Summer Courses in AFAM Studies
CAS AA 103: Introduction to African American Literature—Maryanne Boelcskevy
Summer 2 (July 6-August 12), B1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 9 am-12:30 pm
What is the African American literary tradition? How does it change over time? This course introduces the cultural, political, and historical contexts of the African American experience through readings of literature. Readings include poetry, slave narratives, essays and speeches, tales, short stories, and novels. In examining these texts, students consider how culture, politics, and history shape African American literature. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking. 4 cr. Mts w/CAS EN129.
CAS AA 207: Sociology of Race and Ethnicity—Saida Grundy
Summer 2 (July 6-August 12), B1 (IND) Mon./Tues./Thurs. 1-3:30 pm
Examines the fundamental theoretical and empirical approaches regarding race/ethnicity and the current state of race relations in the U.S., exploring both contemporary social problems and the deep historical roots of those problems through a sociological lens. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, The Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy. 4 cr. Mts w/CAS SO207.
CAS AA 234: African Americans in Global Perspective: Slavery and the Creation of Race—Joyce Scott
Summer 1 (May 24-June 30), A1 (IND) Mon./Wed. 9 am-12:30 pm
Studies how chattel slavery in the Americas led to racialization as a primary tool in the creation of American society and New World capitalism. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking. 4 cr.
CAS AA 305: Toni Morrison’s American Times—Maryanne Boelcskevy
Summer 1 (May 25-July 1), A1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 9 am-12:30 pm
Examines how Morrison’s Song of Solomon, Beloved, Jazz, and Love depict crucial times in American history, using historical and literary sources to make visible the interactions between the world of the novel and that of American history. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking. 4 cr. Mts w/CAS EN370.
CAS AA 335: Sociology of Race, Class & Gender—Sarah Miller
Summer 1 (May 25-July 1), A1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 6-9:30 pm
Prereq: (CAS WS 101/102), at least one prior 100- or 200-level sociology course, or consent of the instructor. Examines race, class, gender, and sexuality as intersecting axes of stratification, identity, and experience — acknowledging that no one of us is one thing, one identity, nor motivated by one singular interest, nor privileged or subjugated by one singular form of power. This course studies how these multiple forms of ourselves affect how we are advantaged, disadvantaged, viewed, and understood by the social world. Our social world is, by default, a vast web of social intersections between and across groups with shared, overlapping, and conflicting identities. Within this framework, we investigate the various ways that race, class, and gender affect nearly all of our lived experiences and greatly complicate and nuance concepts of diversity and difference. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, The Individual in Community, Historical Consciousness. 4 cr. Mts w/CAS SO335 & CAS WS335.
To apply the following courses to your African American Studies minor, please submit this petition form:
CAS AM 200: Queens & Goddesses: Black Feminist Aesthetics—Grace McGowan
Summer 1 (May 24-July 2), A1 (IND) Mon./Wed./Fri. 1-3:30 pm
Topic for summer 2021: Queens and Goddesses: Black Feminist Aesthetics. Explores Black feminist ideas of beauty and aesthetics in America, using modern examples of Black women’s cultural production. Focuses on reworkings and reclamations of figures classically associated with beauty and femininity such as Venus, Cleopatra, and Oshun. Sources include Toni Morrison, Audre Lorde, and Beyonce. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Critical Thinking, Research, and Information Literacy. 4 cr.
CFA MH 410: The Poetics and Politics of Hip Hop—Michael Birenbaum Quintero
Summer Session 1 (May 24-June 30) A1 (LEC). MW 1-4:30pm
Students engage with hip-hop history, including aesthetic trends, some important artists and works, regional styles, and its relationship with the larger sociocultural context. Students critique and remake hip hop canons. The course investigates how hip hop is shaped by race, class, and gender issues. Students acquire and apply listening, viewing, and reading skills to interpret primary and secondary sources and bring their analyses of these sources to bear. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness. 4 cr. Tuition: $2920
CFA MH 432: History of Jazz—Andrew Shenton
Summer Session 1 (May 25-July 1). A1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 1-4:30 pm
No prereq; open to all students. A chronological study of the history of — and topics in — jazz, from its beginnings to the present. Focuses on styles, major performers and recordings, individuality and sound, instruments, voices, and forms, as well as social and cultural issues, such as race, popularity and commercialism, the individual versus and within the group, American identity, and global rejection/admiration. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
CFA MH 433: Popular Music & Culture—Victor Coelho
Summer Session 2 (July 6-August 12) B1 (IND). TH 1-4:30pm
Topic for summer 2021: Motown, R&B, and Classic Funk: Soundtracks of Empowerment and Civil Rights. Rhythm and Blues, the classic Motown sound, and Funk are seminal influences in the development of rap, hip hop, fusion, and contemporary urban and R&B styles. But even more, these styles provided the soundtrack of African-American empowerment and community, and were central to the civil rights movement, the relationship between music and politics, and the larger development of popular music in the 20th century. This course follows the trajectory of funk from its roots in rhythm and blues and the highly influential Motown sound through its classic formulation in the 1970s. It concludes with a discussion of the urban transformation and revival of funk over the last two decades. We place these styles within their cultural and social contexts, as well as examine their evolving musical characteristics in some detail through works by Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, George Clinton, and many others. This course is intended for the general university student and neither assumes nor requires previous training in music. 4 cr. Tuition: $2920