Black Studies
The Black Studies Minor examines the lived experiences, modes of cultural production and political perspectives of people of African descent. Using a multidisciplinary methodological framework rooted in a liberal arts curriculum, courses utilize a transcontinental approach to the Black experience through the lens of race, gender, sexuality, class, national, and political orientation in the modern world. Black Studies courses incorporate theories, concepts, histories, cultures, theologies and political ideologies central to the Black diaspora through the themes of justice, democracy, citizenship, human rights, liberty, and globalization.
Student Learning Goals
Help students to develop and strengthen critical writing and analytical skills, while challenging traditional ways of thinking about difference;
Foster a critical consciousness about global relations and how Black people play a constitutive and performative role in these relations;
Enable students to understand how knowledge of the Black experience will enhance their engagement with contemporary social, cultural, and political issues and prepare them for world citizenship;
Provide an inter-cultural dimension to student’s growing store of knowledge and encourage critique of received wisdom;
Allow students to learn and practice an interdisciplinary and global model for knowledge production that is grounded in the Black experience;
Instill an appreciation of the liberal arts as useful for understanding and solving the challenges of race, class, gender, nationality, and region.
Requirements for the Minor
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BLS-201 | Introduction to Black Studies | 1 |
| BLS-401 | Capstone Seminar | 1 |
| Black Studies Electives | 3 | |
| Total Credits | 5 | |
BLS-201 is the methods course for the field. Ideally, Black Studies minors will take this course in 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.
In BLS-401, 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).
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