Chair: J. Martin Favor
Professors H. S. Alverson (Anthropology), I. Amadiume (Religion), W. W. Cook (English), R. L. Hall (Sociology), G. H. Gerzina (English), N. M. Kasfir (Government), G. M. Langford (Biology), D. L. Pease (English), L. Spitzer (History), K. L. Walker (French and Italian), C. S. Wilder (History); Associate Professors J. A. Byfield (History), J. M. Favor (English), R. A. Franconi (Spanish and Portuguese), S. E. Freidberg (Geography), D. K. King (Sociology); Assistant Professors M. A. Chaney (English), A. A. Coly (AAAS and Comparative Literature), C. E. Hardy (Religion), C. E. Naylor (History); Instructor B. P. Giri (English); Adjunct Associate Professor H. F. Shabazz (Music).
The African and African American Studies (AAAS) Program offers a multidisciplinary program designed to provide students with a critical understanding of the history, art and cultures, economics, politics and social organization of the African Diaspora. The focused as well as comparative study of Africa, North America and the Caribbean are central components of the program. Students explore the innovative scholarship within the field of African and African American Studies while integrating theoretical perspectives and methodologies from various disciplines.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MAJOR
Requirements:
The AAAS major consists of eleven courses:
1. Two survey courses (must include either AAAS 10 or AAAS 11).
One African survey course: AAAS 11, 14, or 15.
One African American survey course: AAAS 10, 12, or 13.
2. Eight elective courses which must include at least two courses from each
of the following distributive designations:
Two courses with SOC, PHR (Classes of 2007 and earlier), TMV (Classes of 2008 and later) or TAS: AAAS 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 25,
26, 33, 37, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 63, 66.
Two courses with ART or LIT: AAAS 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 39, 51, 55, 62, 65, 84.
Two area courses in addition to the survey courses must be among the eight
elective courses with one course focused on Africa and one course on African America including the Caribbean. AAAS 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15 may be used to fulfill this requirement, but more advanced courses are strongly recommended
3. One of the following culminating experience activities:
AAAS 90-96 Senior Seminars in AAAS
AAAS 97 Senior Independent Research in AAAS
AAAS 98 and 99 Honors Thesis in AAAS.
Majors are encouraged to take at least one diaspora course, which may be used to satisfy either area requirement. Courses with the INT distributive designation may satisfy either of the disciplinary requirements. With approval of the Chair, one associated course may be counted toward the major.
MODIFIED MAJOR
African and African American Studies (AAAS) may be undertaken as the secondary part of a modified major. A modified major should be planned to form a coherent program of study with the major. The requirements are four courses in African and African American Studies in addition to those listed for a modified major in the particular department. Early approval of a modified major should be obtained from the student’s major department and from the African and African American Studies Program.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MINORS
Students desiring a minor in African and African American Studies may select one of three areas of concentration: African Diaspora Studies, African Studies, or African American Studies. Minors (especially African Diaspora minors) are encouraged to elect at least one diaspora course, which may be substituted for either area requirement. A senior seminar is not required, but is strongly recommended.
Minor in African Diaspora Studies consists of six courses:
1. Two survey courses, (one must be AAAS 10 or AAAS 11):
One African survey course: AAAS 11, 14, or 15
One African American survey course: AAAS 10, 12, or 13.
2. Four electives, which must include one course each with the following
distributive designations:
One course in SOC, PHR (Classes of 2007 and earlier), TMV (Classes of 2008 and later) or TAS
One course in ART or LIT
The elective courses for the diaspora minor must include two area courses in
addition to the survey courses:
One course on African America (including the Caribbean)
One course on Africa.
Minor in African Studies consists of six courses:
1. One survey course, AAAS 11 Introduction to African Studies, is required.
2. Five elective courses on Africa, which must include at least one course each
with the following distributive designations:
One course in SOC, PHR (Classes of 2007 and earlier), TMV (Classes of 2008 and later) or TAS
One course in ART or LIT
Courses that fulfill the African Studies minor requirements include: AAAS
14, 15, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 53, 55, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66.
Minor in African American Studies consists of six courses:
1. One survey course, AAAS 10 Introduction to African American Studies, is required.
2. Five elective courses on African America including the Caribbean, which must include at least one course each with the following distributive designations:
One course in SOC, PHR (Classes of 2007 and earlier), TMV (Classes of 2008 and later) or TAS
One course in ART or LIT
Courses that fulfill the African American Studies minor requirement include: AAAS 12, 13, 16, 17, 23, 25, 26, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 64.
HONORS PROGRAM
Qualified majors may apply for admission to the Honors Program of the Department during the second or third terms of their junior year. Completion of the Honors Program is prerequisite to graduation with Honors or High Honors in the major subject. In order to qualify for an Honors Program at Dartmouth College, the student must have at the time of application a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 in all subjects and 3.3 grade point average in the major. During two terms of the senior year the honors student will pursue the project under the guidance of a selected staff member by enrolling in AAAS 98/99. The student is expected to produce a substantial thesis as the culmination of the project. A grade of A or A- over the two terms earns High Honors; and a Grade of B+ in the first term is satisfactory to continue for Honors.
I. SURVEY AND EXPERIMENTAL COURSES
7. First-Year Seminar
Consult special listings
10. Introduction to African American Studies
05F: 2
A multidisciplinary investigation into the lives and cultures of people of African descent in the Americas.
Topics may include: the African background, religion and the Black church, popular culture, slavery and resistance, orality and literacy, the Civil Rights Movement, Black nationalism, theories of race and race relations. Dist: SOC. Class of 2007 and earlier: WCult: NA. Class of 2008 and later: WCult: CI. Favor.
11. Introduction to African Studies
06S, 07W: 10A
Multidisciplinary in scope, the course will survey critical social change in African cultures and civilizations through a study of history, art, literature, religion, economy, and politics, paying particular attention to the cultural impacts colonial rule on contemporary societies and states. Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Byfield.
12. Black America to the Civil War (Identical to, and described under, History 16)
06F: 10
13. Black America Since the Civil War (Identical to, and described under, History 17)
06S: 10
14. Pre-Colonial African History (Identical to, and described under, History 5.1)
05F: 11
15. History of Africa Since 1800 (Identical to, and described under, History 66)
06F: 11
16. History, Culture and Society: The Many Faces of Latin America (Identical to, and described under, Latin American and Caribbean Studies 4)
06S: 207W: Arrange
17. Slave Resistance in the United States from the Colonial Era to the Civil War (Identical to, and described under, History 39)
06F: 12
18.2 Experimental Course: Power, Corruption, Resistance in Film and Writing of Contemporary Africa
06S: 10A
This course examines the question of abuse of power and creative resistance in African political discourse in select writings and films. We will cover topics such as the consequences of the colonial experience on African cultures and societies; the struggle for cultural freedom; the new elites and the peasantry; gender and economic, cultural and political expressions of power. We will analyze award winning films. We will also be reading novels by two African women writers, Flora Nwapa and Sindiwe Magona, and the work of a male writer, Chinua Achebe, and short extracts by other African writers. Dist: INT; WCult: NW. Amadiume.
II. AFRICAN AMERICAN COURSES
23. Caribbean History (Identical to, and described under, History 86)
05F, 06F: 2
25. Constructing Black Womanhood (Identical to, and described under Sociology 46 and Women’s and Gender Studies 33)
06W: 2
26. Race, Identity and Rights: Geographic Perspectives on Law (Identical to, and described under, Geography 27)
06X: 2A
30. African American Literature and the Classical Tradition (Identical to Comparative Literature 47 and Classical Studies 10)
Not offered in the period from 05F through 06S
31. Black Theater, U.S.A. (Identical to, and described under, Theater 22)
Not offered in the period from 05F through 06S
32 African American Oratory (Identical to, and described under, Speech 29)
Not offered in the period from 05F through 07S
Dist: ART. Class of 2007 and earlier: WCult: NA. Class of 2008 and later: WCult: CI.
33. The African American Intellectual
Not offered in the period from 05F through 06S
A cross-disciplinary study of the contributions and problems of African American intellectuals in the United States. Given time constraints, we will focus primarily on twentieth century figures and scholarship, to understand works by such thinkers as W.E.B. DuBois, Alain Locke, Zora Hurston, Carter Woodson, Ralph Ellison, E. Franklin Frazier, Angela Davis, Stephen Carter, Derrick Bell, Cornel West and Patricia Williams, as well as the social and intellectual contexts in which they found, and continue to find, themselves. Dist: SOC. Class of 2007 and earlier: WCult: NA. Class of 2008 and later: WCult: CI. Favor.
34. Early Black American Literature (Identical to, and described under, English 43)
06S: 10A07S: Arrange
35. Modern Black American Literature (Identical to, and described under, English 49)
06W: 1207W: Arrange
37. Introduction to Black Religion in the United States (Identical to, and described under, Religion 17)
06S: 11
39. History of Jazz (Identical to, and described under, Music 9)
05F, 06F: 10A
Associated Courses:
English 66.2: Reading Between the Color Line
English 67.5: Toni Morrison
Geography 28, Immigration, Race and Ethnicity
History 37, Black Radical Tradition
in America
History 96.1, Bondage and Freedom in Narratives of Slaves
History 96.2, The Ghetto From Venice to Harlem
Religion 24, Latino/a Religious Traditions
Sociology 63, (and Geography 21) The North American City
III. AFRICAN COURSES
40. Gender Identities and Politics in Africa
05F: 10A
This interdisciplinary course explores the constructions of gender identities in different African socio-cultural contexts. The emphasis is on contemporary Africa, although we will discuss some of the historical framework of these identities. We will read historical accounts of gender in some pre-colonial African societies, investigate the impact of colonialism, and examine gender in some anti-colonial movements. We will also analyze gender in urban and rural contexts, and address such questions as homosexuality and gay rights. Class of 2007 and earlier: WCult: NW. Class of 2008 and earlier: WCult: CI. Coly.
41. Women in Africa (Identical to Women’s and Gender Studies 30)
06W, 07W: 2A
This course will examine different aspects of the female experience in Africa. Beginning with a consideration of roles of women in precolonial African societies, with particular reference to descent, marriage and the family, ritual and religion, productive and reproductive systems, and political organization, the focus will then move through the colonial and contemporary periods to assess changes in female roles. Contrasting experiences for contemporary African women will be emphasized through exploration of their participation in national liberation and politics, of urban and rural lifestyles, Muslim, Christian, and animist religious traditions, educational background, and status differences arising out of social class. The focus for the course includes an analysis of formal political, social, and economic institutions; yet it assumes that African society has been shaped as well by the ‘muted’ perceptions and models of society held by women themselves, and by social processes to which both females and males have contributed. Dist: INT; WCult: NW. Amadiume.
42. Women, Religion and Social Change in Africa and the African Diaspora (Identical to Religion 14 and Women’s and Gender Studies 35)
Not offered in the period from 05F through 06S
43. Indigenous African Religions (Identical to, and described under, Religion 50)
06W: 10A
44. Culture and Culture Change in Post-Colonial Africa (Identical to, and described under, Anthropology 36)
06W: 12
45. Africa: Ecology and Development (Identical to, and described under, Geography 40)
06S, 07S: 10A
46. History of Modern South Africa (Identical to, and described under, History 67)
06X, 07S: 12
47. Politics and Political Economies in Africa (Identical to, and described under, Government 44)
06S, 07W: 10A
48. Nationalism and Decolonization in Modern Africa (Identical to, and described under, History 68)
06S: 12
51. African Literatures: Masterpieces of Literatures from Africa (Identical to, and described under, Comparative Literature 51)
06W, 06F: 2A
53. African Drama: From Colonialism to the Present (Identical to Theater 23)
Not offered in the period from 05F through 06S
55. Who’s Behind that Camera: Cinematographic Representations of Africa
05F: 2A
This course focuses on the cinemas of Francophone Africa. We will begin with an examination of the early Western filmic representations of Africans as wild savages. We will then proceed to examine how African filmmakers have challenged those images by creating new depictions of their societies. We will explore the social, historical, and political contexts of these films as well as examine each of them closely to better understand their aesthetic and narrative characteristics. Dist: ART; WCult: NW.
Associated Courses:
Environmental Studies 40, Foreign Study in Environment Problems I
Environmental Studies 42, Foreign Study in Environment Problems II
Government 25, Problems of Political Development: India, South Africa and China
History 96.2, Colonialism and Culture in Asia and Africa
IV. AFRICAN DIASPORA AND COMPARATIVE STUDIES
62. African and African American Women Writers: Race, Class, Social Justice (Identical to Women’s and Gender Studies 46)
06S: 10A
This course examines the problems of the past and the present in the politics of culture. Facing, negotiating interconnections of race, class and social justice, we will analyze the many ways in which African ideas and experiences of Africa are reinvented in the minds and writings of African American women. When and how are African ideas based on ethnographic writings re-interpreted and mediated between African cultural values and a Western audience? We will study documentary films, fiction and non-fiction texts. Major writers include Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, etc. The course is multidisciplinary, combining religion, culture social history and oral traditions. Open to all students. Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Amadiume.
63. Ethiopia and Ethiopianism (Identical to, and described under, History 95)
06S: 3A
64. Plantations, Sugar and Slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean (Identical to History 85)
Not offered in the period from 05F through 06S
65. Introduction to Postcolonial Literature (Identical to, and described under, English 58)
06W: 1107W: Arrange
66. Women’s Rituals: From Africa and Around the World (Identical to Religion 52 and Women’s and Gender Studies 35)
06S, 07S: 2A
Associated Courses:
English 72, Black British Literature
French 70, Francophone Literature
Government 65, Global Feminism
Music 4, Music of Non-Western Peoples
Music 10, Oral Tradition Musicianship
Religion 24, Latino/a Religious Traditions
Sociology 66, The Sociology of International Development
V. SPECIAL TOPICS IN AAAS
81. The Civil Rights Movement (Identical to, and described under, History 96.2)
06S, 07W: 10A
87. Women’s Spirit Possession Narratives in Cross Cultural Perspective: Nwapa and the Ezilis (Identical to Religion 51 and Women’s and Gender Studies 35)
Not offered in the period from 05F through 06S
89. Independent Study in African and African American Studies
All terms: Arrange
Available to students who wish to independently explore aspects of African and African American Studies which are not included in courses currently offered at Dartmouth. Open to qualified students with permission of the course instructor and the Chair. (Obtain Proposal Form in the Program office, 121 Silsby.) No student may take more than two such courses without the approval of the program.
Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The AAAS faculty.
VI. CULMINATING ACTIVITY
90-96. Senior Seminars in African and African American Studies
97. Senior Independent Research in African and African American Studies.
All Terms: Arrange
For senior African and African American Studies majors toward the culminating experience, with permission of selected instructor and the Chair. (Obtain Proposal Form in the Program office, 121 Silsby.)
98-99. Honors Thesis in African and African American Studies.
Two Terms of Senior Year: Arrange
The honors student will pursue the project under guidance of selected faculty member and with permission of the Chair. See “A Guide to Honors in African and African American Studies” handout in the Main Office (121 Silsby).