AFAM 1986a / LAST 1214a / PLSC 2417a / SOCY 1704a, Contesting Injustice  Elisabeth Wood

Exploration of why, when, and how people organize collectively to challenge political, social, and economic injustice. Cross-national comparison of the extent, causes, and consequences of inequality. Analysis of mobilizations for social justice in both U.S. and international settings. Intended primarily for first years and sophomores.  SO  0 Course cr
TTh 4pm-4:50pm

* AFAM 3165b / BLST 3165a / HIST 3169a or b, What is Racial Capitalism?  Destin Jenkins

This seminar starts from the position that the historical movement, settlement, and hierarchical arrangements of the racial subaltern and even those deemed ‘white’ are inseparable from regimes of capital accumulation. But is that all there is to racial capitalism? What more can be said about these regimes? And what of the varied responses to racial capitalism, from accommodation to the Black Radical Tradition to other forms of subterfuge? Major topics and themes include: war, money, ecology, crime and punishment. The course also exposes students to the various sources, archives, methods, theoretical frameworks, and narrative strategies employed by scholars in the field.  WR, HU
W 1:30pm-3:25pm

* AFAM 3372b / HSAR 4372b, Post Black Art and Beyond  Nana Adusei-Poku

In 2001, “Freestyle”, a survey exhibition curated by Thelma Golden at the Studio Museum in Harlem, introduced a young generation of artists of African descent and the ambitious yet knowingly opaque term post-black to a pre-9-11 pre-Obama world. This seminar utilizes the term post-black as a starting point to investigate the different ways Black Artists identified themselves through the lens of their historical contexts, writings, and politics while engaging with key debates around Black Aesthetics in exhibitions and theory. Consequently, we discuss changes in artistic styles and Black identity discourses from the beginning of the 20th century into the present. Post-black stirred much controversy 22 years ago because it was used by a generation of artists who seemed to distance themselves from previous generations, who utilized the term Black to define their practices as a form of political resistance. However, the claims that the post-black generation made, and the influence of their work is part of an ongoing debate in African Diasporic Art, which has refreshed and posed new questions for art-historical research as well as curation. Topics include Representation, Black Exhibition Histories, Black Aesthetics, Afrotropes, Afro-politanism, Abstraction vs. Figuration, Curation as an Art-Historical tool, The Black Radical Tradition and Racial Uplift, post-race vs. post-black and historical consistencies. Knowledge in the fields of History of Art and African American Studies is desirable.  HU
M 1:30pm-3:25pm

* AFAM 3375a / AMST 4465a / CPLT 3770a / FREN 3650a / HIST 2578a, Haiti in the Age of Revolutions  Marlene Daut

The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) was an event of monumental world-historical significance. This class studies the collection of slave revolts and military strikes beginning in August of 1791 that resulted in the eventual abolition of slavery in the French colony of Saint-Domingue and its subsequent independence and rebirth in January of 1804 as Haiti, the first independent and slavery-free nation of the American hemisphere. Considering Haiti's war of independence in the broader context of the Age of Revolutions, we cover topics such as enlightenment thought, natural history, the workings and politics of the printing press, and representations of the Haitian Revolution in art, literature, music, and in various kinds of historical writings and archival documents. Students develop an understanding of the relevant scholarship on the Haitian Revolution as they consider the relationship of this important event to the way it was written about both as it unfolded and in its long wake leading up to the present day.  WR, HU
T 9:25am-11:20am

* AFAM 3820a / AMST 2286a / ENGL 3820a / HUMS 2410a, James Baldwin's American Scene  Staff

In-depth examination of James Baldwin's canon, tracking his work as an American artist, citizen, and witness to United States society, politics, and culture during the Cold War, the Civil Rights era, and the Black Arts Movement.  HU  0 Course cr
HTBA

* AFAM 4249a / AFST 4449a / ENGL 4835a, Challenges to Realism in Contemporary African Fiction  Stephanie Newell

Introduction to experimental African novels that challenge realist and documentary modes of representation. Topics include mythology, gender subversion, politics, the city, migration, and the self. Ways of reading African and postcolonial literature through the lenses of identity, history, and nation. Formerly ENGL 449.  WR, HU
T 1:30pm-3:25pm