Note: All summer 2026 tuition rates and fees are pending approval.

 

African American Studies

College of Arts & Sciences

  • Catastrophe and Memory

    CAS AA 221

    Examines the ways in which catastrophes, both natural and social, enter into cultural memory. Goal is to understand how events that seem to defy comprehension are represented in works of art and given a place in the memory of a culture. Effective Spring 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380

    Summer 1 (May 19-June 26)

    A1 (IND) Mon./Tues./Wed. 9-11:30 am
    Meets w/CAS HI 221 & CAS PO 394

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  • Religion and Hip Hop

    CAS AA 296

    Uses digital media studies to explore diverse religious expressions in hip hop culture. Through critical reading, community field trips, and hands-on technology usage, students consider an often overlooked element in the study of hip hop culture: religion. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380

    Summer 1 (May 19-June 26)

    A1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 9 am-12:30 pm
    James Hill
    Meets w/CAS RN 296

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  • Introduction to African American Women Writers

    CAS AA 304

    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 120) - Examines the African American female literary tradition through selected texts by African American women, written from slavery to the present. Themes include Women in Bondage (Harriet Jacobs and Octavia Butler); Into the Twentieth Century (Frances E. W. Harper, Zora Neale Hurston, and Gwendolyn Brooks); and The Diaspora (Toni Morrison, Jamaica Kincaid, and Paule Marshall). 4 cr. Tuition: $3380

    Summer 2 (June 29-August 7)

    B1 (IND) Tues./Thurs. 1-4:30 pm
    Jewel Pereyra
    Meets w/CAS EN 370

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  • Race and the Politics of Criminal Justice Policy

    CAS AA 319

    Online offering. Considers the following questions: How many people are affected by the criminal justice system? What is the relationship between crime and race? What criminal justice policies, if any, should change? Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380

    Summer 1 (May 12-June 26)

    O1 (IND) Arranged
    Spencer Piston
    Online section O1: Meets online every Wed 1-3 pm for a live class. Nonstandard course dates. Meets w/CAS PO 316

    Summer 2 (June 29-August 14)

    O2 (IND) Arranged
    Spencer Piston
    Online section O2: Meets online every Wed 1-3 pm for a live class. Nonstandard course dates. Meets w/CAS PO 316
    For information about technology requirements for online courses at Boston University, see bu.edu/online/technology. BU Virtual can be reached at buvirtual@bu.edu or 617-358-1960 for additional information.

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  • The Poetics and Politics of Hip Hop

    CAS AA 410

    Students engage with hip hop history, including aesthetic trends, some important artists and works, regional styles, and relationship with the larger sociocultural context. Students will critique and remake hip hop canons. They will identify how hip hop is shaped by race, class, and gender issues and reflect on their own positionality. They will acquire and apply listening, viewing, and reading skills to interpret primary and secondary sources and bring their analyses of these sources to bear. Effective Summer 2026, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness. 4 cr. Tuition: $3380

    Summer 2 (June 29-August 7)

    B1 (LEC) Tues./Thurs. 1-4:30 pm
    Michael Birenbaum Quintero
    Meets w/CFA MH 410

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