SOCS 636
The Study of Black Folks: African American Studies Then and Now
Ashraf Rushdy
Course Description | |
In this course, we will look at a series of texts that help us define the origins of and the most recent developments in African American Studies. In the first half of the course, we will begin by looking carefully at what is usually considered the formative text in the study of Black life and culture – DuBois’ Souls of Black Folk – and then move on to explore the ways that African American history can be differently viewed through the lenses of Black women’s experiences, working class lives, and the law. We will then examine how institutionalized academics (at Howard University) and organic intellectuals (Black women singing the blues) expressed and interpreted the contested terrain of “Black culture” in the first half of the twentieth century. We will conclude the course by reading a series of books in the disciplines of various social sciences, including economics, public policy studies, anthropology, Women’s Studies, and critical race theory. |
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Required Texts | |
Carnoy, Martin, Faded Dreams: The Politics and Economics of Race in America (Cambridge, UP, 1996) Crenshaw, Kimberlé, et. al., Eds., Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Inspired the Movement (New Press, 1995) Davis, Angela Y., Blues Legacies and Black Feminism (Vintage, 1999) DuBois, W.E.B., Writings (Library of America, 1987) Goldfield, Michael, The Color of Politics: Race and the Mainsprings of American Politics (The New Press, 1997) Gordon-Reed, Annette, Ed., Race on Trial: Law and Justice in American History (Oxford UP, 2002) Hine, Darlene Clark, and Kathleen Thompson, A Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America (Broadway Books, 1998) Holloway, Jonathan Scott, Confronting the Veil: Abram Harris, Jr., E. Franklin Frazier, and Ralph Bunche, 1919-1941 (U of North Carolina P, 2002) Mullings, Leith, On Our Own Terms: Race, Class, and Gender in the Lives of African American Women (Routledge, 1997) Scott, Daryl Michael, Contempt and Pity: Social Policy and the Image of the Damaged Black Psyche, 1880-1996 (U of North Carolina, 1997) Optional Texts (almost all available at Broad Street Books) Marable, Manning, Ed., The New Black Renaissance (Paradigm, 2005) |
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Grade Distribution | |
Your final grade will be based on several factors: a consideration of the overall achievement and degree of improvement over the course of the marked essays, attendance, and participation. I will mark and grade your papers, using the standard A-F grading mode. Papers Paper # 1 - 4 typed, double-spaced pages (max. 1000 words) Paper # 2 - 4 typed, double-spaced pages (max. 1000 words) Paper # 3 - 8 typed, double-spaced pages (max. 3000 words) |
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Course Schedule | |
September 11 |
Origins of Black Studies: |
September 18 |
History Survey I: Women |
September 25 |
History Survey II: Class, Politics, Racism |
October 2 |
History Survey III: Legal Studies |
October 9 |
The Social Sciences and Academic Intellectuals |
October 16 | Fall Break - No Class |
October 23 |
The Blues and Organic Intellectuals |
October 30 |
Economics and Politics |
November 6 |
Social Science and Social Policy |
November 13 |
Critical Race Theory |
November 20 | Thanksgiving - No Class |
November 27 |
Anthropology and Women’s Studies |
December 4 | Conclusion |