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Courses by Subject Area
Click on the links below for a list of courses in that subject area. You may then click “View Classes” to see scheduled classes for individual courses. See the Ratcliffe Hicks Courses page for a list of those courses.
1100. Afrocentric Perspectives in the Arts
Lectures and discussions about assigned readings focus on historical and aesthetic perspectives of African American Arts and their African sources, with emphasis on how social and aesthetic context impacts on creative expression by African American artists. Presentations by guest lecturers and University of Connecticut faculty plus small group discussions. CA 1. CA 4.
View Classes »2211. Introduction to Africana Studies
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Cannot be taken for credit after passing AFRA 4994.
Grading Basis: Graded
Interdisciplinary overview of Africana studies, giving consideration to the artistic, intellectual, political and cultural experiences of black people in the United States, Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. Significant movements, ideas, people and events that have shaped and continue to shape Africa and the Diaspora.
View Classes »2214. African American Literature
Also offered as: ENGL 2214
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Critical and historical examination of the literature of African American writers from Phyllis Wheatley to the present. CA 4.
View Classes »2214W. African American Literature
Also offered as: ENGL 2214W
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Critical and historical examination of the literature of African American writers from Phyllis Wheatley to the present. CA 4.
View Classes »3025. Contemporary Africa
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Africa since its partition in 1884. Urbanization, social stratification, racial and ethnic conflict.
View Classes »3033. Race and Policy
Examination of contemporary public policy through the lens of race.
View Classes »3042. Baseball and Society: Politics, Economics, Race and Gender
Also offered as: AMST 3042, HDFS 3042, WGSS 3042
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Baseball in historical, political, sociological, and economic contexts. Topics may include: impact on individuals and families; racial discrimination and integration; labor relations; urbanization; roles of women; treatment of gay athletes; and implications of performance-enhancing drugs.
View Classes »3050. African-American Art
The artistic and social legacy of African American art from the eighteenth century to the present day. CA 4. FA-2/14/17 CLAS 3/21/17 SM 5/1/17
View Classes »3050W. African American Art
Also offered as: ARTH 3050W
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
The artistic and social legacy of African American art from the eighteenth century to the present day. CA 4. FA 2/14/17 CLAS 3/21/17 SM 5/1/17
View Classes »3106. Black Psychology
Also offered as: PSYC 3106
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: PSYC 1100; PSYC 1101 or 1103.
Grading Basis: Graded
Empirical and theoretical literature on psychological experiences of African Americans. Impact of race, culture, and ethnicity on psychological development. CA 4.
View Classes »3131. African American Theatre
The significant developments in African American theatre and its antecedents and an examination of selected play scripts that exemplify those developments. CA 4.
View Classes »3132. African American Women Playwrights, 1900 to the present
Also offered as: DRAM 3132
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Rec Prep: AFRA/DRAM 3131
Grading Basis: Graded
African American women's playwriting in relationship to social, historical, and political contexts. CA 1. CA 4.
View Classes »3152. Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism
Popular and scholarly theories of human group identity and diversity, in cross-cultural and historical perspective. Topics include: an overview of 'race' and 'ethnicity' in Western thought, ethnic group formation and transformation, political mobilizations of group identity, and systems of inequality. CA 2. CA 4.
View Classes »3206. Black Experience in the Americas
Also offered as: HIST 3206
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Recommended Preparation: AFRA 3563/HIST 3563/HRTS 3563; AFRA 3564/HIST 3564, AFRA 3620/HIST 3620; or HIST 3609/LLAS 3609.
Grading Basis: Graded
Major themes in recent scholarship of African-descended communities in the Americas and their interconnection beyond geopolitical boundaries; race, gender, sexuality, class, religion, cultural movements and practices, slavery, political economy, political movements, and African consciousness, from historical perspective. CA 1. CA 4-INT.
View Classes »3208. Making the Black Atlantic
Also offered as: HIST 3208, LLAS 3208
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: AFRA/HIST/HRTS 3563 or AFRA/HIST 3564 or 3620; or HIST/LLAS 3609.
Grading Basis: Graded
Recent scholarship on the central role played by African-descended communities in shaping the early history of the Americas and their interconnection beyond geopolitical boundaries; race, gender, sexuality, class, religion, cultural movements and practices; slavery, political economy, and political movements.
View Classes »3213. Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century African American Literature
Also offered as: ENGL 3213
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Broad historical survey of African American literature from its origins through the turn of the twentieth century. CA 4.
View Classes »3213W. Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century African American Literature
Also offered as: ENGL 3213W
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Broad historical survey of African American literature from its origins through the turn of the twentieth century. CA 4.
View Classes »3215. Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century African American Literature
Also offered as: ENGL 3215
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Broad historical survey of African American literature from the twentieth and twenty-first century. CA 4.
View Classes »3215W. Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century African American Literature
Also offered as: ENGL 3215W
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Broad historical survey of African American literature from the twentieth and twenty-first century. CA 4.
View Classes »3217. Studies in African American Literature and Culture
Also offered as: ENGL 3217
3.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Focused study of a theme, form, author, or movement in African American literature or culture. May be repeated for credit with a change of topic. CA 4.
View Classes »3217W. Studies in African American Literature and Culture
Also offered as: ENGL 3217W
3.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Focused study of a theme, form, author, or movement in African American literature or culture. May be repeated for credit with a change of topic. CA 4.
View Classes »3224. History of Pan Africanism
Also offered as: HIST 3770
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open to juniors or higher. Recommended preparation: At least one of the following, HIST 3752, 3753, 3563 or 3564.
Grading Basis: Graded
The development of ideas of Pan-Africanism, beginning with the proto-Pan-Africanists in the nineteenth century; examination of the linkages between those ideas in Africa and the evolution of Pan-Africanism as a movement in the African Diaspora.
View Classes »3252. Politics In Africa
Also offered as: POLS 3252
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
The political systems in contemporary Africa; the background of the slave trade, imperialism, colonialism, and the present concerns of nationalism, independence, economic development and military rule. Emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa.
View Classes »3295. Special Topics
1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Prerequisites and recommended preparation vary. With a change in content, may be repeated for credit.
View Classes »3299. Independent Study
1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Supervised reading and writing on a subject of special interest to the student.
View Classes »3501. Ethnicity and Race
Also offered as: SOCI 3501
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Ethnic groups, their interrelations, assimilation, and pluralism. Culture, and identity that arise from differences in race, religion, nationality, region, and language.
View Classes »3505. White Racism
Also offered as: HRTS 3505, SOCI 3505
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
The origin, nature, and consequences of white racism as a central and enduring social principle around which the United States and other modern societies are structured and evolve. CA 4.
View Classes »3563. African American History to 1865
History of African-American people to 1865, from their West African roots, to their presence in colonial America, through enslavement and emancipation. Adaptation and resistance to their conditions in North America. Contributions by black people to the development of the United States.
View Classes »3564. African American History Since 1865
History of African-American people since the Civil war. Contributions by black people to American development. African-American activity in international arenas.
View Classes »3568. Hip Hop,Politics and Youth Culture in America
History of hip-hop, its musical antecedents and its role in popular culture. Race, class, and gender are examined as well as hip-hop's role in popular political discourse.
View Classes »3569. Slavery in Film
Also offered as: HIST 3569
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: AFRA/HIST 3206 or 3563 or 3564; or CLCS 1110.
Grading Basis: Graded
Depictions of chattel slavery in cinema and popular media over time. Topics include histories of slavery, race and identity, media studies, and cultural studies.
View Classes »3618. Comparative Slavery in the Americas
The rise and fall of trans-Atlantic slavery. Topics include resistance, migration, antislavery mobilization, abolitionism, empire, revolution, cultural production, political economy, labor, gender, race and identity formation.
View Classes »3619. History of the Caribbean
Encounter experience; slavery, antislavery mobilization, and abolitionism; colonialism; citizenship and nation building; race and gender; political cultures and movements; migration/immigration; cultural production; and political economy; topics will be examined from a historical perspective. CA 1. CA 4-INT SM-4/20/15; 3/2/16
View Classes »3619W. History of the Caribbean
Also offered as: HIST 3619W, LLAS 3619W
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
Grading Basis: Graded
Encounter experience; slavery, antislavery mobilization, and abolitionism; colonialism; citizenship and nation building; race and gender; political cultures and movements; migration/immigration; cultural production; and political economy; topics will be examined from a historical perspective. CA 1. CA 4-INT.
View Classes »3620. Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Spanish Caribbean
Discovery and settlement, slavery and plantation economy, recent political and economic developments, and United States relations with the Spanish Caribbean.
View Classes »3622. History of Gender and Sexuality in Latin America and the Caribbean
Also offered as: HIST 3622, LLAS 3622, WGSS 3622
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Topics may include: empire and colonialism/anti-colonialism; slavery, science, and the state; cultural practices and institutions; feminisms and masculinities; law and public policies; immigration; forms of labor and political mobilization; sex and reproduction; and human rights from historical perspective.
View Classes »3642. African American Politics
Also offered as: POLS 3642
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Political behavior, theory, and ideology of African-Americans, with emphasis on contemporary U.S. politics. CA 4.
View Classes »3647. Black Leadership and Civil Rights
Also offered as: POLS 3647
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Black leadership, emphasizing the principles, goals, and strategies used by African-American men and women to secure basic citizenship rights during the civil rights era.
View Classes »3652. Black Feminist Politics
Also offered as: POLS 3652, WGSS 3652
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
An introduction to major philosophical and theoretical debates at the core of black feminist thought, emphasizing the ways in which interlocking systems of oppression uphold and sustain each other.
View Classes »3752. History of Pre Colonial Africa
The history of pre-colonial Africa with particular attention to the rise and fall of African Kingdoms, interaction between different ethnic groups, African trade with other continents, and the impact of foreigners on African societies.
View Classes »3753. History of Modern Africa
The history of African perceptions of and responses to the abolition of the slave trade, Western imperialism and colonialism, and the development of nationalism and struggle for independence.
View Classes »3825. African Americans and Social Protest
Also offered as: HRTS 3825, SOCI 3825
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Open only to juniors or higher.
Grading Basis: Graded
Social and economic-justice movements, from the beginning of the Civil Rights movement to the present.
View Classes »3898. Variable Topics
3.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: Prerequisites and recommended preparation vary.
Grading Basis: Graded
With a change of topic, may be repeated for credit.
View Classes »4100. Experiential/Service Learning Seminar
Also offered as: AAAS 4100, LLAS 4100, WGSS 4100
4.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Interdisciplinary examination of the history of social justice organizing in the U.S.; theories, strategies, and practice of community organizing movements such as those for immigration, environmental, reproductive, and racial justice. Includes practice in community organizing and political advocacy.
View Classes »4994W. Senior Seminar
3.00 credits | May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: AFRA 3211; ENGL 1010 or 1011 or 2011; open only to AFRA majors in their senior year.
Grading Basis: Graded
Critical training and comprehensive examination of African American studies, using primary and secondary sources. With a change in content, may be repeated for credit. SM-11/9/09
View Classes »