Black Studies (BLS) Courses

BLS-201 Introduction to Black Studies

This is the methods course for the field. Ideally minors will take this course in the fall or spring of their sophomore year. This course will introduce students to the history, methodology, and major problems in Black Studies through an interdisciplinary survey of literature, cultural theories, and historical works. Meets the Diversity Requirement for the PPE major.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: , Global Citizenship, Justice, and Diversity

BLS-270 Special Topics

The objective of this class is to develop the student's ability to think interdisciplinarily. Through the analysis of a particular theme, topic, cultural expression, or political movement, students will gain a greater understanding of Black Studies scholarship and methodology/ies. Since the content of this course varies from year to year, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor's approval. Topics vary with each scheduled offering. Refer to Student Planning's section information for descriptions of individual offerings, and applicability to distribution requirements.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution:

BLS-271 African American Literature

This course will introduce students to the critical study of African American literature as a means of racial identity formation and political and philosophical articulation. Among other things, African American art, literature, music, and cinema reflect an attempt to grapple with issues of human psychology, justice, love, race, and democracy. The readings, videos, and recordings are meant to provide a source of material for examining what, if anything, African American literary producers have to say about what it means to be human, why and how race matters, the nature of justice, the efficacy of love, gender and class identities, and the possibility of creating a society of equals. Lastly, in-class discussions and out-of-class projects are meant to assists in skill development for (in the words of bell hooks) transgressive engagement with all texts and media.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts, Literature
Equated Courses: ENG-241

BLS-272 Southern Gothic Literature

This class is about the ghosts that haunt the literature of the American South. After the Civil War, when the ideal of the pastoral plantation crumbled, Southern writers sought to contend with the brutal historic realities that had always lurked behind the white-pillared façade: poverty, violence, slavery, racism, patriarchy. Southern Gothic literature- which emerged in the early 19th century and continues strong today-is marked by dark humor, transgressive desires, grotesque violence, folk spiritualism, hereditary sins, emotional and environmental isolation, supernatural forces, and punishing madness. In this class, we will listen to the stories that the ghosts of the American South have told, and still tell today.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Literature/Fine Arts
Equated Courses: ENG-250

BLS-280 Special Topics

The objective of this class is to develop the student's ability to think interdisciplinarily. Through the analysis of a particular theme, topic, cultural expression, or political movement, students will gain a greater understanding of Black Studies scholarship and methodology/ies. Since the content of this course varies from year to year, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor's approval. Topics vary with each scheduled offering. Refer to Student Planning's section information for descriptions of individual offerings, and applicability to distribution requirements.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution:

BLS-281 African American History

Emphasis on several crucial periods: slavery; Reconstruction and its aftermath; the civil rights and Black liberation movements of the 1960s; and contemporary African American culture. Relations between Blacks and Whites will be examined through the reading and discussion of classic African American texts by Douglass, Jacobs, Washington, DuBois, Wright, Angelou, Moody, Walker, Malcolm X, King, Baldwin, Gates, and others.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: , History/Philosophy/Religion
Equated Courses: HIS-244

BLS-282 Africa Since 1885

Emphasis on several crucial periods: slavery; Reconstruction and its aftermath; the civil rights and Black liberation movements of the 1960s; and contemporary African American culture. Relations between Blacks and Whites will be examined through the reading and discussion of classic African American texts by Douglass, Jacobs, Washington, DuBois, Wright, Angelou, Moody, Walker, Malcolm X, King, Baldwin, Gates, and others.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion, Global Citizenship, Justice, and Diversity
Equated Courses: HIS-272

BLS-283 Philosophy of Race

This course covers the history of the development of the concept of race, the metaphysical framework for thinking about the "reality" of race, the various ways to consider the meaning of race, and the relation between the meaning of race and the experience of racism. Questions about how difference and equality function in the law and the application of the law, concepts of white privilege and community investment in racial distinctions, intersectional analyses that think race together with gender, class and sexuality and the concept of race in colonial and post-colonial settings are likely topics. Meets the Diversity Requirement for the PPE major.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion, , Global Citizenship, Justice, and Diversity
Equated Courses: PHI-217

BLS-284 Politics of the Civil Rights Movement

This course offers an in-depth look at the African American civil rights movement and its significance to the political development of the United States. Topics will include the organizations and campaigns that comprised this historic social movement; the mobilization and experiences of individual civil rights movement participants; the impact of the civil rights movement on public policy; and contemporary social movement efforts to mitigate racial inequality. Particular attention will be paid throughout the course to the role college students played in the civil rights movement.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: Behavioral Science, Global Citizenship, Justice, and Diversity
Equated Courses: PSC-214

BLS-287 Philosophy of Education

This class will examine foundational questions about education (e.g., What is the nature and purpose of education?) with a particular focus upon the role of public schools in a democratic society. We will read and watch texts drawn from philosophy, as well as from literature and history, as we consider the nature of teaching and learning at the classroom level and within the broader society. Issues addressed typically include: tensions between individual students' development and the needs of the broader society; the role of the educational system in a diverse and multicultural society; the nature and goals of classroom relationship (teacher/student and student/student); and approaches to educational reform. Level: Open to any student; required of all Education Studies minors. Offered fall and spring semesters.
Prerequisites: ENG-101 or established proficiency
Corequisites: ENG-101 or established proficiency
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
Equated Courses: EDU-201

BLS-288 Educational Policy & Eval

This course examines educational policy at the federal and state levels. We will explore the role of educational policy in guiding educational evaluation, with particular focus upon the use-and abuse-of statistical approaches to the evaluation of teaching and learning. After an introduction to the assumptions underlying qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods designs for educational research, the focus turns to the ways in which teaching and learning processes are understood and measured in public education. Standardized testing and common practices such as "quantitizing" qualitative data are examined for their assumptions and limitations in educational settings. The goal of the course is the development of quantitative skills and literacies needed for critical participation in public discussions and decision-making about these metrics as tools for diagnosis and reform in public education. In particular, students will be prepared to better evaluate political debate and news coverage related to the assessment of teaching and learning. Calculation of descriptive statistics commonly used in classroom assessments and in standardized educational measures, including those with normal and with skewed distributions, is taught using Excel. Substantial practice is devoted to representation and interpretation of quantitative data, using Excel's graphing and charting functions.
Prerequisites: FRT-101
Credit: 1
Distribution: Quantitative Literacy,
Equated Courses: EDU-240

BLS-289 Civic Literacy & Democracy

This course examines the role of P12 social studies education in preparing students for participation in democracy in an increasingly diverse and global country and world. We consider what kinds of social studies content would be required to meet the needs of responsible democratic citizenship and governance today, with inquiry into selected current controversies over the teaching of social studies fields including history, geography, psychology, sociology, economics, and government. We explore the underlying social and historic forces that have led to the present moment, and consider the ways in which broader social beliefs and values may interact and conflict with approved and proposed social studies standards and content. Specific topics taught in a given year may vary, but will be drawn from current and recent events. Recent topics have included #BlackLivesMattter; Indigenous treaty rights; the role of Confederacy remembrances in the modern era; immigrant rights and exclusion policies and practices; and the content and focus of U.S. government courses in relation to ongoing questions about individual rights and freedoms that derive from the 1st and 2nd Amendments.
Prerequisites: Take ENG-101
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
Equated Courses: EDU-250

BLS-300 Special Topics in Black Studies

Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor's approval. Topics vary with each scheduled offering. Refer to Student Planning's section information for descriptions of individual offerings, and applicability to distribution requirements.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

BLS-303 Diversity and Multicultural Education

This course introduces students to a sociological study of diversity in the U.S. system of public education, with particular attention to schools as sites of social conservation and reproduction. Readings, discussions, and written assignments explore the ways in which opportunity and (in)equality that exist in the wider society are reflected and perpetuated by typical approaches in U.S. schools. These explorations of challenges for schools are accompanied by an examination of multicultural and inclusive curricula and instructional practices. We consider the theoretical underpinnings of multicultural education as well as examples of curricula and practices designed to ameliorate education inequities. Meets the Diversity Requirement for the PPE major.
Prerequisites: EDU-201 (recommended)
Credit: 1
Distribution: Behavioral Science,
Equated Courses: EDU-303

BLS-370 Independent Study in Black Studies

Individual research projects. The manner of study will be determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal from a faculty member before registering for the course.
Prerequisites: Take BLS-201;
Credit: 1

BLS-387 Independent Study in Black Studies

This course will allow students to engage in individual research projects. The manner of study will be determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal from a faculty member before registering for the course
Prerequisites: Take BLS-201;
Credit: 1

BLS-388 Independent Study in Black Studies

This course will allow students to engage in individual research projects. The manner of study will be determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal from a faculty member and the Chair of the Department before registering for the course.
Prerequisites: Take BLS-201;
Credit: 1

BLS-400 Independent Study

This course will allow students to engage in individual research projects. The manner of study will be determined by the student in consultation with the instructor. Students must receive written approval of their project proposal from a faculty member and the Chair of the Department before registering for the course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1

BLS-401 Capstone Seminar

Students will demonstrate facility with Black Studies methods and familiarity with Black Studies sources by preparing a substantial and original work of research and analysis and by giving a public presentation of their work (which might include a conference presentation).
Prerequisites: BLS-201
Credit: 1