Curriculum

A political, social, cultural, and economic history of African Americans. Focuses on slavery, reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation, civil rights, the family, northern migration, and cultural contributions.

The course will explore a range of topics about African Americans' psychological experiences, such as discrimination and racism, education and achievement, family and interpersonal relationships, racial identity, religion and spirituality, and African American mental wellness.

This course will provide an understanding of the various types of trauma that have impacted the lives of Blacks from the Diaspora, with emphasis on African American community. A biological, cultural, historical, sociological, and psychological lens will be taken to discuss trauma, and evidence-based strategies for treating trauma will be introduced.

Study of sociological perspectives in minority-majority relations; assimilation ideologies; dynamics of prejudice and discrimination; biological, historical, and sociological data on race; survey of American minorities.

This course examines the radical legacy of the Black Church and the origins of Liberation Theology as significant contributors to the historical, social-political, and theological resilience of people of African descent living in the United States of America.

This course will explore Hip Hop as an umbrella for dance, music, art, and culture. The student will analyze the birth of Hip Hop, its progression, and its economic and social impact on the world. The student will also engage in developing skills in Hip Hop dance and dance-making as a form of communication and entertainment.

Theoretical and practical examination of dances of the African Diaspora utilizing body/mind ideologies to learn the classic movement vocabulary and investigate individual search for the development of characteristics of style.

Study of representative works from the region commonly known as the Caribbean. Texts are examined within their sociopolitical and historical contexts.

African American literature introduces students to the body of work that constitutes the African American literary tradition, emphasizing the historical, social, and political conditions that frame the emergence of this body of work and its evolution.

This course will examine the literary motifs, cultural history, and social issues explored by contemporary black women writers across the Diaspora and discuss their work in relation to critical texts.

This course provides a study of the Harlem Renaissance as one of the landmarks of African American literary, artistic and intellectual history. The Harlem Renaissance marked the emergence of distinctive black literature, involving a remarkable collection of black writers who needed to express the African American experience in the United States and define their place in society. The course will serve as an introduction to modern expression in the black world. The influence of the Harlem Renaissance in the evolution of African American literature will also be examined, as well as its impact on other movements in the black world.

Rap and Hip Hop arose from humble origins to become a worldwide phenomenon. Though a thoroughly iconic American musical art form, the rise of the DJ and MC has its roots in earlier Jamaican music, especially that of Reggae and Dancehall. This course will examine how these musical genres influenced one another along with a deeper investigation into the artistic, social, cultural, philosophical, historical, and political issues that both shape this music and are, in turn, shaped by it.

This course explores the mythologizing of black history through the works of contemporary African-American authors within historical, philosophical, and cultural contexts. Students examine significant ideas, such as the recurring themes and motifs of historical narratives, and understand that society members consume and produce cultural practices/traditions. Black history is examined as a dynamic process of everyday life and a set of ever-changing texts that have become cultural icons and rituals