Requirements for the Major
Honors in the Major
Distinction in the Major
Thesis of Distinction
Courses
4141 Helen C. White Hall, 600 North Park Street, Madison, WI 53706; 608/263-1642; http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/aas/
Professors Adell, Drewal, James, Plummer, Tesfagiorgis, Thornton, Van Deburg, Werner, Chair; Associate Professor Greene; Assistant Professor Livingston
Undergraduate advisor in the major: Professor Christina Greene, 4119 Helen C. White Hall, 262-4085, cgreene2@wisc.edu
Faculty diversity liaison: Craig Werner, cwerner@wisc.edu
The major in Afro-American studies requires a minimum of 30 credits. Students are required to select one area of concentration. Students concentrating in Areas 1 or 3 are required to select one area of emphasis within the concentration.
Emphasis A: Literature
Emphasis B: The Arts
Emphasis A: Black Women's Studies
Emphasis B: Intergroup Relations
Majors specialize in one area but must take at least one course from each area. A maximum of 40 credits will be counted toward fulfillment of degree requirements. Special Topics courses may be repeated as topics vary. At least 15 credits in upper-level courses numbered 300 or above must be taken in residence at UW-Madison.
Majors should consult with the undergraduate advisor to select those introductory courses that best complement the overall program of study.
All Area 1 majors selecting Emphasis A are required to take:
(1) two courses from: 155, 222, 227, 265;
(2) one course from: 156, 225, 241, 242, 367;
(3) three courses from: 403, 525, 602, 603, 605, 662, 672, 675, 677.
All Area 1 majors selecting Emphasis B are required to take:
(1) two courses from: 156, 225, 241, 242, 367;
(2) one course from: 155, 222, 227, 265;
(3) three courses from: 303, 316 366, 403, 509, 540, 602, 603 669, 674, 675,
676, 679.
Additional credits may be taken from any of the three areas of concentration.
All Area 2 majors are required to take:
(1) one course from: 231, 272 297, 347;
(2) two courses from: 233, 302, 303, 324, 326, 330, 467, 628;
(3) three courses from: 624, 631, 632, 635, 636, 671.
Additional credits may be taken from any of the three areas of concentration.
All Area 3 majors selecting Emphasis A are required to take:
(1) 221;
(2) two courses from: 222, 302, 323, 324, 326, 367;
(3) two courses from: 366, 423, 424, 540, 624, 677, 679.
All Area 3 majors selecting Emphasis B are required to take:
(1) 151;
(2) two courses from: 323, 442, 443;
(3) three courses from: 260, 423, 519, 521, 567, 577, 650, 673.
Additional credits may be taken from any of the three areas of concentration.
Majors in any of the three areas of concentration may choose additional electives from the following: 199, 681, 682, 691, 692, 699. The area of application depends upon the field of the instructor and the topic of the course.
All students must fulfill the L&S requirement of at least 15 credits of upper-level work in the major completed in residence. Afro-American studies courses numbered 300-699 count toward this requirement.
To earn a B.A. or B.S. with Honors in the Major in Afro-American Studies, majors must complete a minimum of 30 credits in the department. At least 15 Afro-American studies credits must be taken at the 500 or 600 level. These are to include completion of the 681-682 Senior Honors Thesis sequence. Honors majors must take at least one course (at any level) from each of the three areas of concentration and at least one course with a cross-cultural or comparative focus (courses 241, 260, 262, 277, 297, 320, 330, 347, 413, 443, or 505). In addition, a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 in all Afro-American studies courses must be attained. Student must also maintain an overall GPA of at least 3.3 in all courses taken at UW-Madison. Students seeking to pursue Honors in the Major must receive permission from the undergraduate advisor before entering the program.
Students should be aware that Honors in the Major is a new program and is still under development and should not assume that the requirements specified in this catalog are complete or fully described. Students should check with the department honors advisor at least once a year to make sure that requirements have not been modified, as well as to seek guidance about planning the best possible Honors in the Major curriculum that reflects their special interests.
Afro-American studies majors not in the honors program may receive the "Distinction in the Major" notation on the transcript by earning a 3.75 grade point average in department courses and successfully completing the 691-692 Senior Thesis project.
The award Thesis of Distinction is granted for an exceptionally good or original thesis, without consideration of the student's record in other work. A committee of at least two faculty members will evaluate the thesis and recommend to the dean the granting of this award where it seems appropriate.
Occasionally offered courses. (Check with the department to see when these courses will be offered.) 302, 330, 430, 503, 504, 604, 631.
151 Introduction to Contemporary Afro-American Society. I or II; 3 cr (e-S-E). Survey of the characteristics and problems of Afro-Americans in contemporary society. P: Open to Fr.
155 They: Race in American Literature. Alt yrs.; 3 cr (e-L-E). The evolution of stereotypes. The literary manifestations of the assumptions black and white American writers hold toward members of the opposite race. P: Open to Fr.
156 Black Music and American Cultural History. I or SS; 3 cr (e-H-E). This course examines the interaction between Afro-American musical culture and its historical context, with an emphasis on the period from 1920 to the present. P: Open to Fr.
199 Directed Study. I, II; 1-3 cr (E). P: Written cons inst only. Open to Fr.
221 Introduction to Black Women's Studies. (Crosslisted with Women St) I; 3 cr (e-Z-E). This course will provide students with an overview of the field of Black women's studies. P: Open to Fr.
222 Introduction to Black Women Writers. (Crosslisted with Women St) I; 3 cr (e-L-E). An introduction to the writings of Afro-American women from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. Fiction, autobiography, non-fiction prose, and poetry will be read and discussed. P: Open to Fr.
225 Introduction to African American Dramatic Literature. I or II; 3 cr (e-H-E). Introduction to the history of African American theater and major African American playwrights and actors. P: First yr stdts only.
227 Masterpieces of African American Literature. I or II; 3 cr (e-L-E). Analysis of major works of African American fiction, drama, poetry and autobiography. Attention given to historical, cultural and biographical contexts. P: Open to Fr.
231 Introduction to Afro-American History. I, II; 3 cr (e-S-E). Survey from the African beginnings to the present day. Focus on slave trade and slavery; major black figures of the past; social, economic, and political trends within the black community. P: Open to Fr.
233 History of Racial Protest Movements in America. I or II; 3 cr (e-S-I). An examination of the organization and political ideas of black resistance movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. P: So st.
241 Introduction to African Art and Architecture. (Crosslisted with Art Hist) I or II; 3 cr (H-E). Regional styles of African art with reference to cultural function and aesthetics. Emphasis on the art of West and Central Africa. Historical beginnings with the ancient art of Nigeria and continuing into the royal and popular categories; comparisons as to subject, form, purpose, ethnic group, regional styles, and country. P: Open to Fr.
242 Introduction to Afro-American Art. (Crosslisted with Art Hist) I or II; 3 cr (e-H-E). Historical survey of Afro-American art. Beginning with the African heritage and concluding with creativity of the 1970s, it examines the evolution of Afro-American art. Attention to the aesthetic sensibilities of diverse styles as well as the social significance of Black art within the art arena. P: Open to Fr.
243 African Diaspora Art History: Caribbean, Central, and South America. I; 3 cr (H-E). Art history (painting, sculpture, architecture, and performance) of Africans and their descendants in the Caribbean, Central, and South America from their arrival in the early 16th century to the present, considering such sites as Brazil, Suriname, Trinidad/Tobago, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto-Rico, Mexico, and Venezuela, and such themes as sacred arts and rites, decorative arts, and festival performance arts. P: Open to Fr.
260 Latin America: An Introduction. (Crosslisted with Spanish, Anthro, Geog, History, Poli Sci, Rur Soc, Soc) I or II or SS; 3-4 cr (S-E). Latin American culture and society from an interdisciplinary perspective; historical developments from pre-Columbian times to the present; political movements; economic problems; social change; ecology in tropical Latin America; legal systems; literature and the arts; cultural contrasts involving the US and Latin America; land reform; labor movements; capitalism, socialism, imperialism; mass media.
262 Introduction to Afro-American Literary Relations: The African Diaspora. Alt yrs.; 3 cr (e-L-E). Literary relationship between two continents. Restructuring of language, mutual themes, the concept of Africa from without. P: Open to Fr & So only.
265 Black Autobiography. Alt yrs.; 3 cr (e-L-I). Autobiographies of major Afro-Americans studied in depth to locate the constants and variables in the Black American experience. Focus on the variety of individual responses to conditions in the United States. P: So or Jr st.
271 Introduction to Afro-American Politics. (Crosslisted with Poli Sci) I or II; 4 cr (e-S-E). Survey of the political conditions in Black America. P: Poli Sci 104 recommended.
272 Race and American Politics from the New Deal to the New Right. II; 3 cr (e-S-E). Survey of the decisive role played by race in American politics, 1932-present. Focus on origins and accomplishments of "the Second Reconstruction"; Black Power and white backlash; contemporary racial politics and issues. P: Open to Fr.
275 Science, Medicine, and Race: A History. (Crosslisted with Med Hist, Hist Sci) Alt yrs.; I; 3 cr (e-Z-E). Surveys the medical and scientific constructions of categories of race, placing the development of racial theories in a broad social and political context. The course will pay particular attention to the importance of racial science in slavery and colonialism. P: Open to Fr.
277 Africa: An Introductory Survey. (Crosslisted with Soc, African, Anthro, Geog, History, Poli Sci) I, II; 4 cr (Z-I). African society and culture, polity and economy in multidisciplinary perspectives from prehistory and ancient kingdoms through the colonial period to contemporary developments, including modern nationalism, economic development and changing social structure. P: Open to Fr.
297 African and African-American Linkages: An Introduction. (Crosslisted with African, History, Poli Sci) II; 4 cr (e-Z-E). Analysis of retention of African elements in African-American oral, written, and material culture. Social, cultural, and political issues regarding race, self-definition, and self-determination in both Africa and North America will be examined. P: Open to Fr.
302 Undergraduate Studies in Afro-American History. I or II; 3 cr (S-I). In-depth treatment of a key theme in black historical studies. Topic to be announced in Timetable each semester. P: So st or cons inst.
303 Blacks, Film, and Society. Alt yrs.; II; 3 cr (e-S-I). Study of the interpretations of the Afro-American past conveyed via theatrical films and television; relationship to other images of blacks found throughout the popular culture; relationship to societal trends. P: So st.
308 Black Music (1920-Present): Rhythm Section and Combos. (Crosslisted with Music) I; Odd yrs.; 2 cr (H-I). Introduction to the history of jazz; traces Black American music from African origins. P: So st and cons inst.
309 Black Music (1920-Present): Vocalist/Trombone/Misc Instrumental. (Crosslisted with Music) Even yrs.; II; 2 cr (H-I). Introduction to the history of jazz: traces Black American music from African origins. P: So st and cons inst.
310 Black Music (1920-Present): The Trumpet. (Crosslisted with Music) Even yrs.; I; 2 cr (H-I). Introduction to the history of jazz: traces Black American Music from African origins. P: So st and cons inst.
311 Black Music (1920-Present): The Saxophone. (Crosslisted with Music) Odd yrs.; II; 2 cr (H-I). Introduction to the history of jazz: traces Black American music from African origins. P: So st and cons inst.
316 African-American Music in Historical Perspective. (Crosslisted with Music) I or II; 3 cr (H-I). Explores the impact of race in the historical formation of African-American music. Emphasizes repertory building and development of skills in historical analysis. Broad musical coverage from nineteenth-century to present. P: Jr st or cons inst.
320 Contemporary African Art. I or II; 3 cr (H-I). Particular attention to stylistic and technical developments in relationship to traditional African society and modernization. P: So st.
323 Gender, Race and Class: Women in U.S. History. (Crosslisted with Women St) I, II; 3 cr (e-S-D). Historical interplay of racism and sexism in the lives of Black and White women of different class backgrounds in the United States. P: So st.
324 Black Women in America: Reconstruction to the Present. (Crosslisted with Women St) I or II; 3 cr (e-H-I). Explores African American women's experience from waning days of slavery to present. Topics include slavery, emancipation, reconstruction, segregation, migration, urban and rural poverty, civil rights, nationalism, feminism and sexual politics. P: So st.
326 Race and Gender in Post-World War II U.S. Society. (Crosslisted with Women St) I or II; 3 cr (e-H-I). Assesses how race and gender (as well as socio-economic status, age, sexuality, region, etc.) shaped the experiences and options of African Americans, especially women, in U.S. society from WW II to the present. P: So st.
330 African/Afro-American Historical Relationships: 1700 to the Present. (Crosslisted with History) I or II; 3 cr (e-S-I). Relationships between Africa and Afro-Americans in the U.S. from the time of the Atlantic slave trade to the present. Focus on resettlement, religion, education, and politics. P: So st.
366 Artistic/Cultural Images of Black Women. I or II; 3 cr (e-H-I). Cultural images by and about Black women; feminine creativity in the arts within their historical, cultural, social, and political contexts. P: So st or cons inst.
367 Art and Visual Culture: Women of the African Diaspora and Africa. (Crosslisted with Women St) II; 3 cr (e-H-I). This course focuses on the art and visual culture by/or pertaining to women throughout the African Diaspora and Africa. Though the focus is on 10th century art by black women, it will go into visual culture (art objects, photographs, images, dress, culturally-coded representation) concerning black women historically. P: Afro-Amer 242; majors only; So st or cons inst.
377 Cultural Cross Currents: West African Dance/Music in the Americas. (Crosslisted with Dance, Music) 3 cr (e-H-I). The influence of traditional West African dance/music heritage in historical, artistic, social contexts in the development of new hybrid forms of music/dance created by cross-pollination of cultures of Africans, Europeans and indigenous peoples in the New World. P: So st.
400 Music Cultures of the World: Africa, Europe, the Americas. (Crosslisted with Music) Alt yrs.; 3 cr (H-D). Explores the performance, transmission, and consumption of traditional and popular musics of Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Employs musical-analytic and critical approaches to trace transnational musical circulation. P: So st.
413 Contemporary African and Caribbean Drama. (Crosslisted with African) 3-4 cr (L-D). A critical study of the major works. P: Jr st or cons inst.
423 Black Feminisms. (Crosslisted with Women St) II; 3 cr (e-S-D). Examines the writings of Black feminists in order to foster interdisciplinary analyses of contemporary Black feminist thought. P: Women St 223 or Afro-Amer/ Women St 323.
424 Women's International Human Rights. (Crosslisted with Women St) II; 3 cr (S-D). An examination of the contemporary development of international human rights and women's rights, and the fundamental contradiction between them. Analyzes core themes and issues of women's international human rights. P: So st.
442 Discrimination and Prejudice in American Society. I or II; 3 cr (e-S-A). Psychosocial theories of prejudice and discrimination; sources, characteristics, and trends of racist beliefs; inter-group relations; relation of prejudice to discrimination; strategies for the reduction of prejudice and discrimination in the U.S. P: Jr st.
443 Mutual Perceptions of Racial Minorities. (Crosslisted with Asian Am) I; 3 cr (e-S-D). Survey course on the mutual perceptions of primarily people of African and Asian ancestry. It focuses on how these groups evaluate perceive and interact with one another and others such as Native Americans, whites and Hispanics. Social psychological perspectives are highlighted as is an international overview. P: Afro-Amer 151 or 673.
467 Slavery in the American South. I or II; 3 cr (e-S-D). Daily life in the slave community, enslavement rationale, resistance to enslavement, institutional profitability, and the physical and psychological effects of servitude. P: So st or cons inst.
469 Interdisciplinary Studies in the Arts. I, II, SS; 1-4 cr (E). Guest artists will offer interdisciplinary courses on topics appropriate to their specializations. P: Consent of department.
501 19th Century Afro-American Literature. I; 3 cr (H-A). Historical and critical analysis of the poetry, fiction, and drama of 19th century African American writers. Also focuses on the essays of major African American intellectuals such as W.E.B. DuBois and Anna Julia Cooper. P: Jr st & 3 cr intermed lit.
509 Seminar in Afro-American Music History and Criticism. (Crosslisted with Music) I or II; 3 cr (H-A). Introduction to historical research in and critical interpretation of Afro-American music. Consideration of standard musical and critical sources. P: Cons inst or Grad st.
519 African American Political Theory. (Crosslisted with Poli Sci) Alt yrs.; II; 3-4 cr (H-A). Explores a range of theories that African Americans have drawn upon to cope with and ameliorate their political circumstances in the United States within the specific parameters of political theory. P: One crse in political theory, moral philos or Afro-Amer studies highly recommended.
521 African American Families. (Crosslisted with Soc Work, HDFS) I or II; 3 cr (e-S-A). Historical background; variations in contemporary family patterns; courtship and marriage, reproduction, and socialization stresses; "culture of poverty" theories; sources of stability and change. P: Jr st or cons inst.
523 Race, American Medicine and Public Health. (Crosslisted with Med Hist, Hist Sci) Irr.; 3 cr (e-S-D). The course will provide historical perspectives on current dilemmas facing black patients and health care professionals. P: Jr or Sr st.
525 Major Authors. I or II; 3 cr (L-A). Intensive literary criticism of the works of selected authors. Emphasis on fiction, but non-fiction when appropriate. Works of one or two authors. P: Jr st & minimum of 2 crses in lit.
540 The Art of African-American Women in the United States. I; 3 cr (e-H-D). A study of historical traditions in the art of Afro-American women in the United States. Examines works of art within prevailing periods and styles. Consideration will be given to content and style as well as to influencing theories, ideologies and social contexts. P: Afro-Amer 242.
567 History of African American Education. (Crosslisted with Ed Pol) I or II or SS; 3 cr (e-S-D). An examination of the social, economic, political, and cultural issues influencing the education of Black Americans from the early nineteenth century to the 1960s. P: Jr st or cons inst.
577 Blacks in Cities. (Crosslisted with Soc) I or II; 3 cr (e-S-A). Urbanization of Black Americans. Focus on Blacks in antebellum cities, migration of Black population, residential distribution, emerging demographic trends, strategies for Black survival in today's cities. P: Jr st.
602 The Harlem Renaissance. I or II; 3 cr (L-A). Black literature and culture during the 1920s. Focus on unique Black literary expression of era, historical background, esthetics, polemical essays. P: Jr st & two crses in Afro-Amer studies.
603 The Black Arts Movement. I or II; 3 cr (H-A). Focuses on the notion of blackness as it is developed in the poetry and drama of key figures of the 1960s Black Arts Movement. Emphasizes the emergence of a critical discourse specific to a "new" black aesthetic. P: Jr st & two crses in Afro-American studies.
604 Afro-American Literary Modernism. I or II; 3 cr (L-A). Comparative analysis of Euro- and Afro-American Modernism. Emphasis on the Epic writings of Hughes, Tolson, Hayden, and Ellison. P: Jr st & minimum of 2 crses in lit.
605 Critical and Theoretical Issues in Afro-American Literature. I; 3 cr (L-A). A problem oriented course designed to focus on critical and theoretical writings about literature by major 20th century African-American writers. Students will be encouraged to test certain prevailing theories of African-American literature against their own readings of primary and secondary sources and to develop their ideas in a research paper. P: Jr st and 6 cr of lit.
624 African American Women's Activism (19th & 20th Centuries). (Crosslisted with Women St) I or II; 3 cr (H-A). Examines Black women's struggles for racial justices; reconsiders conventional notions of leadership, politics and protest. Topics include abolitionism, anti-lynching campaigns, woman suffrage, labor movement, club movement, cultural expressions, civil rights protest, Black feminism/womanism, poverty and welfare rights, environmental racism, etc. P: So st; instr permission required.
628 History of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. (Crosslisted with History) Alt yrs.; II; 3 cr (e-H-A). Civil rights history from 1930-1970. Legal, historical and economic origins of the civil rights movement. Study of the movement's impact on United States culture, politics, and international relations. P: Jr or Sr st or cons inst.
631 Colloquium in Afro-American History. I or II; 3 cr (e-S-A). Readings, discussion, and research seminar for advanced students in Afro-American History. P: Jr or Sr st.
632 Historiography of Afro-American Studies. I or II; 3 cr (S-A). Traces the course and development of Afro-American historical studies from their early days to the present. P: Jr st or cons inst.
635 Afro-American History to 1900. (Crosslisted with History) I; 3 cr (e-S-A). Political, economic, and social development of American Blacks from their removal from Africa to the end of the nineteenth century. P: Jr st or cons inst.
636 Afro-American History Since 1900. (Crosslisted with History) II; 3 cr (e-S-A). An in-depth analysis of social, economic, and political developments within the Black community in twentieth-century America. P: Jr st or cons inst.
643 Selected Topics in African Diaspora Art History. Alt yrs.; 3 cr (e-D). Art history of a specific African cultural tradition (eg. Yoruba, Kongo, Fon, Akan) and its transformation in the Caribbean, Central and South America in response to new social, historical, and hegemonic forces. P: Afro-Amer 241, 242, 243 or cons inst.
650 Seminar: Ethnic/Racial Identity. Alt yrs.; II; 3 cr (A). Survey of social science research on adult group identification among groups of color generally, black Americans in particular. Some attention is given to whiteness. Service-learning is part of the course pedagogy. P: Prev crse in the social sciences or Afro-Amer 673, & Jr st.
662 Selected Topics in Multicultural American Literature. (Crosslisted with English) I or II or SS; 3 cr (e-L-A). Exploration of the nature of multicultural, comparative American literary studies. Consideration of a formal, thematic or historical topic with emphasis on close reading of texts by African-American, Asian-American, American Indian, Jewish-American, Latino/a, and European-American writers. P: 6 cr of intro lit.
671 Selected Topics in Afro-American History. I or II; 3 cr (e-S-A). An intensive analysis of specific themes in the Black American experience. Subjects vary with the instructor. P: Jr st or cons inst.
672 Selected Topics in Afro-American Literature. (Crosslisted with English) I or II or SS; 3 cr (e-L-A). An intensive analysis of specific themes in the Afro-American experience. Subjects vary with instructor. P: Jr st. Stdts wanting cr in English must have 6 cr of intro lit.
673 Selected Topics in Afro-American Society. I or II; 3 cr (e-S-A). An intensive analysis of specific themes in the Afro-American experience. The subjects vary with the instructor. P: Jr st.
674 Selected Topics on Afro-American Artists. (Crosslisted with Art) I or II; 3 cr (e-H-A). Works of Black artists in the U.S. discussed historically in terms of movements which they created and in terms of trends evolving on an international scale. Jr st and cons inst. P: Jr st and cons inst.
675 Selected Topics in Afro-American Culture. I, II, SS; 3 cr (e-A). An intensive analysis of specific themes in the Afro-American experience. P: Varies with topic.
676 Contemporary Black American Art: History and Criticism. I or II; 3 cr (e-H-A). Historical and critical analysis of the visual arts of contemporary Black American artists. Focus on masters of painting, sculpture, and graphic media with particular consideration for historical development and aesthetic value in form and content. P: Afro-Am 242 or cons inst.
677 Critical and Theoretical Perspectives in Black Women's Writings. (Crosslisted with Women St) II; 3 cr (e-L-A). Analyses and interpretations of literary works by black women writers through historical, philosophical, political, feminist, and other contemporary critical methods. P: Undergrads: 2 crses in Afro-Amer lit above intro level, or equiv in another dept of lit. No prereq for Grads.
679 Visual Culture, Gender and Critical Race Theory. I; 3 cr (e-H-A). Examines tensions between visual and verbal representations that variably construct and negotiate power relations in racialized human experience. P: 3 crses at 300 level or above in any one of the following areas: Afro-Amer studies; art; art hist; com arts; curric & instr.
699 Directed Study in Afro-American Studies. I, II; 1-6 cr (A). P: Graded on a lettered basis; requires cons inst.