relation to other disciplines, its great works and pivotal intellectual figures, and its important research tools and resources. TUT

464 Honors Seminar (6) (F; Sp; Su)
A one-semester course that builds on AAS363 and culminates in a research project in cooperation with a member of the department's faculty. The Honors Seminar is tutored at a level that is considered more advanced than in the B.A. major program. Students complete AAS464 with an awareness of the history of the discipline, its changing foci and relation to other disciplines, its great works and pivotal intellectual figures, and its important research tools and resources. TUT

499 Independent Study (1-4) (F; Sp; Su)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor
Individual research under the supervision of a member of the department's faculty. TUT

African American Studies - B.A.

Acceptance Criteria
Minimum GPA of 2.0 overall
Minimum GPA of 2.0 in AAS100 Introduction to African American Studies (or equivalent) and two additional departmental courses at any level
Minimum sophomore-year status

Required Courses
AAS100 Introduction to African American Studies
AAS260 Major Issues in African American Studies
AAS270 Major Issues in Caribbean Studies
AAS280 Survey of African Studies
AAS358 African Diaspora: Social and Cultural Evolution
AAS363 Methods and Directed Readings
AAS463 Senior Seminar: Senior Research Project

Required electives: Five courses (15 credit hours) of 200-level and above AAS courses:
a minimum of 9 credit hours must be 300/400-level courses; no more than 4 credit hours Independent Study, and no more than 3 credit hours from outside AAS

See Baccalaureate Degree Requirements (page 254) for general education and remaining university requirements.

Recommended Sequence of Major Requirements

First Year
Fall-AAS100
Spring-AAS260

Second Year
Fall-AAS270, one 200/300/400-level AAS elective
Spring-AAS280, AAS358

Third Year
Fall-One 200/300/400-level AAS elective
Spring-One 300/400-level AAS elective
Fall or Spring-AAS363

Fourth Year
Fall-One 300/400-level AAS elective Spring-One 300/400-level AAS elective
Fall or Spring-AAS463

African American Studies - Minor

Acceptance Criteria
Minimum GPA of 2.0 overall
Completion of one of the following: AAS100, AAS260, AAS270, AAS280

Required Courses
Two of the following four courses:
   AAS100 Introduction to African American Studies
   AAS260 Major Issues in African American Studies
   AAS270 Major Issues in Caribbean Studies
   AAS280 Survey of African Studies

Four 200/300/400-level AAS courses

Total required credit hours - 18

Teacher Certification - Minor

Acceptance Criteria
Minimum GPA of 3.0 overall. Before attempting this minor, students must have completed all requirements for an African American studies major and any other courses stipulated by the Teacher Education Institute (TEI). An application for the minor should be filed with the student's advisor. Additionally, an application for admission to the teacher certification program must be filed with TEI, 379 Baldy Hall, North Campus.

Academic Affairs

Phone: (716) 645-6003

Fax: (716) 645-2549

Last updated: Thursday, 09-Dec-2004 15:21:15 EST