Winter 02/Spring 03 Course Descriptions

All courses below are approved to be taught in Winter 2002 and Spring 2003; however, some (or all) may not be offered in either term.  The courses that are offered in Spring link to the Schedule of Classes.  Winter offerings are on the Winter Session site.  Classes with alternative delivery modes (Web based, cable TV, correspondence, etc) are noted in the Schedule at the section level.  The complete list below is a good indicator of what may be offered over the next few years (contact department about offerings).  For explanations of course elements see the Key to Course Descriptions.

Africana Studies (AFAS)  Department Info

AFAS 190 -- Introduction to African History  (3 units)
Description:  Introduction to the major themes and social, political, cultural, and economic developments in sub-Saharan African history. Will cover precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial periods.
Identical to:  HIST 190; HIST is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring, Summer.

AFAS 195A -- African Aesthetics  (1 unit)
Description:  This colloquium represents an elementary introduction to the Africana/African American Studies discipline, illuminating basic concepts, principles, and theories. It will delve into the multifarious dimensions of African American Experience, particularly areas of history, philosophy, political-economy, literature and the arts, and religio-culture and society. Special attention in the colloquium will be paid to issues of class, culture, and gender in the complexity of African American Life.  This is a First-Year Colloquium Course.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 200 -- Africana Studies  (3 units)
Description:  Course provides a comprehensive understanding of the African American experience as grounded in the humanities and social sciences. A broad investigation of Africana history and culture and its subsequent evolution in the United States.
Prerequisite(s):  two courses from Tier One, Traditions and Cultures (TRAD 101,102,103,104).
Approved as:  General Education Tier Two - Humanities.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 204 -- African Diaspora Religion and Culture  (3 units)
Description:  Global, comparative analysis of religion and culture in Africa, the Caribbean, U.S., and South America. Impact of African religions in the contemporary world.
Identical to:  RELI 204.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 220 -- Introduction to African American Studies  (3 units)
Description:  Introductory survey of the literature, history, culture and social issues affecting Black Americans.
Identical to:  SOC 220.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 222 -- African American Studies: A History of Ideas  (3 units)
Description:  The theoretical and philosophical ideas expressed by thinkers of the African world. Issues in the areas of epistemological relativism, ethics, political philosophy and the history of ideas will be examined.
Prerequisite(s):  two courses from Tier One, Traditions and Cultures (TRAD 101,102,103,104).
Approved as:  General Education Tier Two - Humanities.
Approved as:  General Education Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western Area Studies.
Identical to:  PHIL 222, ANTH 222.
Usually offered:  Spring.

AFAS 223 -- African Philosophical Worlds  (3 units)
Description:  Course acquaints students with the theoretical and philosophical ideas expressed by thinkers of the African world. Issues in epistemological relativism, ethics, political philosophy and the history of ideas is examined.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 224 -- Models of Resistance, Post 16th Cent. African Liberation Movements in Southeast  (3 units)
Description:  There were actually several "Souths" during the Holocaust of Enslavement. However, courses taught in the era of African enslavement have tended to focus on the northern most regions, such as Virginia, which are often taken to represent-if not constitute-the South. This course looks at the other "South" and the French and Spanish colonizers of South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. It offers a different perspective of the beginnings of the Great Enslavement and compares and contrasts the lives and struggles of enslaved, freed, and self-emancipated Africans in the Southwest during the tenure of Spain.
Prerequisite(s):  two courses from Tier One, Traditions and Cultures (TRAD 101,102,103,104).
Approved as:  General Education Tier Two - Humanities.
Identical to:  HIST 224.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 230 -- Introduction to African Literature  (3 units)
Description:  Anglophone and Francophone literature. Focuses on major authors; Achebe, Soyinka, Head, Wa Thiong'O, Brutus, Emecheta. Employs bio-literary analysis.
Identical to:  ENGL 230.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 245 -- African Literature in Translation  (3 units)
Description:  Introduction to Francophone African literature coming from the Western part of the African continent, which forms a geographical and cultural entity. Taught in English. Does not court toward fulfillment of language requirement, or the major or minor in French.
Identical to:  FREN 245; FREN is home department.
Usually offered:  Spring.

AFAS 249 -- Images of Africa  (3 units)
Description:  Introduction to African life and culture through explorations in the following areas: history, geography, institutions, the arts, and language and literature. Taught in English. Does not count toward fulfillment of language requirement, or the major or minor in French.
Identical to:  FREN 249; FREN is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 255 -- African American Politics  (3 units)
Description:  This course is designed to illumine the political economy of the African American community in the United States, with special attention to issues of race, politics, class and gender. Major themes in the course will focus on the struggles of African American people for justice from the period of reconstruction through the civil rights and post-civil rights eras. The question of Black political organizing and institution building both within and outside the dominant structures of the U.S. political economy will be discussed throughout the course.
Approved as:  General Education Tier Two - Humanities.
Approved as:  General Education Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western Area Studies.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 260 -- Ethnic Relations in the United States  (3 units)
Description:  Analysis of minority relations and mass movements in urban society; trends in the modern world, with special reference to present-day race problems and social conflict.
Prerequisite(s):  two courses from Tier One, Individuals and Societies (INDV 101, 102, 103, 104).
Approved as:  General Education Tier Two - Individuals and Societies.
Approved as:  General Education Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western Area Studies.
Identical to:  SOC 260; SOC is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 299 -- Independent Study  (1-3 units)
Description:  Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.
May be repeated:  an unlimited number of times, consult your department for details and possible restrictions.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 299H -- Honors Independent Study  (1-3 units)
Description:  Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

AFAS 300 -- Historical Overview of African Cinema and Filmmaking  (3 units)
Description:  Stresses techniques, styles, aesthetics, and comparative content analysis. Explores "socialist realist" narrative and other themes.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 302 -- Africana Studies Research Approaches  (3 units)
Description:  This course is designed to provide students with skills in conducting social science research in the field of Africana Studies. The course will consist of discussions of the role of knowledge, the various methods by which knowledge is acquired, and the manner that interpretations of knowledge occur.
Approved as:  General Education Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western Area Studies.
Usually offered:  Spring.

AFAS 304A -- The Social Construction of Race: Whiteness  (3 units)
Description:  In constructing this course, the recognition of Whiteness/Blackness is not solely a reactionary response to challenges from persons of color; it is also a reflection of the need to provide a narrative of Whiteness/Blackness that intends an understanding of the notion of Whiteness/Blackness as a racial category and the implications of this categorization and association. For example, naming Whiteness displaced it from the unmarked, and unnamed status that is itself an effect of dominance. Within the particular disciplines of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies, Whiteness, Blackness and Race have come to be earnest subjects of study. Being White or Black in the 1990's, however, is far from straightforward. It is riddled with ambiguity and marked by a general sense of racial angst as to what it means to be White or Black. This course will attempt to respond to the question: What does it mean to be Black/White in our global climate?
Approved as:  General Education Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western Area Studies.
Usually offered:  Spring.

AFAS 304B -- The Social Construction of Race:Blackness  (3 units)
Description:  In constructing this course, the recognition of Whiteness/Blackness is not solely a reactionary response to challenges from persons of color: it is also a reflection of the need to provide a narrative of Whiteness/Blackness that intends an understanding of the notion of Whiteness/Blackness as a racial category and the implications of this categorization and association. For example, naming Whiteness displaces it from the unmarked status that is itself an effect of dominance. Within the particular disciplines of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies, Whiteness, Blackness and Race have come to be earnest subjects of Study. Being White or Black in the 1990's, however, is far from straightforward. It is riddled with ambiguity and marked by a general sense of racial angst as to what it means to be White or Black. This course will attempt to respond to the question: what does it mean to be Black/White in our global climate?
Approved as:  General Education Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western Area Studies.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 306 -- African-American Autobiographies: Women and Their Histories  (3 units)
Description:  Students will gain insight into the historical and cultural factors that have created, and continue to perpetuate gender and ethnic inequity. Students will come to understand African American writers, particularly women, as historical agents and self-defined individuals. While the course will emphasize the multiple roles of African American women, as portrayed autobiographically it also incorporates the historical struggles of those around them. It is my goal that through the course material students will see how African Americans are constantly recreating themselves in the face of adversity.
Approved as:  General Education Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western Area Studies.
Identical to:  W S 306.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 307 -- Race, Ethnicity and Culture  (3 units)
Description:  The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to theoretical and epistemological issues cognate to the ideas of race, ethnicity, and culture. Discussions will examine the concepts of race, not only in terms of their sociological meaningfulness, but also in terms of cognitive significance within human culture.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 320 -- The African American Slave Narrative: History and Literature  (3 units)
Description:  This course is designed to introduce undergraduate students to the history of narratives by African slaves before and after the American Civil War. This course will benefit majors/minors in American/African Literature or other interdisciplinary majors who wish to study the historical experiences of minority ethnic cultures in America.
Approved as:  General Education Tier Two - Humanities.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 329 -- Cultures and Societies of Africa  (3 units)
Description:  Introduction to African prehistory, social anthropology, ecology, religions, ancient and modern state formation, slavery, urbanization, and contemporary issues.  This is a Writing Emphasis Course.
Prerequisite(s):  satisfaction of the Mid-Career Writing Assessment (MCWA) or the former upper-division writing.
Identical to:  ANTH 329; ANTH is home department.
Usually offered:  Spring.

AFAS 330 -- Minority Groups and American Politics  (3 units)
Description:  Political problems of the poor; analysis of systematic poverty in the U.S. and theories of causation; selected policy problems: education, housing, job training, enforcement of anti-discrimination statutes; future of "power" movements.
Approved as:  General Education Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western Area Studies.
Identical to:  POL 330; POL is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 339 -- Introduction to African and African-American Art  (3 units)
Description:  Chronological, meta-ethno-aesthetic overview of continental African culture groups and individual African diaspora artists/styles/movements; covers slavery, reconstruction, Harlem renaissance, civil rights and contemporary developments.
Identical to:  ARH 339; ARH is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 340 -- The Politics of Race and the African Experience  (3 units)
Description:  By examining both primary and secondary sources this course explores the historical development of African-American civil rights from 1619 with the arrival of the first Africans to Jamestown colony, to the momentous decision by the Supreme court to desegregate schools in 1954.
Approved as:  General Education Tier Two - Individuals and Societies.
Approved as:  General Education Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western Area Studies.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 342 -- Writers, Women and the Gods  (3 units)
Description:  In order to conceptualize the way gender and ethnicity has shaped women's lives in the public and private domain students will "hear" the voices of African American women in ethnography, history and literature as we discuss the Africana concepts of life, health, beauty and family. The experiences of these women, as expressed in literature have become "formidable" presences in African American culture and history. The self-expression and self-definition, expressed by African American women's voices have generated social and political changes in American history that have also impacted the dominant Euro-American culture of American society.
Approved as:  General Education Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western Area Studies.
May be repeated:  for credit 2 times (maximum 3 enrollments).
Identical to:  ENGL 342, W S 342.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 344 -- African American Religion  (3 units)
Description:  Critical, thematic exegesis of indigenous African and Christian contributions to African American religions. Analyzes role of religion in resisting oppression and racial injustice.
Special exam:  course may be taken by special exam for credit and grade.
Identical to:  ANTH 344, RELI 344.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 347 -- The Old South  (3 units)
Description:  Social, economic, cultural and political history from Jamestown to Secession.
Identical to:  HIST 347; HIST is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 348 -- The South Since the Civil War  (3 units)
Description:  From the Civil War to the present.
Identical to:  HIST 348; HIST is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 351 -- Race and Class in Latin America  (3 units)
Description:  The impact of commercial expansion, urbanization, industrialization, and ideological change on race and class relations in Latin America from the 16th to early 20th century.
Identical to:  HIST 351; HIST is home department.
Usually offered:  Spring.

AFAS 381 -- African/Indigenous Religions  (3 units)
Description:  This course examines religious beliefs in Africa in order to illuminate connections between religion and culture on that continent, and to examine the relationship between religio-culture and the socio-economic and political forces that shape contemporary African societies.
Approved as:  General Education Tier Two - Humanities.
Approved as:  General Education Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western Area Studies.
Identical to:  RELI 381.
Usually offered:  Spring.

AFAS 384 -- Topics in African History  (3 units)
Description:  Regional and/or thematic topics in precolonial, colonial and postcolonial African history, including oral tradition, slavery, religious movements, health and healing, imperialism, and political economy.
Prerequisite(s):  HIST 190 or consent of instructor.
May be repeated:  for credit 1 time (maximum 2 enrollments).
Identical to:  HIST 384; HIST is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring, Summer.

AFAS 396H -- Honors Proseminar  (4 units)
Description:  The development and exchange of scholarly information, usually in a small group setting. The scope of work shall consist of research by course registrants, with the exchange of the results of such research through discussion, reports, and/or papers.The development and exchange of scholarly information, usually in a small group setting. The scope of work shall consist of research by course registrants, with the exchange of the results of such research through discussion, reports, and/or papers.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 399 -- Independent Study  (3 units)
Description:  Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.
May be repeated:  an unlimited number of times, consult your department for details and possible restrictions.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 399H -- Honors Independent Study  (1-3 units)
Description:  Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.
May be repeated:  an unlimited number of times, consult your department for details and possible restrictions.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 420 -- Nineteenth Century African American Writing  (3 units)
Description:  This course on nineteenth century African American writing is designated to encourage critical reading and analysis of the use of literacy/writing by slaves and ex-slaves to engage tensions and aspirations arising out of their condition of servitude and freedom in the antebellum and post bellum periods of American history. Specifically, the course will emphasize critical examination of various writing styles and genres and their implication for understanding the historical/cultural functions of literacy and writing. These styles and genres will include poetry, sermons, pamphets, slave narratives, autobiographies, orations, essays, and novels.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 426 -- Archaeology of Africa  (3 units)
Description:  Survey of the prehistory and early history of Africa, with emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa and on the last ten thousand years.  This is a Writing Emphasis Course.
Prerequisite(s):  satisfaction of the Mid-Career Writing Assessment (MCWA) or the former upper-division writing proficiency requirement (UDWPE); 3 units of archaeology.
Identical to:  ANTH 426; ANTH is home department.
May be convened with:  AFAS 526.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 435 -- The Coming of the Civil War, U.S. 1845-1861  (3 units)
Description:  Political, constitutional, social and economic developments in the U.S. from the Mexican War through the Civil War.
Identical to:  HIST 435; HIST is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 436 -- Civil War and Reconstruction, U.S. 1861-1878  (3 units)
Description:  Political, constitutional, economic, and military developments in the U.S. and the Confederacy during and after the Civil War.
Identical to:  HIST 436; HIST is home department.
Usually offered:  Spring.

AFAS 440 -- The History of African American Women from Slavery to Freedom  (3 units)
Description:  The objective of this course is to provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of the history of Black people in American with a particular eye towards the experiences of Black women. The course will review some of the major historiographical issues presented by scholars of African American Women's History.
May be convened with:  AFAS 540.
Usually offered:  Spring.

AFAS 443 -- Francophone Literature and Culture  (3 units)
Description:  Designed to develop understanding and appreciation of postcolonial literature of French expression and to expand knowledge of Francophone World. Taught in French
Identical to:  FREN 443; FREN is home department.
May be convened with:  AFAS 543.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 450 -- French Literature of Black Africa and the Caribbean  (3 units)
Description:  Studies in written francophone literature of Africa and the Caribbean.
Prerequisite(s):  FREN 350.
Identical to:  FREN 450; FREN is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 467 -- Race and Ethnic Relations  (3 units)
Description:  Social processes involved in minority groups in terms of race, caste, class, ethnicity, politics, and religion.
Identical to:  SOC 467; SOC is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 468 -- Government and Politics of Africa  (3 units)
Description:  Government and politics of African nations south of the Sahara; emphasis on processes of political and economic development.  This is a Writing Emphasis Course.
Prerequisite(s):  satisfaction of the Mid-Career Writing Assessment (MCWA) or the former upper-division writing proficiency requirement (UDWPE); POL 204.
Approved as:  General Education Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western Area Studies.
Identical to:  POL 468; POL is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 475 -- USA & South Africa: Comparative Historical & Political Perspectives  (3 units)
Description:  This course will focus on the historical and political developments of colonialism, racism, and racial segregation in the United States and in South Africa *(Azania) since the beginning of the colonialism-slavery epochs to the present. It will illumine the striking similarities and differences particularly between the slave and Jim Crow South and apartheid South Africa and between dispossession of Indigenous peoples in North America and those of Azania, paying special attention to issues of ideology, color, class, and gender. This class does satisfy requirements for the Africana Studies minor, Study Area I, Africana History, Politics and Economics.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 478 -- African American Literature  (3 units)
Description:  The study of novels, drama and poetry by leading Black writers.
Prerequisite(s):  upper division status.
Identical to:  ENGL 478; ENGL is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 487A -- Race and Public Policy  (3 units)
Description:  Examination of the race issue in the context of American politics. POL 487A focuses primarily on the African experience in America from 1619, when the first slaves were led onto the beach at Jamestown, to approximately 1910 when segregation had replaced slavery.
Prerequisite(s):  POL 201.
Approved as:  General Education Gender, Race, Class, Ethnicity, or Non-Western Area Studies.
Identical to:  POL 487A; POL is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall.

AFAS 487B -- Race and Public Policy  (3 units)
Description:  Examination of the race issue in the context of American politics. Focuses on race related events and policies during the urban/industrial transformation, the Depression and New Deal, World War to the Brown Decision of 1954, the Civil Rights years to the present.
Prerequisite(s):  POL 487A.
Identical to:  POL 487B; POL is home department.
Usually offered:  Spring.

AFAS 495B -- Studies in Black America  (3 units)
Description:  The exchange of scholarly information and/or secondary research, usually in a small group setting. Instruction often includes lectures by several different persons. Research projects may or may not be required of course registrants.
Identical to:  HIST 495B; HIST is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 498 -- Senior Capstone  (1-3 units)
Description:  A culminating experience for majors involving a substantive project that demonstrates a synthesis of learning accumulated in the major, including broadly comprehensive knowledge of the discipline and its methodologies. Senior standing required.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 498H -- Honors Thesis  (3 units)
Description:  An honors thesis is required of all the students graduating with honors. Students ordinarily sign up for this course as a two-semester sequence. The first semester the student performs research under the supervision of a faculty member; the second semester the student writes an honors thesis.
May be repeated:  for a total of 9 units of credit.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 499 -- Independent Study  (1-6 units)
Description:  Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.
May be repeated:  an unlimited number of times, consult your department for details and possible restrictions.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 526 -- Archaeology of Africa  (3 units)
Description:  Survey of the prehistory and early history of Africa, with emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa and on the last ten thousand years. Graduate-level requirements include a 30 page term paper.
Identical to:  ANTH 526; ANTH is home department.
May be convened with:  AFAS 426.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 540 -- The History of African American Women from Slavery to Freedom  (3 units)
Description:  The objective of this course is to provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of the history of Black people in American with a particular eye towards the experiences of Black women. The course will review some of the major historiographical issues presented by scholars of African American Women's History. Graduate-level requirements include additional research papers.
Typical structure:  3 hours discussion, 3 hours lecture.
May be convened with:  AFAS 440.
Usually offered:  Spring.

AFAS 543 -- Francophone Literature and Culture  (3 units)
Description:  Designed to develop understanding and appreciation of postcolonial literature of French expression and to expand knowledge of Francophone World. Taught in French Graduate-level requirements include more emphasis on individual research (reading of/reports on secondary sources mandatory). More substantial assignments (in terms of lenth and quality).
Identical to:  FREN 543; FREN is home department.
May be convened with:  AFAS 443.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.

AFAS 596J -- Issues in African Art History  (3 units)
Description:  The development and exchange of scholarly information, usually in a small group setting. The scope of work shall consist of research by course registrants, with the exchange of the results of such research through discussion, reports, and/or papers.
May be repeated:  for credit 3 times (maximum 4 enrollments).
Identical to:  ARH 596J; ARH is home department.
Usually offered:  Fall, Spring.