AFRICANA STUDIES (AS) {AFRC}
Undergraduate Courses
001. (HIST007, SOCI027) Introduction to Africana Studies. (D) Humanities & Social Science Sector. Class of 2010 & beyond. Beavers, Charles, Savage, Shaw, Zuberi. The aim of this course
is to provide an interdisciplinary examination of the
complex array of African American and other African Diaspora
social practices and experiences. This class will focus
on both classic texts and modern works that provide an
introduction to the dynamics of African American and
African Diaspora thought and practice. Topics include:
What is Africana Studies?; The History Before 1492; Creating
the African Diaspora After 1500; The Challenge of Freedom;
Race, Gender and Class in the 20th Century; From Black
Studies to Africana Studies: The Future of Africana Studies.
L/R 002. (SOCI001) Introduction to Sociology. (C) Society Sector. All classes. Zuberi. Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and the world. Sociology
is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we examine
and analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and most importantly, how they affect
behavior. The course deconstructs our taken for granted world of social interactions and behaviors and examines what
theory and research can tell about human social behavior.
L/R 006. (ASAM006, SOCI006, URBS160) Race and Ethnic Relations. (C) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Charles, Kao,
Zuberi. Also offered through the College of General Studies - See CGS Course Guide.
The course will examine how social networks, neighborhood context, culture,
and notions of race affect inequality and ethnic relations. The course reviews the studies of ethnic entrepreneurship,
urban segregation, labor force participation, and assimilation processes. The course emphasizes how inequality affects ethnic
relations as well as the economic and social integration of different groups in society.
SM 011. (SOCI011, URBS112) Urban Sociology. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. A comprehensive introduction to the sociological study of cities. Topics will
include theories of urbanism, methods of research, migration, history of cities, gentrification, poverty, urban politics,
suburbanization and globalization. Philadelphia will be used as a recurring example, though the course will devote
attention to cities around the U.S. and the world.
SM 018. (AFST018, ANTH018) Popular Culture in Africa. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Barnes. Freshman Seminar. This course concentrates on popular culture
in sub-Saharan Africa. It examines the way people reflect
on and represent various aspects and issues in their
daily lives, in public media, and through a diverse range
of performative and creative outlets. It explores the
way cultural traditions are created, promulgated, and
perpetuated. It looks at the way popular culture deals
with pleasure and pain; identitity, difference, and diversity;
wealth and power; modernity and history; gender relations;
suppression, resistance, and violence; and local versus
global processes. In short, popular culture will serve
as a window through which to observe contemporary life.
SM 041. (SOCI041, URBS010) Topics in Sociology: Homelessness & Urban Crisis.
(C) Culhane. This course is cross-listed with SOCI 041 (Topics in Sociology) when
the subject matter is related to African American or
other African Diaspora issues. Freshman Seminars. Topics vary from semester to semester. Past offerings include
Society and History, the 1960's: Preludes and Postludes;
Mistakes, Errors, Accidents & Disasters; Urban Analysis
with Computers; Race and Public Policy; Perspectives
on Inequality, Homlessness and the Urban Crisis.
063. (ENGL063) 20th-Century American Literature. (M) Beavers. This course surveys American literature across the twentieth-century, considering
its formal innovations in the wake of modernism, the two World Wars, the Cold War, and postmodernity. Authors treated
might inlcuded: James, Wharton, Eliot Pound, Faulkner, Hemingway, Rhys, Galdwin, Ginsberg, Plath, Pynchon, Walcott,
and Morrison. See the Africana Studies website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana
for a description of the current course offerings.
071. (AFST071, ENGL071) Literatures of Africa and the African Diaspora. (M) Staff. This course will serve as an introduction to a particularly
rich arena of literature in English. It will also help
students to begin to understand many of the racial subtexts underlying the culture wars
in America, where too often in the full glare of cameras,
an anguished voice informs the audience that "as
an African, I cannot expect justice in this America." One
of the things at work here is the assumption of a common
African diasporic identity -- understood as an excluded, marginalized
subtext of identity in the new world. But why is Africa
being involed here? What does "Africa" mean
in this new world context? What is the larger global
context of these assumptions about "Africa" and
what is its history? Does the term "Africa" itself
have a history? What is "African
literature?" This course, therefore, will also help students
not only to ask fundamental questions about identity
but also to understand identity as a moving and dynamic construct.
How, for example, does "Africa" travel to South
America, to the Caribbean Archipelago, and to Europe? See
the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana
for a description of the current offerings.
L/R 075. (AFST075, HIST075) Africa Before 1800. (B) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Cassanelli. Survey of major themes and issues in African history before 1800. Topics include:
early civilizations, African kingdoms and empires, population movements, the spread of Islam, the slave trade
era. Also, emphasis on how historians use archaeology, linguistics, and oral traditions to reconstruct
Africa's early history.
L/R 076. (AFST076, HIST076) Africa Since 1800. (A) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Staff. Survey of major themes, events, and personalities in African history from the
early nineteenth century through the 1960s. Topics include abolition of the slave trade, European imperialism, impact
of colonial rule, African resistance, religious and cultural movements, rise of naturalism and pan-Africanism, issues
of ethnicity, and "tribalisms" in modern Africa.
077. (FOLK075, MUSC075) Jazz: Style and History. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Parberry, Ramsey. Exploration of the family of musical idioms called jazz. Attention will be given
to issues of style, to selected musicians, and to the social, cultural, and scholarly issues raised by its study.
SM 078. (URBS178) Urban University-Community Relations: Faculty-Student Collaborative
Action Seminar. (D) Harkavy. Prerequisite(s): Benjamin Franklin Seminar. One of the seminar's aims
is to help students develop their capacity to solve strategic,
real world problems by working collaboratively in the
classroom and in the West Philadelphia community. Students
work as members of research teams to help solve universal
problems (e.g., poverty, poor schooling, inadequate health
care, etc.) as they are manifested in Penn's local geographic
community of West Philadelphia. The seminar currently
focuses on improving education, specifically college
and career readiness and pathways. Specifically, students
focus their problem-solving research at Sayre High School,
West Philadelphia, which functions as the real-world
site for the seminar's activities. Students typically
are engaged in academically based service-learning at
the Sayre School, with the primary learning activities
occurring on Mondays from 3-5. Other arrangements can
be made at the school if needed. Another goal of the
seminar is to help students develop proposals as to how
a Penn undergraduate education might better empower students
to produce, not simply "consume," societally-useful
knowledge, as well as function as life-long societally-useful
citizens.
079. (ENGL080) Literatures of Jazz. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Beavers.
That modernism is steeped as much in the rituals of race as of innovation is
most evident in the emergence of the music we have come to know as jazz, which results from collaborations and confrontations
taking place both across and within the color line. In this course we will look at jazz and the literary
representations it engendered in order to understand modern American culture. We will explore a dizzying variety of forms,
including autobiography and album liner notes, biography, poetry, fiction, and cinema. We'll examine how race,
gender, and class influenced the development of jazz music, and then will use jazz music to develop critical
approaches to literary form. Students are not required to have a critical understanding of music. Class will involve visits
from musicians and critics, as well as field trips to some of Philadelphia's most vibrant jazz venues.
081. (ENGL081) African-American Literature. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Beavers, Davis, Tillet.
An introduction to African-American literature, typically ranging across a wide
spectrum of moments, genres, and ideological postures, from Reconstruction and the Harlem Renaissance to the
Civil Rights Movement. Most versions of this course will begin in the 19th century; some versions of the course will
concentrate only on the modern period. Topics vary. See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
083. (ENGL083, JWST083) 20th-Century Literatures in Dialogue. (M) Staff. This course is cross-listed with ENGL 083 (20th Century Literatures
in Dialogue) when the course content includes African,
African American, or other African Diaspora literatures. What dialogues have defined and constituted American and other literatures?
This course examines critical intersections between different
literatures, addressing questions of race, ethnicity,
and culture. Previous versions of this course have included
such titles as "African-American and Jewish American
Literature." Our readings will consider a range
of literary interactions, and will take a self-consciously
comparative and intertextual approach. See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
084. (ENGL084) Theories of Race and Ethnicity. (M) Staff. The idea of "race" -- broadly defined as the signification
of biological and socio-cultural differences as an index
of human superiority or inferiority -- has played a crucial
role in the literary imagination and is fundamental to
studying most literatures in English. This course will
examine representations of race in literary practices,
and in particular the centrality of such representations
to the historical unfolding of communities and nations.
How do ideas of race inform and engage with literary
forms and genres in a given historical moment, and how
does literature in turn address the histories and legacies
of racist practices? We will also analyze the connenctions
between questions of race and questions of "ethnicity": what, for instance, is the history of this
concept, and what does it mean to designate a body of
imaginative writing as an "ethnic literature?" See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
L/R 101. (CINE115, ENGL101, GSOC101) Study of an Author. (C) Davis. This is an introduction to literary study through the works of a single author.
We will read several works and approach them--both in discussion and in writing--from a range of critical perspectives.
The author's relation to his or her time, to literary history generally, and to the problems of performance, are likely
to be emphasized. See the Africana Studies Program's website www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for a
description of the current offerings.
SM 103. (HIST104) Freshman Seminar: America after 1800. (C) Staff. This course is cross-listed with HIST 104 (Freshman Seminar: America after 1800)
when the subject matter is related to Africa, African American or African diaspora issues. See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
106. (COML104, ENGL104) Study of a Literary Period. (C) Davis. This is an introduction to literary study through a survey of works from a specific
historical period. Some verions will begin with traditional stories or poems, including a sampling of works in translation.
Others will focus exclusively on modern and contemporary American short fiction or poetry. See Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for a description
of the current offerings.
SM 114. (ENGL113) Poetry Writing Workshop. (A) Beavers. This course is not open to freshmen.
Students wishing to take this course must submit a writing sample as part of the selection
process. This workshop is intended to help students with
prior experience writing poetry develop techniques to
generate poems along with the critical tools necessary
to revise and complete them. Through in-class exercises,
weekly writing assignments, readings of established poets,
and class critique, students will acquire an assortment
of resources that will help them develop a more concrete
sense of voice, rhythm, metaphor, and the image as well
as a deeper understanding of how these things come together
to make a successful poem. In addiiton to weekly writings,
students will be asked to keep a journal, and to produce
a final portfolio of poems.
117. (RELS117) African American Religion. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.
This course is intended as an introuction to movements and figures of
African American religion from slavery to the present.
Lectures, readings, and discussions will focus on themes
related to content and methodology in the study of African
American religious history. Guiding themes include the
relationship between race and gender; the tension between
piety and activity; the ambivalence between mainstream
respectability and racial pride; and the interaction
between Christianity, lived religions, and alternative
traditions
L/R 120. (SOCI120) Social Statistics. (C) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in Formal Reasoning & Analysis. Class of 2009 & prior only. Charles. This course offers
a basic introduction to the applicaiton/interpretation
of statistical analysis in sociology. Upon completion,
you should be familiar with a variety of basic statistical
techniques that allow examination of interesting social
questions. We begin by learning to describe the characteristics
of groups, followed by a discussion of how to examine
and generalize about relationships between the characteristics
of groups. Emphasis is placed on the understanding/interpretation
of statistics used to describe and make generalizations
about group characteristics. In addition to hand calculations,
you will also become familiar with using PCs to run statistical
tests.
135. (AFST135, SOCI135) Law and Society. (C) Fetni. After introducing students to the major theoretical concepts concerning
law and society, significant controversial societal issues
that deal with law and the legal systems both domestically
and internationally will be examined. Class discussions
will focus on issues involving civil liberties, the organization
of courts, legislatures, the legal profession and administrative
agencies. Although the focus will be on law in the United
States, law and society in other countries of Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America will be covered in a comparative context.
Readings include research, reports, statutes and cases.
SM 146. (ANTH146, GSOC146) Writing Multiculturalism. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Sanday.
Diversity is a fact of life, characteristic not only of
the US national culture, but of the global culture as
well. This course introduces anthropological theories
of culture and multiculturalism and the method of ethnography.
Students will read and report on selected classic readings.
After learning the basic concepts, students will be introduced
to the method of ethnography. The core of the course
will revolve around "doing ethnography" by
writing ethnographic field notes on participant-observation
of multiculturalism. Students can use their life experience,
home communities, or Penn as their field of observation.
The goal of the course is to introduce beginning students
to public interest anthropology. No background in anthropology
is required.
147. (FOLK106, MUSC146) Studies in African American Music. (M) Ramsey. Formerly Music 106. This course explores aspects of the origins, style development,
aesthetic philosophies, historiography, and contemporary conventions of African-American musical tradition.
Topics covered include: the music of West and Centeral Africa, the music of colonial America, 19th century
church and dance music, minstrelsy, music of the Harlem Renaissance, jazz, blues, gospel, hip-hop, and film music.
Specific attention is given to the ways in which black music generates "meaning" and to how the social energy
circulating within black music articulates myriad issues about American identity at specific historical moments.
160. (LING160) Introduction to Afro-American and Latino English. (A) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Labov. An introduction to the use
and structure of dialects of English used by the African
American and Latino communities in the United States.
It is an academically based service learning course.
The field work component involves the study of the language
and culture of everyday life and the application of this
knowledge to programs for raising the reading levels
of elementary school children.
SM 161. (LING161) The Sociolinguistics of Reading: A Service Learning Seminar.
(B) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Labov. Prerequisite(s): AFRC/LING
160 or permission of instructor. This course will be
concerned with the application of current knowledge of
dialect differences to reduce the minority differential
in reading achievement. Members will conduct projects
and design computer programs to reduce cultural distance
between teachers and students in local schools and to
develop knowledge of word and sound structure.
168. (HIST168) History of American Law to 1877. (D) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Berry.
This course surveys the development of law in the U.S. to
1877, including such subjects as: the evolution of the
legal profession, the transformation of English law during
the American Revolution, the making and implementation
of the Constitution, and issues concerning business and
economic development, the law of slavery, the status
of women, and civil rights.
169. (HIST169) History of American Law Since 1877. (D) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Berry.
This course covers the development of legal rules and principles concerning
individual and group conduct in the United States since 1877. Such subjects as regulation and deregulation, legal education
and the legal profession, and the legal status of women and minorities will be discussed.
L/R 172. (HIST170) The American South. (D) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. McCurry. Southern culture and history from 1607-1860, from Jamestown to seccession. Traces
the rise of slavery and planation society, the growth of Southern sectionalism and its explosion into Civil War.
Midterm, short paper (5-7 pages) and final.
(HIST176) Afro-American History 1550-1876. (D) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Staff. Also offered through the College of General Studies - See the CGS Course Guide. This
course will study the history of African-Americans
from their first encounter with Europeans in the
16th century to their emancipation during the Civil
War in the U.S. The course focuses on the variety
of black responses to enslavement and forced acculturation
in the New World. The differences in the slave experiences
of various New World countries, and the methods of
black resistance and rebellion to the slave system
will be investigated. The nature and role of free
black communities in antebellum America will be studied.
(HIST177) Afro-American History 1876-Present. (D) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Savage. A study of the major events,
issues, and personalities in Afro-American history
from Reconstruction to the present. The course will also examine the different slave experiences and the methods
of black resistance and rebellion in the various slave
systems.
190. (AFST190, ANTH190, HIST190) Introduction to Africa. (A) Society Sector. All classes. Barnes.During the semester we will focus on the
people and communities of sub-Saharan Africa and on the
ways people represent, reflect on, and react to various
aspects and issues in their lives and the institutions
which dominate their communities. We will focus particularly
on the history, contemporary expression, and inter-relationships
among politics, religion and aesthetic practice. Members
of Penn's African Studies community will share their
expertise with the class and introduce the University's Africa resources. Texts consist of
weekly readings, films, and recordings; and class members
will be expected to attend several lectures outside of
class.
SM 205. (HIST204, LALS204) Major Seminar in History: America After 1800. (M) Staff. Department Permission - Permit Required.
This course is cross-listed with HIST 204 (Major Seminar in History: America
After 1800) when the subject matter is related to African, African American, or other African Diaspora issues. See the Africana Studies Program's website www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for a
description of the current offerings.
SM 206. (HIST206) Major Seminar of the World after 1800. (C) Babou. Department Permission - Permit Required. This course is cross-listed with HIST 206 (Major Seminar of the World after
1800) when the subject matter is related to African, African American, or other African Diaspora issues. A frequent topic
is "African Intellectual History." See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
209. (AFST209, ARTH209) African Art. (M) Staff. This selective survey will examine a variety of the circumstances of sub-Saharan
African art, ranging from imperial to nomadic cultures and from ancient times to comtemporary participation in the
international market. Iconography, themes and style will be concered, as will questions of modernity, religious
impact, tradition and colonialism.
218. (LGST218) Race, Racism, and American Law. (C) Anderson. The goal of this course is to study the role the law has played, and continues
to play, in addressing the problems of racial discrimination in the United States. Contemporary issues such as racial
profiling, affrimative action, and diversity will all be covered in their social and legal context. The basis for
discussion will be assigned texts, articles, editorials and cases. In addition, interactive videos will also be used to aid
class discussion. Course requirements will include examinations and class discussions.
225. (AFST225) African Languages and Culture. (C) Mbeje. Prerequisite(s): AFRC 126 or permission of the instructor.
Offered through the Penn Language Center. The aim of the course is to provide an overall perspective on African languages
and linguistics. No background in linguistics is necessary. Students will be introduced to theoretical linguistics-its
concepts, theories, ways of argumentation, data collection, data analysis, and data interpretation. The
focus will be on the languages and linguistics of Africa to provide you with the knowledge and skills required
to handle the language and language-related issues typical of African conditions. We will cover topics related to formal
linguistics (phonology/phonetics, morphology, syntax, and semantics), aspects of pragmatics as well as the general
socio-linguistic character of African countries. We will also cover language in context, language and culture, borrowing,
multilingualism, and cross-cultural communication in Africa.
SM 230. (AFRC533, SOCI230) Special Topics in Sociology. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Charles, Zuberi.
This course is cross-listed with SOCI 430 (Special Topics
in Sociology) when the subject matter related to African,
African American, or other African Diaspora issues. Topics
vary. Recent courses offered include "African Urbanization," "Race
Relations in American Cities," and "Sociology
of the Black Community." See the African Studies Program's webiste at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
SM 231. (AFST231, FREN231) Cinema Francophone. (M) Moudileno. This course will introduce students to recent films by major directors
from Francophone Africa. While attention will be given
to aesthetic aspects and individual creativity, the viewing
and discussions will be mostly organized around a variety
of (overlapping) themes: History; Tradition/Modernity;
Urban Life; Gender and Sexuality; Politics. Class conducted
in French.
235. (SOCI235) Law and Social Change. (C) Fetni. Beginning with discussion of various perspectives on social change and
law, this course then examines in detail the interdependent
relationship between changes in legal and societal institutions.
Emphasis will be placed on (1) how and when law can be
an instrument for social change, and (2) how and when
social change can cause legal change. In the assessment
of this relationship, the laws of the United States and
other countries as well as international law, will be
studied. Throughout the course, discussions will include
real controversies relevant to social change such as
civil liberties, gender and the law, and issues of nation-building. A comparative
framework will be used in the analysis of this interdependent
relationship between law and social change.
253. (AFST253, ANTH253, FOLK253, MUSC253, GSOC253) Music and Performance of Africa.
(M) Muller. This class provides an overview of the most popular music styles and discussion
of the cultural and political contexts in which they emerged in contemporary Africa. Learning to perform a limited range
of African music/dance will be a part of this course. No prior performance experience required, though completion
of Music 50 is recommended.
(AFST257, PSCI210) Contemporary African Politics. (C) Callaghy, Markovits. The course will consist of an analytic survey of contemporary
politics in the states of sub-Saharan Africa. It
will focus on the complex relationships between state,
society, economy, and external groups in Africa and
will offer a conceptual framework which takes into
account an African politics that is highly fluid
and personalized and frequently very authoritarian
in character. The course will endeavor to provide
a synthesis of political, social, and economic analyses,
which relate the prevailing tendency toward authoritarianism
to the fragmented and rooted yet changing characteristics of African society and economy and to high levels of economic and political
dependence on external actors. Particular attention
will be paid to Africa's interrelated debt, economic,
and development crises.
(ANTH227, FOLK259, LALS258, MUSC258) Caribbean Music and Diaspora. (M) Rommen. This survey course considers Caribbean musics within a broad historical
framework. Caribbean musical pracices are explored
by illustrating the many ways that aesthetics, ritual,
communication, religion, and social structure are embodied
in and contested through performance. These initial
inquiries open onto an investigation of a range of
theoretical concepts that become particularly pertinent
in Caribbean contexts--concepts such as post-colonialism,
migrations, ethnicity, hybridity, sycretism, and gloalization.
Each of these concepts, moreover, will be explored
with a view toward understanding its connections to
the central analytical paradigm of the course--diaspora.
Throughout the course, we will listen to many different
styles and repertories of music, ranging from calypso
to junkanoo, from rumba to merengue, and from dancehall
to zouk. We will then work to understand them not only
in relation to the readings that frame our discussions, but also in relation to our own North-American contexts
of music consumptions and production.
SM 281. (COML325, ENGL281, GSOC281) Topics in African American Literature. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Beavers, Davis, Tillet.
Spaces will be reserved for English Majors. In this advanced
seminar, students will be introduced to a variety of
approaches to African American literatures, and to a
wide spectrum of methodologies and ideological postures
(for example, The Black Arts Movement). The course will
present an assortment of emphases, some of them focused
on georgraphy (for example, the Harlem Renaissance),
others focused on genre (autobiography, poetry or drama),
the politics of gender and class, or a particular grouping
of authors. Previous versions of this course have included "African
American Autobigraphy," "Backgrounds of African
American Literature," "The Black Narrative" (beginning
with eighteenth century slave narratives and working
toward contemporary literature), as well as seminars
on urban spaces, jazz, migration, oral narratives, black
Christianity, and African-American music. See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
SM 283. (AFST283, ENGL271) Topics In the Literature of Africa and the African Diaspora.
(M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.
Spaces will be reserved for English Majors. This course
explores an aspect of the literature of Africa and the
African Diaspora intensively; specific course topics
will vary from year to year. See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
294. (ARTH294) African American Art. (M) Shaw. This course examines over two hundred years of artistic production by
and about people of African descent living in the United
States from the colonial period through WWII. While focusing
primarily on the fine arts, a variety of media and artistic movements will be examined from eighteenth-century colonial portraits
and the material culture of slavery to the transatlantic
modernism of the early Harlem Renaissance.
SM 301. (AFST301) Africa and the African Diaspora. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.
This course will take the form of an introductory seminar
designed to provide undergraduate students an overview
of significant themes and issues focusing on the historical,
political, and cultural relationships between Africans
and their descendants abroad. It will encompass: a review
of different historical periods and geographical locations,
from Ancient Egypt to modern American, Caribbean and
African states; a critical evaluation of social movements
and theories that have developed in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries among scholars of different origins
in their attempt to reconstruct Africa as a center and
the Diaspora as a specific cultural space; and, an exploration
of representation of Africa and the Diaspora in canonical
literary works and other forms of fiction like the visual
arts.
SM 303. (ARTH301, CINE300, ENGL294) Undergraduate Seminar. (M) Massiah, Shaw. Undergraduate Major Preference. Topic varies.
This course is cross-listed with ARTH 301 (Undergraduate Seminar)
when the subject matter is related to African, African American, or other African diaspora issues. See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
SM 308. (FOLK310, RELS310, URBS310) Religious Diversity in America. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. This course is cross-listed
with RELS 310 (Religious Diversity in America) when the title is "Religious and Social Change in West Philadelphia.". In the 1950's America seemed to be a land of Protestant, Catholic, and Jew.
Now it is clearly also a land of Muslims and Hindus, Buddhists and Taoists, Rastafarians and Neo-pagans and many m ore
religious groups. This course will focus upon a variety of topics: religious diversity in West Philadelphia, Philadelphia
and beyond; the politics of religious diveristy; religion in American schools and cities; and conflicts
and cooperation among diverse religious groups.
SM 324. (URBS324) Seminar on Strategies to Reduce Intergroup Tension in Multi-Cultural
Settings: West Philadelphia and Penn as a Test Case.
(B) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Romer, Pouncy. This action-research seminar explores several social science approaches to reducing
intergroup tension, especially in multi-ethnic urban
settings. Tools for analyzing tension are reviewed so
that students can conduct their own studies of the ethinic
and cultural tensions that exist in various local sites
(e.g., public schools, nearby neighborhoods, and Penn
itself). Students are encouraged not only to increase
their understanding of the tensions in their chosen sites
but also to suggest policies and interventions that can
increase intergroup cooperation.
SM 355. (AFST355, GSOC355) Women and Ritual in Africa. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Blakely. This
course will focus on ritual events of Bahemba of eastern
Zaire using written, audio, and film texts from the instructor's
archive (developed over several years of field research
in the region) and ritual events documented by other
researchers in west, central, southern, and east Africa.
Topics to be considered include how gender roles are
constituted and experienced through African ritual, the
significance of spirit possession and spirit mediumship
to folk practitioners, the aesthetics of African ritual,
dimensions of women's ritual power in Africa, and women's
ritual leadership through different life cycle stages.
L/R 363. (HIST363) The Civil War and Reconstruction. (B) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.
Also offered through the College of General Studies
- See CGS Course Guide. This course investigates the major ingredients - political, social, and economic
- leading to the sectional crisis and war, analyzes war and leadership on both sides, and explores the major issues of
Reconstruction.
SM 371. (ENGL371) Topics in the Literature of Africa and the African Diaspora.
(M) Staff. Benjamin Franklin Seminar. This course explores an aspect of the literature of Africa and the African Diaspora
intensively; specific course topics will vary from year to year. See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
SM 381. (ENGL381) Topics in African American Literature. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.
Benjamin Franklin Seminar. In this advanced
seminar, students will be introduced to a variety of
approaches to African American literatures, and to a
wide spectrum of methodologies and ideological postures
(for example, The Black Arts Movement). The course will
present an assortment of emphases, some of them focused
on geography (for example, The Harlem Renaissance), others
focused on genre (autobiography, poetry or drama), the
politics of gender and class, or a particualr grouping
of authors. Previous versions of this course have included "African
American Autobiography," "Backgrounds of African
American Literatures," "The Black Narrative" (beginning
with eighteenth century slave narratives and working
toward contemporary literature), as well as seminars
on urban spaces, jazz, migration, oral narratives, black
Christianity, and African-American music. See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
390. (AFST390) Debates in African Studies. (B) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. An advanced course which examines current debates about African
societies and debates about the study of Africa from
a variety of disciplinary perspectives. This course is
sponsored by the cooperative Africa Consortium between
Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, Haverford and the University of
Pennsylvania and will include students from all four
campuses.
SM 391. (AFST390, FREN390) Survey Francophone Literature. (M) Moudileno. This class will explore the African city as a site of colonial and
postcolonial exchanges by way of twentieth-century European
and African representations. We will examine, on the
one hand, the status of the urban located in Africa in
European works from the colonial period (fiction and
non-fiction including Gide, Leiris, Londres). On the
other hand, we study Africans, focusing on the dreams
and transformations involved in the passage from the
village to the city to the metropole. Essays from history,
sociology, urban studies and postcolonial theory will
supplement the study of primary texts. All readings,
class discussions and written assignments in French.
399. Independent Study. (C) Consult the Africana Studies Program for instructions. Suite 331A, 3401 Walnut.
A study, under faculty supervision, of a problem, area
or topic not included in the formal curriculum.
SM 400. (CINE370) Seminar in Afro-American Studies. (C) Staff. Consult the Africana Studies Program for detailed descriptions. More
than one seminar may be taken in a given semester. Also
offered throught the College of General Studies. See
CGS Couse Guide. Seminars offered in the past have included "Black/Jewish
Relations," "The Black Experience in the American
Political Economy," "Blacks in American Film
and Television," "Black Intellectual Thought," The
Black Family," and "W.E.B. DuBois: Theorizing
Race."
SM 405. (HIST405, RELS439, URBS405) Church and the Urban Challenge. (B) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Lamas. Urban development has
been influenced by religious conceptions of social justice.
Progressive traditions within Judaism, Christianity,
Islam, and Buddhism have yielded: (1) powerful critiques
of oppression and hierarchy as well as (2) alternative economic frameworks for ownership, governance, production, labor,
and community. Historical and contemporary case studies
from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle
East will be considered, as we examine the ways in which
religious responses to poverty, inequality, and ecological
destruction have generated new forms of urban development.
SM 431. (AFRC531, AFRC630, SOCI430, SOCI530) Advanced Special Topics in Sociology.
(M) Charles, Zuberi.
This course is cross-listed with SOCI 430 (Advanced Topics in Sociology) when
the subject matter is related to African, African American, or other African Diaspora issues. Recent courses
offered include "Race, Colonialism and Methods" and "Residential Segregation." See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
SM 472. (URBS472) Race and the City: The Origins and Prospects of the Black Underclass.
(A)Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only.
Hershberg. A minority of African Americans is outside the nation's economic and cultural
mainstream and is in real danger of being left behind by whites and the large majority of the black population.
Debate persists over how this group can be measured and even if underclass is an appropriate descriptive term. The course
will explore the historic origins of this group and determine the degree to which the underlying causes of its problems
are rooted in structural or cultural explanations. These questions are critical for contemporary public policy --
both what needs to be done to produce meaningful changes and the length of time required to bring these about.
SM 480. (URBS480) Liberation and Ownership. (A) Lamas. Who is going to own what we all have a part of creating? The history of the
Americas, and of all peoples everywhere, is an evolving answer to the question of ownership. Ownership is about: the
ties that bind and those that separate; the creation of community and the imposition of hierachies; the dream of home ownership
and ecological despoliation; dependency and the slave yearning to breathe free. Of all the issues relevant
to democracy, oppression, and economic injustice, ownership is arguably the most important and least understood. Utilizing
a variety of disciplinary perspectives, and by focusing on particular global sites, students will assess
and refine their views regarding ownership in light of their own social, political, religious, and/or ethnical commitments.
SM 485. (HIST485) Topics in African-American History. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.
Topics vary. See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
SM 488. (AFST489, HIST489) Africans Abroad: Emigrants, Refugees, and Citizens in
the New African Diaspora. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only.
Cassanelli. This seminar will examine the experiences
of recent emigrants and refugees from Africa, including
many now living in the city of Philadelphia and the surrounding
region. In addition to reading some of the historical
and comparative literature on migration, ethnic diasporas,
and transnationalism, students will have the opportunity
to conduct research on specific African communities in
Philadelphia or elsewhere in North America, Europe, or
the Middle East. African emigres' relations with both
their home and host societies will be explored and compared
with the experience of other immigrant groups over the
past century. Topics include reasons for leaving Africa,
patterns of economic and educational adaptation abroad,
changes in gender and generational roles, issues of cultural
and political identity, and the impact of national immigration
policies.
Graduate Courses
522. (EDUC522) Psychology of the African-American. (B) Stevenson. Using the Afro-centric philosophical understanding of the world, this course
will focus on psychological issues related to African Americans, including the history of African American psychology,
its application across the life span, and contemporary community issues.
SM 529. (HIST529) Readings in African American History to 1900. (C) Distribution Course in Hist &Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. This reading and discussion
seminar will review the issues and resulting historical
literature on the major transitions in the African American
experience from the 16th thru the 19th century. Emphasis
will be on such topcis as the Transatlantic Slave Trade;
the creation of the African Americans in new world colonies,
especially the future US; the apartial emancipation of
the revolutionary era; antebellum slavery and the rise
of cotton agriculture, internal slave migration, and
slave resistance; the "Great American Slave Rebellion" and
the failure of emancipation; the rise of sharecropping,
debt peonage and Jim Crow. There will be a weekly common
reading with reports from three sources; 1) a classic
study which defined the approach to the subject of the
week; 2) modern re-interpretive study or series of articles;
3) a survey of primary resources on the subject. Along
with periodic oral reports with written synoposes, students will prepare a proposal at the end of the seminar for a major research
paper on some aspect of the subject matter covered by the seminar. The proposal will include a literature review,
statment of thesis and its significance, research design, and annotated bibilography.
SM 530. (HIST530) 20th Century Afro-American Historiography. (A) Staff. This course will study major historical works on African American history for
the post-1890 period. Emphasis on intellectual, political, and cultural history, and special attention to current
debates about the relevance of this history and race generally to studies and students of United States history.
SM 531. (AFRC431, SOCI430, SOCI530) Advanced Selected Topics. (C) Charles, Zuberi.
This course is cross-listed with SOCI 531 (Advanced Selected Topics) when the subject matter
is related to African, African American, or other African
Diaspora issues. Topics vary. Recent topics include "Race, Colonialism and Methods," "Residential
Segregation," and "The Demography of Race."See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
SM 533. (AFRC230, LALS530, SOCI230, SOCI530) Advanced Selected Topics in Sociology.
(M) Charles, Zuberi. This course is cross-listed with SOCI 530 (Advanced Selected Topics in Sociology)
when the subject matter is related to African, African American, or other African Diaspora issues. Recent courses
offered include "African Urbanization" and "Critical Race Theory." See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
SM 545. (EDUC543) Historically Black Colleges and Universities. (A) Gasman. Students taking this course will learn about the historical context of HBCUs
in educating African Americans, and how their role has changed since the late 1800's. Students will also be expected
to connect financial, societal, and/or economic connections between the role of HBCUs past and present. Specific contemporary
challenges and success related to HBCUs that will be covered relate to control, enrollment, accreditation,
funding, degree completion, and outreach/retention programming. Students will become familiar with HBCUs in
their own right, as well as in comparison to other postsecondary institutions.
SM 570. (AFST570, COML573, ENGL570) Topics in Afro-American Literature. (M) Staff. This course treats some important aspect of African American literature and
culture. Topics vary. Consult the Center for Africana Studies for detailed course descriptions. Recent topics of the
course have included: "Afro-American Women Writers," "Three Afro-American Writers: Ellison, Gaines and
McPherson," "Afro-American Autobiography," and "Afro-American Literature: Black Music Among the Discourses."
SM 593. (AFST593, FREN593) Studies in Francophone Literature. (M) Moudileno. Topics will vary. Seminar will focus on one area, author, or "problematique" in
Francophone studies. Examples of an area-focused seminar: The African Contemporary Novel or Francophone Caribbean
Writers. Example of a single- author seminar: The Poetry and Drama of Aime Cesaire. Examples of a thematic
approach: writing and national identity, postcolonial conditions, autobiography.
SM 610. (HIST610) Colloquium in American History. (A) Staff. This course is cross-listed with HIST 610 when the subject matter is related
to African, African American, or other African Diaspora issues. See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
SM 624. (SOCI624) Race Relations in American Cities. (M) Staff. The ethnograhic study of race relations in the United States. The social life
and culture of urban race relations in the United States will be emphasized, stressing conceptual and methodological issues.
Selected ethnographic literature will be read and discussed. Students will be expected to carry out an ethnographic
site study.
SM 640. (ENGL600) Proseminar in Africana Studies. (E) Beavers, Charles, Jackson, Thomas, Zuberi. This course focuses on the historical and cultural relationship between Africans
and their descendants abroad.
SM 701. (AFST701, ANTH701, ENGL775, HIST701) African Aesthetics. (B) Ben-Amos, Hardin. Interdisciplinary seminar for discussion of issues of special interest to graduate
students and faculty in African Studies. Topics vary according to the interests and expertise of instructors.
SM 705. (AFST705, ANTH705, FOLK715, MUSC705) Seminar in Ethnomusicology. (A) Muller.In the contemporary jazz canon women rarely feature as significant players in
the production of jazz history: jazz is a field of artistic and popular production largely determined by male performers,
critics and scholars. Combining close reading and close listening, this seminar will consider ways in which women
might begin to be written into the larger jazz narrative, both within the United States and abroad, by expanding the criteria
by which "jazz" is defined, and examining the archive out of which jazz narratives are constructed. A portion
of the seminar will focus on jazz performers of the twentieth century African Diaspora. SM 706. Introduction to Africa and African Diaspora Thought. (C) Staff.
This course examines the processes by which African peoples have established
epistemological, cosmological, and religious systems both prior to and after the institution of Western slavery.
SM 708. Cultural and Literary Theory of Africa and the African Diaspora. (C) Staff. This course introduces students to the theoretical strategies underlying the
construction of coherent communities and systems of representation and how those strategies influence the uses of expressive
culture over time.
SM 710. Political Economy and Social History of Africa and the African Diaspora.
(E) Zuberi. This course provides the opportunity for students to investigate the relationship
between the emergence of African peoples as historical subjects and their location within specific geopolitical
and economic circumstances.
SM 770. (COML773, ENGL770) Afro-American American Literature. (M) Staff. An advanced seminar in African-American literature and culture.
SM 771. (FOLK770, MUSC770) Seminar in Afro-American Music. (M) Ramsey.
This seminar treats selected aspects of the history, aesthetics, criticism and
historiography of African-American music. Topics will vary each time this course is offered.
SM 798. (SWRK799) Advanced Topics. (M) Staff.
This course is cross-listed with SWRK 799 (Advanced Topics) when the subject
matter is related to African, African American, or other African Diaspora issues. A recent topic is "Critical
Race Theory."See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for
a description of the current offerings.
African Language Courses
(AFST170, AFST517) Elementary Yoruba I. (A) Staff. Offered through Penn Language Center. This is an introductory course
in Yoruba whose goals are to introduce students to the
history, geographical location of the people who speak
Yoruba, their culture, customs, and traditions; and to
enable students to develop communicative skills through
listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
(AFST171, AFST518) Elementary Yoruba II. (B) Staff. Prerequisite(s): AFAM 170 or permission of the instructor.
Offered through the Penn Language Center. This course continues to introduce basic grammar, vocabulary, and the reading
and writing of Yoruba to new speakers.
(AFST180, AFST580) Elementary Swahili I. (A) Staff. Offered through the Penn Language Center. Beginning level of Swahili
which provides training and practice in speaking, reading
and writing with initial emphasis on speaking and listening.
Basic grammar, vocabulary, and cultural skills learned
gradually with priority on the spoken language. Especially
during the second term folktales, other texts, and films
will be used to help introduce important aspects of Swahili
culture.
(AFST181, AFST581) Elementary Swahili II. (B) Staff. Prerequisite(s): AFAM 180 or permission of the instructor. Offered through the Penn Language Center. This course continues to introduce basic grammar, vocabulary, and the reading
and writing of Swahili to new speakers. During this term, folktales, other texts, and film selections are used to help
introduce important aspects of Swahili culture and the use of the language in wide areas of Africa.
185. (AFST185, AFST585) Elementary Swahili: Accelerated. (C) Staff. Offered through the Penn Language Center. An intensive beginning level course covering materials in AFRC 180 & 181
emphasizing spoken language and conversational skills.
It provides training and practice in speaking, reading,
and writing with initial emphasis on speaking and listening.
Basic grammar, vocabulary, and cultural skills are learned
gradually through practice in speaking, listening, reading,
and writing, with priority on the spoken language. Folktales,
other texts, and film selections will be used to help
introduce important aspects of Swahili culture and the
use of the language in wide areas of Africa.
240. (AFRC540, AFST240, AFST540, NELC481) Elementary Amharic I. (A) Staff. Offered through the Penn Language Center. The Elementary Amharic I course
can be taken to fulfill a language requirement, or
for linguistic preparation to do research on Ethiopia/Africa-related
topics. The course emphasizes communicative competence
to enable the students to acquire linguistic and extra-linguistic
skills in Amharic. The content of the course is selected
from various everydaylife situations to enable the
students to communicate in predictable commom daily
settings. Culture, as it relates to language use, is
also part of the course content.
241. (AFRC541, AFST241, AFST541, NELC482) Elementary Amharic II. (B) Staff. Offered through the Penn Language Center. This course continues to introduce basic grammar, vocabulary and the reading
and writing of Amharic to new speakers.
242. (AFRC543, AFST242, AFST543, NELC483) Intermediate Amharic I. (A) Wogayehu. Offered through the Penn Language Center.
243 (AFRC544, AFST243, AFST544, NELC484) Intermediate Amharic II. (B) Hailu, Wogayehu. Offered through the Penn Language Center.
247. (AFRC548, AFST247, AFST547) Advanced Amharic. (C) Staff. Offered through the Penn Language Center. An advanced Amharic course that will further sharpen the student's knowledge
of the Amharic language and the culture of the Amharas. The learner's communicative skills will be further developed
through listening, speaking, reading and writing. There will also be discussions on cultural and political issues.
270 (AFST270, AFST529) Intermediate Yoruba I. (A) Awoyale. Prerequisite(s): AFRC 171 or permission of the instructor. Offered through the Penn Language Center.
271 (AFST271, AFST532) Intermediate Yoruba II. (B) Awoyale. Offered throught the Penn Language Center.
280. (AFST280, AFST582) Intermediate Swahili I. (A) Mshomba. Prerequisite(s): AFRC 181 or permission of the instructor. Offered through the Penn Language Center.
282. (AFST281, AFST583) Intermediate Swahili II. (B) Staff. Prerequisite(s): AFRC 280 or permission of the instructor. Offered through the Penn Language Center.
284 (AFST284, AFST584) Advanced Swahili I. (C) Mshomba. Prerequisite(s): AFRC 282 or permission of the instructor. Offered through the Penn Language Center. This is an advanced Kiswahili course which will engage learners in extended
spoken and written discourse. Advanced learners of Kiswahili will listen to, read about, write, and speak on authentic
video materials, contemporary novels, and newspapers. They will also participate in various discussions on cultural and
political issues.
(AFST285, AFST586) Advanced Swahili II. (B) Mshomba. Prerequisite(s): AFRC 284 or permission of the instructor. Offered through the Penn Language Center.
540. (AFRC240, AFST240, AFST540, NELC481) Elementary Amharic I. (A) Wogayehu. Offered through the Penn Language Center. An introductory course for students with no previous knowledge
of Amharic. Amharic belongs tothe southern branch of
Hemeto-Semitic languages which is also referred to as "Afrasian." Amharic
is the official language of ethiopia and is spoken by
14 million native Amharas and by approximately 19 million
of the other ethnic groups in Ethiopia. The goals of
this course are to introduce students to the culture,
customs, and traditions of the Amharas. Students will
develop communicative skills through listening, speaking,
reading and writing.
541. (AFRC241, AFST241, AFST541, NELC482) Elementary Amharic II. (B) Wogayehu. Offered through the Penn Language Center. Continuation of Elementary Amharic I. Amharic belongs
to the southern branch of Hemeto-Semitic languages, which
is also referred to as "Afrasian." Amharic
is the official language of Ethiopia and is spoken by
14 million native Amharas and by approximately 18 million
of the other groups of Ethopia. This course continues
to introduce basic grammar, vocabulary, and the reading
and writing of Amharic to new speakers.
(AFRC242, AFST242, AFST543, NELC483) Intermediate Amharic I. (A) Wogayehu. Offered through the Penn Language Center.
(AFRC243, AFST243, AFST544, NELC484) Intermediate Amharic II. (B) Wogayehu. Offered through the Penn Language Center. Amharic is a Semitic language belonging to the Afro-Asiatic or Hemeto-Semitic
family. It is spoken by approximately 13 million people in Ethiopia, where it is the official language. Students will
use both written and oral excercises to gain a greater knowledge of the language and culture.
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