AFR 100. Introduction to Africana. This interdisciplinary course introduces students to the discipline and examines the literature, history, arts, material culture, as well as sociological, political, economic, and philosophical perspectives of the experiences of people of African descent in the Americas. The course sheds light on the relationship between the past and the present in shaping Black world making, especially in the Americas. Four themes guide the direction of the course: fragmentation, exclusion, resistance, and community. Not open to students who have received credit for AAS 100. Enrollment limited to 39. Normally offered every year. [AC] [HS] Staff.
AF/RF 162. White Redemption: Cinema and the Co-optation of African American History. Since its origins in the early twentieth century, American film has debated how to represent the presence of black people. This course examines the persistent themes of white goodness, innocence, and blamelessness in films that are allegedly about black history and culture. Historical and cultural topics examined in film include the enslavement of Africans, Reconstruction, The Lost Cause, and the Civil Rights Movement. Not open to students who have received credit for AA/RF 162 or AA/RH 162. Enrollment limited to 29. (Africana: Historical Perspective.) (Africana: Introductory Sequence.) [CP] [HS] C. Nero
AF/RF 202. Coming of Age While Black. This course proceeds from the premise that coming of age while black is fraught with the dangers created by a system of anti-black surveillance. Students examine the "coming-of-age" film in American and international cinema that began during the era of the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1950s. Typically, the films in this subgenre feature a young black protagonist, often a teen, navigating, sometimes successfully but not always, a world defined by intersecting oppressions created by race, class, gender, sexuality, and/or (post)colonial identity. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: RFSS 100, RFSS 120, or AF/RF 162. Not open to students who have received credit for AA/RF 202 or AA/RH 202. Enrollment limited to 39. (Africana: Diaspora.) (Africana: Gender.) (Africana: Historical Perspective.) [AC] [HS] C. Nero.
AA/EN 212. Black Lesbian and Gay Literatures. This course examines black lesbian and gay literatures in English from Africa, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. Students are introduced to critical and historical approaches for analyzing literature about black queer sensibilities. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. C. Nero.
AF/RF 242. Passing/Trespassing. This course examines the rhetoric of containing black bodies in cinematic narratives. In passing narratives light-skinned people move across racial lines supposedly fixed by biology, custom, and law. Passing is also an act of trespassing as black persons enter spaces denoted as white by law or custom. This course calls attention to fear, fantasy, and punishment as ongoing weapons for maintaining white supremacy. Recommended background: at least one course with race as a central topic. Not open to students who have received credit for AA/RF 242 or AA/RH 242. Enrollment limited to 29. (Africana: Gender.) C. Nero.
RFSS 260. Lesbian and Gay Images in Film. This course investigates the representation of lesbians and gays in film from the Golden Age of Hollywood to the contemporary independent filmmaking movement. Topics may include the effect of the "closet" on Hollywood film, homophobic imagery, international queer films, "camp" as a visual and narrative code for homosexuality, the independent filmmaking movement, and the debates about queer visibility in contemporary mass-market and independent films. Not open to students who have received credit for RHET 260. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. [W2] [AC] [HS] C. Nero.
275. African American Public Address. This course is a study of the history of oratory by African American women and men. Students examine religious, political, and ceremonial speeches. Historical topics include the abolition of slavery, Reconstruction, suffrage, the black women's club movement, Garveyism, and the civil rights and Black Power movements. Contemporary topics include affirmative action, gender politics, poverty, education, and racial identity. Open to first-year students. C. Nero.
AF/RF 281. Black Pride and the 1970s. This course focuses on the theme of black pride in artistic expression during the 1970s. Black pride enabled the creation of counter-publics that emerged after the civil rights movement defeated white supremacy laws. Particular attention is given to soul, disco, and funk as sonic movements that empowered young people, enabled gay culture formation, and popularized a modern southern blues; stage productions and literature that brought black feminism to mainstream attention; Broadway productions that fostered pride in black urban aesthetics and sensibilities; and television, radio, and cinema that validated the integrity of black history and culture. Not open to students who have received credit for AA/RF 281. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 29. Normally offered every year. C. Nero.
386. Language and Communication of Black Americans. Charles Dickens wrote in 1842 that "all the women who have been bred in slave states speak more or less like Negroes, from having been constantly in their childhood with black nurses." This course examines the linguistic practices of African Americans alluded to by Dickens. Readings focus on the historical development of "Black English" as a necessary consequence of contact between Europeans and Africans in the New World; on patterns and styles of African American communication such as call-and-response, signifying, and preaching; and on sociopolitical issues such as naming traditions, racial/ethnic identity, gender and language acquisition, and education and employment policy. Enrollment limited to 15. C. Nero.
RFSS 391E. The Interracial Buddy Film.This course examines the intersections of race and gender in the interracial buddy film, an enduring genre that emerged in the civil rights era and has become one of the most profitable film formulas. Students examine how the films construct masculinity and race in political contexts. This course is recommended for sophomores and juniors. Prerequisite(s): one course in rhetoric, film and screen studies. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission is required. (Africana: Gender.) C. Nero.
FYS 313. Whitelands: Cinematic Nightmares. Racial exclusion was a founding principle for the creation of American suburbs, or more appropriately, the "Whitelands." Racist government policies, banking institutions, and practices like restrictive covenants all but insured that by the 1960s the suburbs were overwhelmingly white and Christian, while the inner cities became black and latin bantustans. This seminar examines the Whitelands in Hollywood and independent cinema, from horror classics such as The Stepford Wives and Poltergeist to the more "realistic" American Beauty and Welcome to the Dollhouse. C. Nero.
391C. The Harlem Renaissance. This course examines the extraordinary creativity in the arts and in other aspects of intellectual life by African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s. Although this cultural phenomenon was national in scope, most scholars agree that New York City, and Harlem in particular, was its epicenter. Possible topics include: the artist as iconoclast; contributions to the theater and the performing arts; racial and cultural identity in literature; the formation of a community of black critical theorists; the role in promoting the arts by political movements such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Marcus Garveys Universal Negro Improvement Association; the visual arts and racial identity; and the New Negro Movement, campus revolts, and the "first wave" of demands for black studies in the college and university curriculum. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: English 250, Rhetoric 275, or History 243. Enrollment limited to 15. This course is the same as African American Studies 390A. C. Nero.
s18. Goldberg's Canon: Makin' Whoopi. Whoopi Goldberg has been a locus of cultural contradictions since her arrival in the public's consciousness. Her dark skin and perennially nappy hair defy cultural standards about female beauty, yet she is one of a handful of actresses who can open big budget Hollywood films. The same Hollywood film industry acknowledges her as a "leading lady," yet it has seldom given her "leading lady" roles. This course examines Goldberg's film and television performances, her career as a humorist, and her controversial persona as an antagonistic public figure. Some of the social and cultural issues students address in this unit include skin color and hair texture chauvinism, the grotesque and the comical, racial and gender stereotypes, black lesbianism, and discourses about the black female body. C. Nero.