Interdisciplinary Programs

AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES

Minor: Yes
Number of credits required for minor: 18

For a complete listing of requirements for the minor, consult the College Catalogue.

Required courses appropriate for beginning students:

History 242 African American History - This course, through the use of secondary and primary material, historical documentaries, and critical analyses, will chart the historically complex journeys of African Americans, from the impact of the African Diaspora on colonial America to the Black student sit-ins and the formation of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in 1960.

Distribution Requirement: Humanities

Elective courses appropriate for beginning students:

History 105-05 African-American Intellectual Tradition (Open to first year and sophomores only) - Intellectual history is largely defined by the role that elite thinkers play in the shaping of ideas. This course will adhere to the definition of intellectual history as "the history not of thought, but of (people) thinking." To that end, students will grapple with an intellectual tradition that encompasses the work and thought of both "elite" and "non-elite" actors in the African-American experience. From slaves to senators, the African-American intellectual tradition is broad, wide and deep. Students will examine intellectual responses to slavery, emancipation, nation-building, and the long civil rights movement. In our examination of expressive culture, writings and speeches, we will come to a greater understanding of the centrality and multi-layered meanings of freedom. Finally, students will explore the critical role that African-American intellectuals -- in all their guises -- have played in the shaping of the American historical and intellectual landscape.

Distribution Requirement: Humanities

History 247 The American South - This course examines the social, political, and cultural history of the South as a distinct region of the United States. Because the central dilemma in the South′s historical development has been the issue of race, this course focuses on the evolving relationship between black and white southerners from the seventeenth century to the late twentieth century.

Distribution Requirement: Humanities

History 271 The Atlantic World, 1400-1888 - This course introduces students to the racial and cultural give and take that transformed relations between Africans, Europeans and Native Americans after 1492. Topics include racial and ethnic identity formation, piracy, slavery, crime and popular culture.

Distribution Requirement: Humanities

[ top ]

-----------------------------------------

FILM STUDIES

Minor: Yes
Number of credits required for minor: 20 credit hours.

For a complete listing of requirements for the minor, consult the College Catalogue.

Courses required for the minor and appropriate for beginning students:

English 202 Introduction to the Cinema - This course introduces students to the critical tools involved in the analysis of moving-image media such as film, video, and television. Students will compose essays that demonstrate a historically informed grasp of cinema′s formal techniques and how these produce meaning for spectators. All students must attend a weekly screening. Prerequisite: ENGL 151. Fulfills foundation requirement F5.

Elective courses appropriate for beginning students:

English 242 World Cinema - This course focuses on those national cinemas that lie outside the borders of the United States. Students will study works produced by these diverse cinema cultures that do not conform to the dominant aesthetic and economic model of the “global” entertainment industry. Prerequisite: ENGL 151 or equivalent. Fulfills foundation requirement F5.

English 245 Special Topics in Cinema: Documentary Film - This course introduces students to the history, theory, and practices of nonfiction film and video. Students will learn to compose critical essays that examine how films in this genre negotiate between capturing reality and constructing a story through words and images. Prerequisite: ENGL 151 or equivalent. All students must attend a weekly screening.

Courses that must be taken in sequence:

AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES