AAS 100 B:  Introduction to African American StudiesCStaff
Crosslisted with HIS 103
This course will use approaches and methods designed to explore and understand the experiences of African Americans and the African Diaspora. The course aims to acquaint students with the nature of African American studies as a field of intellectual inquiry and as a degree program offered by the University at Buffalo.
Date/Time:  Tues./Thurs.  8:00-9:20
Baldy 108
3 credits/Lec.
Reg. #306521

AAS 149:  Hip Hop & Social Issues—K. Bhardwaj
Hip hop legend KRS One once called rap music “A revolutionary tool in changing the structure of racist America.”  This course is dedicated to understanding the cultural force that is hip hop.  The course will be an exploration of hip hop culture as a form of African cultural continuity, and we will make strong connections to hip hop with other forms of Black expression.  Starting with the history of hip hop in its varied forms, students will use an interdisciplinary approach to recognize and dissect the social, political and economic issues addressed by hip hop culture (particularly rap music).  Socio-cultural perspectives of African people throughout the diaspora, Latinos and whites regarding hip hop will be of a special focus.
Date/Time:  Monday 7:00-9:40
Capen 258
3 credits/Sem.
Reg. #234977

AAS 199:  Urban Ethnic Environment—Y. Lulat
The U.S. is among those few countries in the world that from the very beginning of their urban development, as a consequence of colonization and immigration, have given rise to cities that are multi-racial and multi-ethnic. In this course our purpose is to explore the character of the modern U.S. city from the perspective of race and ethnicity. Our focus will be on such matters as employment, housing, education, urban culture, city governance, etc. as it affects the quality of life of the dominant racial/ethnic groups that make up the city today. The principal theme holding the course together will be that the city in the U.S. can serve as a vehicle for democracy, as well as undermining it. Note: this will be an audio-visual intensive course.
Date/Time:  Mon./Wed.  6:50-8:05           
Difendorf 205
3 credits/Sem.
Reg. #402937

AAS 230:  Sex: Gender & Pop Culture—A. DeVeaux
Crosslisted with DMS 230 & WS 222
The advent of television in 1950s America coupled with technological advances in filmmaking popularized visual culture as a primary means of both naming and interrogating the ways in which we understand the social constructions of sex, gender, and sexuality. In this course, we will examine how these social constructions (and expectations) are shaped by popular culture, mainly television programming and films; and thus shape our ideas about ourselves and others as “feminine” and “masculine” and “sexual” beings. We will discuss texts on and view episodes of popular television shows such as “Sex and the City,” “The L Word,” “Queer as Folk,” and “Will and Grace.” We will also view several short films. By doing so, we hope to consider a number of questions including (1) how does “entertainment” act as a substitute for the transmission of  social knowledges?; (2) what are the advantages and disadvantages of popular culture in the construction of contemporary American life?; (3) how does popular culture define “racialized” bodies?; (4) how does popular culture impact the consumption of American socio-cultural values, globally?  Students will demonstrate knowledge of scholarly and popular writings on the uses of television and film as shapers of contemporary American culture.
Date/Time:  Tues./Thurs.  12:30-1:50
Clemens 102
3 credits/Sem.
Reg. #281645

AAS 261 KG:  Survey of African American Experience—K. Griffler
Crosslisted with HIS 279
NOTE: Fulfills General Education Requirement (UGC 211)
This course surveys the history of African Americans from African origins to the present. The course focuses on the often overlooked but crucial role of African Americans in shaping US and world history. Topics include: West African civilizations, the slave trade and slavery, abolitionism and the Underground Railroad, Emancipation, post-slavery migrations and labor systems, the rise of Jim Crow, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power.
Date/Time:  Tues. /Thurs.  9:30-10:50
Baldy 108
3 credits/Lec.
Reg.  #425752

AAS 265:  Evolution of Spiritual and Gospel Music—R. Scott
This course is a study of Spiritual and Gospel which constitutes the musical ensemble that deals with ways African Slaves in America coped with hardships of slavery by expressing their dreams and hopes to be free.  This was accomplished by using topics involving Biblical characters, folk songs from Africa, the enslaved American experience.  The course also explores ways in which this tradition of music has been integrated into general American folk traditions of song and dance, well beyond the slave plantations where they originated.
Date/Time:  Monday 7:00-9:40
Norton 218
3 credits/Sem.
Reg. #416182

AAS 270 HEN: Major Issues in Caribbean Studies—K. Henry
This course provides a social, political and economic overview of the Caribbean.  While the course focuses on the twentieth century, it also provides an historical framework for understanding the region.  Discussions of that framework and of the geography and economy of the region lay the groundwork for the course.  Class sessions are devoted in great degree to social and cultural issues, including ones relating to family, education, literature, religion, and popular pastimes.  Our analyses uncover common experiences and identities across linguistic and other boundaries, but space is reserved for particular territories of special historical experience and interest—Haiti and Cuba notably.
Date/Time:  MWF 10:00-10:50
Baldy 108
3 credits/Lec.
Reg. #189415

AAS 280:  Survey of African Studies—P. Ekeh
Crosslisted with HIS 280A
Overview of African history and politics since the continent=s contact with Western Europe in the late fifteenth century.  Covers the subject matter in three phases:  precolonial times, colonialism, and the postcolonial era.  We shall seek to (i) understand the scope and consequences of the Arab and European slave trade in Africa, (ii) examine the dynamics of European imperialism in Africa, and (iii) offer perspectives on current African problems.
Date/Time:  Tues./Thurs.  8:00-9:20
Clemens 103
3 credits/Lec.
Reg. #180632

AAS 294:  African American and Education—Y. Lulat
Formal education is, today, one of the most important avenues for personal and social advancement. This course looks at education from the perspective of equality of educational opportunity for African Americans (and by implication other racial minorities). The course has been divided into two parts: in part one we will study the history of the struggle for equality of educational opportunity by African-Americans (Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Movement, etc.); and in part two we will examine the many dimensions of the struggle as it continues to play out today—both inside and outside the classroom. Topics in the second part will include: racial perspectives on intelligence; affirmative action; the socio-economic and socio-psychological basis of school achievement; teachers and racial identity; the multi-cultural curriculum; desegregation and re-segregation; race and school finance; race and ethnicity in higher education; and so on.
Date/Time:  Mon./Wed.  3:30-4:45
Bell 337
3 credits/Sem.
Reg. #031541

AAS 361 KC:  Slavery and the Underground Railroad—K. Cottrell
This course deals with an aspect of American history (roughly 1830-1860) involving the quest for freedom by African slaves who ran away from bondage through an elaborate system of escape routes stretching from the U.S. South to the North and Canada. Labeled the “Underground Railroad,” these networks were managed by conductors who helped their passengers (the escaped slaves) move from station to station and to reach freedom in the North. The course probes the background history of slavery, the legislative backcloth of the Underground Railroad, its geography of routes, and the biography of its major conductors. The course also explores the local history of the Underground Railroad of Western New York, including planned visits to its stations in Buffalo, Rochester, and Ontario.
Date/Time:  Wednesday 7:00-9:40
O’Brian 212
3 credits/Sem.
Reg. 249725

AAS 363 CAR:  Jr. Seminar:  Directed—J. Carter
Prerequisite:  Permission of Instructor
This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of African American Studies, its relationship to other disciplines, and to social science research methodology. Students read the classic literature in the field and prepare annotated bibliographies. Topics covered may include slavery, colonialism, urbanization and migration, gender and gender construction, and intellectual movements.
Day/Time:  Arranged
734A Clemens
3 credit/Tut.

AAS 392—The Black Church—Staff
Crosslisted with HIS 419 & CPM 392
This course explores the origin and development of the African American church and its role in the sociopolitical and economic organization of African Americans in a comprehensive historical and sociological overview of the African American religious experience.  The course examines elements of the black church that have survived from Africa and includes considerations of the black presence in the Bible.  It considers the black church in the post-emancipation era, including its social roles in the economy, education, etc., and its transformation during the great migration of the World War I Era.  The course also considers the contribution of black theology to twentieth-century black liberation and the Civil Rights movement.
Date/Time:  Wednesday  7:00-9:40
O’Brian 214
3 credits/Sem.
Reg. #397495

AAS 393—Survey of the Black Middle Class—J. Carter
Simultaneously examines two centuries of the black middle class’ virtues and vices, while each student carries out a self-examination of his/her own middleclass aspirations.  The second exercise is achieved with the aid of interest tests that serve as guides for each student’s five-year plan after graduation.
Course Description will be forthcoming
Date/Time:  Tues/Thurs.  5:00-6:20
Baldy 108
3 credits/Lec.
Reg. #250115

AAS 399A: Community Projects—Staff
Students are assigned a research project with a community-based organization, agency, or center.  Much time is spent studying how the agency structures and disseminates its services.  Provision for effective research enables the student to participate in the black community and observe the dynamics of community activities and the role of the black community in decision making in government and social agencies and in the development of cultural and economic activities.
Day/time:  Arranged
Clemens 734A
1-5 credits/Tut.

AAS 425:  Liberation Struggles of the African Diaspora—K.  Griffler
Dual-listed with AAS 564 & Crosslisted with HIS 420
This seminar focuses on the movements of people of African descent in search of freedom from colonialism, racial oppression, slavery and apartheid.  Using a comparative approach, it traces evolving programs and conceptions of the freedom struggle across generations and regions.  Topics include the Haitian Revolution, the African American Civil Rights Movement, and anti-colonial movements of Africa and the Caribbean.  Taking a central struggle from each of the main areas of the African Diaspora—Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States, the course is intended to identify major trends and themes in the liberation struggle of people of African descent over the past two centuries.  In doing so, it both fosters a diasporic understanding of the African American experience and connects the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s to past struggles of people of African descent, including struggles against enslavement and colonialism.  It provides an opportunity for in-depth study of the major thinkers of Black liberation, together with the notions of liberation and freedom from racial oppression.  Date/Time:  Tues./Thurs.  2:00-3:20
Alumni 90
3 credits/Sem.
Reg. #230791

AAS 461:  African Americans in the City—L. Williams
Dual-listed with AAS 561 & Crosslisted with HIS 586
This seminar explores the social, political, and economic development, as well as the transformation of African American urban experiences from the early 19th century to the late 20th century.  Emphases will be placed on the social conditions of urban life, the impact of economic policies, geographical location, labor, migration, family and institutional development, and responses to new forms of social control.  The course explores the relationship between racial identification and community formation, and assesses the impact of notions of community solidarity.  It also examines the impact of class and gender on community formation. The readings for this course include historical accounts, fiction, and other social science treatises, as well as films.  This approach will allow students to examine the ways in which different disciplines address urbanization.
Students are expected to attend each session, actively participate in the discussion, and lead minimally one class.  Short papers on each week’s topic should be presented at the beginning of each class session.  Ideally students should circulate the papers prior to the class meeting. All students will prepare a research project that explores themes developed during the course of the semester.
Day/Time:  Tuesday 3:00-5:40
Alumni 88
3 credits/Reg. #186810

AAS 497: Honors Seminar—L. Williams
Prerequisite:  Permission of Instructor
A one-semester course that builds on AAS 363 and culminates in a research project in cooperation with a member of the department’s faculty.  The Honors Seminar is tutored at a level that is considered more advanced than in the B.A. major program.  Students complete AAS 497 with an awareness of the history of the discipline, its changing foci and relation to other disciplines, its great works and pivotal intellectual figures, and its important research tools and resources.
Day/Time:  Wednesday 3:00-5:40
Clemens 734A
4 credits/Tut.

AAS 498:  Senior Seminar:  Research Project-L. Williams
Prerequisite:  Permission of Instructor
A one-semester course builds on AAS 363 and culminates in a research project in cooperation with a member of the department’s faculty.  Students complete AAS 463 with an awareness of the history of the discipline, its changing foci and relation to other disciplines, its great works and pivotal intellectual figures, and its important research tools and resources.
Day/Time:  Wednesday 3:00-5:40
Clemens 734A
3 credits/Tut.

AAS 499:  Independent Study:  J. Carter-W. Carter-Ekeh-Henry-Griffler-Lulat-Pappas and Williams
Prerequisite:  Permission of Instructor
Individual research under the supervision of a member of the department’s faculty.
Day/Time: Arranged
Arranged
1-8 credits/Tut.

Last Modified: December 20, 2006