Black Studies (BLKS)
BLKS 2000 - Contemporary Black Worlds - 3 credits
This seminar explores culturally relevant topics in the con- temporary African American world. Changing topic with each offering, students will consider African American experiences from economic, social, historical, racial, cultural, national, and global perspectives. Themes will include such topics as Black Success, contemporary black film, movements for social justice, modern African American literature etc. The specific course description will be in the course selection guide. (Same course as P&H 2000).
This course meets the General Education Diversity requirement.
BLKS 2150 - African-American Literature - 3 credits
Fall and Spring Semesters
Examines African-American literature in its historical contexts from the era of slavery to the present. (Same course as ENG 2150).
This course meets the General Education Diversity requirement.
Prerequisite: Six (6) credits of Writing/English at the 1000- level.
BLKS 2250 - Black Voices Matter: Black Lives, Rhetorics, and Literacies - 3 credits
Fall Semester
This course aims to familiarize students with the rhetorical dimensions of the Black community. It also aims to challenge them to fine tune and practice critical media literacies Students will practice using an intersectional feminist approach to engage with how interlocking identities/oppressions, such as race, gender, class, ability and sexuality are constructed, represented, reproduced, critiqued, policed and disciplined in the larger community, contemporary pop culture and academic discourse. (Same course as WRIT 2250).
This course meets the General Education Diversity requirement and the Reading and Writing Enhancement requirement.
Prerequisite: WRIT 1500 or equivalent course experience.
BLKS 2330 - African-American History - 3 credits
Fall Semester
Comprehensively examines the history of Africans in the United States from their beginnings in Africa through the Middle Passage to the present day. The approach will be topical within a chronological framework. The course will consider the interaction between social, economic, and educational mechanisms created by whites to govern race relations in the US and on efforts by African Americans to accommodate with, modify, and/or abolish these mechanisms. It will also consider the place of African Americans within the Black Diaspora and thus will explore the place of Africans in today’s world. (Same course as P&H 2330).
This course meets the General Education Diversity requirement.
BLKS 2450 - Intro to African-American Cultures - 3 credits
Spring Semester
An introduction to the elements that construct black culture/s in the United States. While there is no monolithic black experience, by exploring elements of the past, we can see how constructed identities have impacted the ways that African Americans are seen and see themselves aiding in the creation of a distinctly rich culture. To aide in this discovery, this objective driven course is organized into chronological and thematic modules taught through both fictional and non-fictional readings, and a Portfolio Project intended to allow students to explore social change over time. Students should note that this is a reading and writing heavy course. (Same course as P&H 2450).
This course meets the General Education Diversity requirement.
BLKS 2492 - African-American Cinema - 3 credits
Alternate Years
This course will be an examination of films made by African- Americans from the early years of cinema to the present. Course will include a focus on the content of the films as well as consideration of the larger social, cultural, economic, and political context of the society in which the films were produced. (Same course as P&H 2492).
This course meets the General Education Diversity requirement.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
BLKS 2541 - Race and Religion in America - 3 credits
Offered periodically within a three-year academic cycle
The class explores some of the characteristics of African religions; slave religion, slave narratives, and their role in slave rebellions; the central role of religion in the African-American community throughout American history; the role of religion in the context of the Atlanta Compromise, Booker T, Washington vs. W.E.B. DuBois; the roles of key people such as Absalom Jones, Richard Allen, Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Marcus Gar- vey, Elijah Muhammad, Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan, Jesse Jackson, James H. Cone, “womanist” thinkers writers/ theologians like Delores Williams and Emilie Townes, etc. A special focus of the course will be on the role of the black church in the struggle for civil rights, highlighting the complex relation- ship between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. The role of religion in the contemporary African-American community(ies) will also be examined. The relationship between African-American religion(s), not existing in isolation, and the dominant white society will also be explored throughout the course. (Same course as PRS 2541).
This course meets the General Education Humanities Breadth requirement and the Information Literacy Enhancement requirement.
BLKS 3050 - Race, Class, Gender and Health - 3 credits
Fall Semester
This course is designed for those students who are interested in exploring the impact that racism, sexism, classism, and heterosexism have on a population’s overall health and well- being. This course will deconstruct these social concepts and their meanings in today’s society and contrast them to the health status of vulnerable communities. Major areas that are explored in this course include the impact of race/cultural on infectious and chronic diseases, the influence of discrimination on illness and death, social status and its relation to health care access, impact of acculturation and assimilation on health and well-being, and methods/strategies of working with diverse populations. Ideal for those who are interested in going into a health-related profession, students are pro- vided with knowledge and skills that are necessary to work with diverse communities. (Same course as HW 3050).
This course meets the General Education Diversity requirement.
Pre- or co-requisites: HW 1000 and junior standing.
BLKS 3600 - Chocolate Cities - 3 credits
Using award winning books, Chocolate Cities (2018) and Color of Law (2017), as guiding texts, this course is designed to explore the major cultural, economic, political, and social issues that have influenced the development of racially segregated cities (and city-spaces) in the United States. Specifically, this course focuses on the African American experience. Chocolate Cities— supplemented with additional texts in cultural studies, urban sociology, urban history, and critical geography as well as music from the eras/genres of blues, soul, and hip-hop—provides a new paradigm for understanding the history of African American “placemaking,” a communal and agentic response to a shared history of institutionalized racial discrimination. (Same course as SOC 3600).
This course meets the General Education Diversity requirement and the Information Literacy Enhancement requirement.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.
BLKS 3900 - The Black Diaspora: Special Topics - 3 credits
Spring Semester
Seminars on any topic directly related to Black cultures and experiences around the world.
This course meets the General Education International/Global Interdependence requirement.