ASRC 3400

Being and Becoming Black

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2015-2016.

This course is about being Black throughout the Atlantic world. What constitutes Blackness? What experiences, cultural understandings and social problems shape the identities of people of African descent? In order to address these questions, the course focuses on the people who were relocated by the Atlantic slave trade to the Caribbean, South and Central America, and the United States, and on their subsequent migrations. We will explore the disparate cultural, national, historical and intellectual contexts in which Black identities are constructed, revealing both commonalities and differences. Paying specific attention to how racial identity is shaped by social context, the course will interrogate theories of Black identity formation and notions of Black nationhood, and will examine different perspectives on Diaspora theory. While readings are interdisciplinary in approach, our understandings of Blacks in the Atlantic world will be informed by ethnographic, historical and literary texts covering many cultural contexts including the U.S., England, Kenya, South Africa, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. Students are urged to choose research topics early in the term from a variety of subjects including music, fashion, religion, literature, politics, sports, etc.

When Offered Spring.

Breadth Requirement (GB)
Distribution Category (CA-AS)

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