African American & Africana Studies Minor
Students will explore African American, African, and African Diasporic intellectual, cultural, and political thought and traditions in both historical and contemporary contexts. African American culture has a story worth telling: one that includes multiple narrative threads that span the communities, cultures, and ethnicities of Africa and the African Diaspora. Through interdisciplinary study of a range of topics related to the local and global histories of people of African descent, students will critically engage with the intersecting dimensions of race, privilege, and oppression in their own lives and in their communities.
For the African American and Africana Studies minor, at least five courses (20 credits) in designated courses are required, all of which may be fulfilled simultaneously with any number of Perspectives requirements. The core course, IN 211 Africana Thought and Practice, is required. For the remaining 16 credits, students may choose at least one course from each of the following areas, at least one of which must be at the 300 or 400 level.
Courses
Literature and the Arts Courses
- IN 301 - Postcolonial Cinema
- IN 327 - REEL Race: In and Out of Hollywood
- IN 416 - South African Cinemas*
- LI 212 - Black Revolutionary Thought
- LI 214 - US Latinx Literature
- LI 215 - Slavery and Freedom
- LI 312 - Harlem Renaissance*
- LI 382 - African American Literature*
- LI 424 - Imagining the Caribbean*
- LI 425 - Afrofuturism: BlackFiction*
- LI 481 - Topics in African American Literature**
- TH 313 - African American Theatre and Culture
- VM 216 - African andAfrican Diaspora Art
- VM 301 - Postcolonial Cinema*
- VM 309 - REEL Race: In and Out of Hollywood*
- VM 416 - South African Cinemas*
Social Sciences and Humanities Courses
- HI 211 - African American History
- HI 227 - Radical Women in Contemporary History
- HI 310 - Demystifying Revolutions*
- IN 203 - Postcolonial Cultures
- IN 208 - Rainbow Nation? Race, Class, and Culture in South Africa
- IN 318 - Worldwide Underground:Hip Hop as Resistance Around the Globe
- IN 421 - Key Contemporary Thinkers: Fanon
- IN 423 - Key Contemporary Thinkers: Du Bois
- PL 332 - Civil Rights
In Context: Ethnic and Racial Studies Courses
- CC 344 - Rhetoric of Social Movements*
- HI 203 - Social Movements in the US
- IN 152 - Cultural Constructions of Identity
- IN 154 - Power and Privilege
- IN 155 - Post-Racial America?
- IN 325 - Space, Race, and Power
- LI 208 - Race and Resistance in US Literatures
- PS 306 - Psychology of Prejudice*
- SO 200 - Race and Ethnicity: The Key Concepts
* Note prerequisites
** Check current course listings for specific topics
Faculty
Claire Andrade-Watkins, professor in Media/Africana Studies, is an award-winning historian/filmmaker who specializes in African cinema, Africana Diaspora Studies, immigration, and gentrification. She teaches courses on postcolonial cinema, race in and out of Hollywood, and first voice narrative.
Michael Brown, assistant professor in Political Science, is a former practicing attorney and former member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of theUnited States. He teaches courses in US government and politics; civil rights (including online sections taught over the summer); the First Amendment; and communication, politics, and law.
Kaysha Corinealdi*, assistant professor in History, is an interdisciplinary historian of modern empires, migration, gender, and activism in the Americas. In her research and teaching, she incorporates diverse source materials and analytical approaches to highlight the richness and complexity of historical inquiry. She teaches courses on radical women in contemporary history and demystifying revolutions.
Sebastian Ferrada, assistant professor in Latinx Studies, specializes in queer of color critique, focusing on the intersections of race, gender, sexuality,and language in the experiences of Latinx communities in the US. They teach courses on queer Latinx communities, as well as Latinx bodies, culture,and power.
Nigel Gibson, professor in Interdisciplinary Studies, is an expert in the fields of Africana thought, postcolonialism, and African studies. He is a leading scholar on Frantz Fanon and teaches a course on Fanon.
Roger House, associate professor in History/Journalism, produces an interdisciplinary forum on social justice history that explores topics on the African American experience. He teaches courses on blacks, whites, and blues; social movements in the US; and African American history.
Kim McLarin, professor in Writing, Literature and Publishing, is the author of several critically acclaimed novels and appears regularly on Basic Black, Boston’s long-running television program devoted to African American themes. She teaches courses on slavery and freedom and blackrevolutionary thought.
Cara Moyer-Duncan, associate professor in Interdisciplinary Studies, possesses scholarly interests in the areas of Africana and cultural studies. She teaches courses on Africana thought and practice; cultural constructions of identity; and race, class, and culture in South Africa.
Yasser Munif, associate professor in Interdisciplinary Studies, specializes in colonial history, racial identities, and the production of postcolonial space in marginal sites. He teaches courses on space, race, and power and post-racial America.
Wendy Walters, professor in Writing, Literature and Publishing, specializes in African American literature, in the larger context of diaspora studies. She teaches courses in African American literature, black speculative fiction, and contemporary black literature.
Please note this may not be a comprehensive list, as our affiliated faculty rotate on a semesterly basis. Please refer to the semester registration listings to identify any additional faculty participating in the minor.
* Minor Coordinator
