Students in Africana Studies acquire critical tools to examine the histories, politics, cultures, and economies of Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe. Africana Studies courses engage methods and theories from multiple disciplines including history, sociology, anthropology, literature, religion, and music. Race has been a power social construction, and Africans and people of African descent have shaped and transformed ideas about identity, belonging, health, gender, ethnicity, “blackness” and “whiteness” all over the world. All students are welcome to pursue Africana Studies.
AFST 110
Intro To Africana Studies
Common Area: Cross Cultural
Interdisciplinary introduction to the study, research, and interpretation of historical, cultural, social and political knowledge of African American, African, and Caribbean peoples examining contemporary black identities, politics, and culture, particularly focusing on the role and place of blacks in modern American cities through exploration of international migrations, race relations, and 20th-century cultural movements, including civil rights, social protest music, art and literature. Addresses the cultural, historical, political, economic, and psychological consequences of the dispersal of Africans from their ancestral continent to the United States and the Caribbean and the impact of the cultures of West and central Africa in the United States and the Caribbean, through oral narratives, music, art, festivals, foodways, clothing, hairstyles, dance, and religious belief systems. Introduces literary and political movements including Pan-Africanism, black feminism, Negritude, Harlem Renaissance, and other activities reflecting shared theories, ideologies and political movements of Africans, African Americans and Caribbean blacks.
ARAB 101
Elementary Arabic 1
Common Area: Language Studies
This course, designed for students with no previous study of Arabic, introduces the students of the script system of Arabic language, ensures the acquisition of basic speaking, listening, reading and writing in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and an introduction to the Arab culture around the world. Five class hours weekly. One and one-quarter units.
ARAB 201
Intermediate Arabic 1
Common Area: Language Studies
This course reviews and expands the fundamentals of the language through oral and written expression accompanied by readings and culture. Prerequisite: ARAB 102 or equivalent. Five class hours weekly. One and one-quarter units.
HIST 126
Colonial Latin America
Common Area: Cross Cultural or Historical Studies
Provides an introduction to Latin American history from pre-Columbian to the late 18th century, emphasizing native cultures, the conquest of the New World, the creation of colonial societies in the Americas, race, gender and class relations, the functioning of the imperial system, the formation of peasant communities, and the wars of independence. Fulfills one non-Western and one pre-modern/pre-industrial requirement for the major.
HIST 198
Modern Africa Since 1800
Common Area: Cross Cultural or Historical Studies
A survey of Africa's complex colonial past, examining dominant ideas about colonial Africa and Africans' experiences during colonialism, including important historical debates on Africa's colonial past and the legacy of colonialism; pre-colonial Africa's place in the global world; resistance and response to the imposition and entrenchment of colonialism; and the nature of colonial rule as revealed in economic (under) development, ethnicity and conflict, and the environment.
MUSC 150
American Music
Common Area: Arts
Surveys three main repertoires of music in the United States: folk and traditional music of urban, rural, and ethnic origin; jazz; and art music from Charles Ives to the present, with particular attention to the influence of science and technology on recent developments.
MUSC 218
Jazz Improvisation 1
Common Area: Arts
Introduces students to the fundamentals of jazz harmony and improvisation. Topics include chord and scale construction, harmonic progression, symbols used in improvisation, jazz scales and modes. These theoretical concepts are applied to the analysis and performance of standard jazz tunes. A portion of the class is devoted to performance and improvisation.
POLS 199-F01
Race and Ethnicity Politics
Common Area: Social Science
This course will cover the following topics: 1. History: citizenship and race, Voting Rights Act, US Census and redistricting, immigration polities 2. Political Attitudes, Behavior, and Identity/the impact of identity in American political behavior (partisanship, minority voting bloc, mobilization, representation, nonvoting behavior, intersectionality) 3. Intergroup Relations: contact theory, conflict theory, intergroup conflict.
RELS 107
Islam
Common Area: Cross Cultural or Relgious Studies
Examination of Islamic religious beliefs and practices from the origins of Islam to the present. Particular stress is placed on Islamic religious ideals, institutions and personalities. Central topics include: Islamic scripture and traditions, prophecy, law, rituals, theology and philosophy, sectarianism, mysticism, aesthetic ideals, art and architecture, pedagogy, and modern reinterpretations of the tradition. Also explores wider issues of religious identity by looking at the diversity of the Islamic tradition, tensions between elite and popular culture, and issues of gender and ethnicity.
THEA 171
Hip Hop/Breaking 1-2
Common Area: Arts
An introductory breaking technique course for beginners who have no prior dance experience. Students learn foundational exercises, improvisation and movement combinations. The course will emphasize the cultural and historical roots of the form along with key artists who have contributed to its evolution.