AFRICANA STUDIES
(AS) {AFRC}  

Undergraduate Courses  

001. (HIST007, RELS007, SOCI027) Introduction to Africana Studies. (D) Humanities & Social Science Sector. Class of 2010 & beyond. Zuberi, Beavers, Charles, Savage, Shaw.

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 Afro-American 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 Afro-American Studies.

L/R 002. (SOCI001) Introduction to Sociology. (C) Society Sector. All classes. Edin, Gelles, 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. Zuberi, Anderson, Kao, Charles,Torres. 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 afects 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. Anderson.

A comprehensive introductin 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, through 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, H.

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 Africa 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?

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. (HIST214, URBS178) Urban University-Community Relations: Faculty-Student Collaborative Action Seminar. (D) Harkavy, Benson. Prerequisite(s): Benjamin Franklin Seminar. This course is cross-listed with HIST 214 when the title is "Urban University-Commuity Relations".

One of the seminar's aims is to help students develop their capacity to solve strategic, real world problems actively, not simply "cholastically. "Among the possible ways to do that are 1) create new academically-based community service courses based on action-oriented, real-world, strategic problem solving.  2) synthesize existing, uncoordinated, academically-based community service courses into "learning communites." 3) contribute to knowledge through "academic" research on strtegic real-world problems.

        As now envisioned, one outcome of the new Penn undergraduate education that this seminar will help develop to produce, not simply "consume," societally-useful citizens.  Morewover, those courses would be grouped into "learning communities': that is, interralated, cross-disciplinary, complementary sets of courses focused on related problems.  By societally-useful knowledge, we mean knowledge that can be actively used to solve such universal strategic problewms as Democracy and Society, etc., as those universal problems manifest themselves locally at Penn and in West Philadelphia/Philadelphia.

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.  Consult the Center for Africana Studies for detailed course descriptions.

083. (ENGL083, JWST083) 20th-Century Literatures in Dialogue. (M) Marlino.

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' Deparment website at www.sas.upen.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?"

090. (COML090, ENGL090, GSOC090) Women and Literature. (C) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.

This course is cross-listed with ENGL 090 (Women and Literature) when the course content includes significant African American or other African Diaspora literatures.  A frequent topic of the course is "Black Women in Literature".

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--often Shakespeare, but some versions of this course will feature other writers. (For offerings in a given semester, please see the on-line course descriptions on the Africana Studies Department Website.) 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.  Some versions of this course will also serve as an introduction to other members of the English faculty, who will visit the class as guest lecturers.  This course is designed for the General Requirement and is ideal for the student wishing to take an English course not necessarily intending to major.

        See the Africana Studies' Department website www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for a description of the current offerings.

104. (ENGL103, GSOC103) The American Short Story. (C) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Beavers.

An introduction to literary study through a genre, either the short story or poetry.  This course is cross-listed with ENGL 103 (Literary Genres) when the course content includes significant African American or other African Diaspora literatures.  A frequent topic is "Literary Genres: Gender, Class and Power in African American Short Fiction"

106. (COML104, ENGL104) Study of a Literary Period. (C) Davis.

This is an introduction to the literary study through a survey of works from a specific historical period.  (For offerings in a given semester, please see the on-line course descriptions on the Africana Studies Deparment website.) 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.  This course is designed for the General Requirement, and is ideal for students wishing to take an English course but not necessarily intending to major.

111. (RELS111, URBS211) Religion and Secular Values. (C) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Callahan.

This course is cross-listed with RELS 111 (Religion and Secular Values) when the subject matter is related to African American or other African Dispora issues.  A recent topic of the course is "The American Jesus."

        For Christians, he proclaimed the Son of God.  But within American culture Jesus has undergone transformations to fit the cultural moment and the current debate.  "Who is Jesus?" and "What would Jesus do?" are questions that have been answered throughout American History in myriad ways by religious elites, writers, movie makers, and regular people.  Christian and non-Christian alike. This course explores the images of Jesus in the popular culture throughout American history, with the goal of understanding the people who imagined Jesus as an American ideal.

112. (GSOC114, SOCI112, URBS114) Discrimination: Sexual and Racial Conflict. (B) Society Sector. All classes. Madden.

This course explores the sources of current differences in economic status by race, ethnicity and gender.  First, we explore reasons for race, gender and economic differences that are not due to current discrimination.  We examine the history of participation in the U.S. economy for various racial and ethnic groups and evaluate whether that history creates differences in current productivity by race and ethnicity.  We examine the effects of family decisions about work within the household on gender differences in labor market productivity.  Second, we review the economic theories of current discrimination in the labor market.  Third, we use data to test how well the various discrimination and non-discrimination theories explain current labor market patterns.  Finally, we review the major national policies on labor market discrimination and evaluate their effectiveness in light of the theoretical and empirical evidence amassed throughout the course.

SM 113. (RELS113) Western Religious Thinkers. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.

This course is cross-listed with RELS 113 (Western Religious Thinkers) when the course content is related to African American or other African Diaspora issues.  Recent topics of this course include "Tupac Shakur" and "Marvin Gaye."

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. Callahan.

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

118. (RELS118) Black Sects and Cults. (C) Staff.

Examination of selected non-traditional Black American religious and secular movements, their founders and leaders with close consideration of the contrasts between these groups and more traditional movements.  Examples include such cult leaders as "Daddy Grace," Father Divine," and "the Reverend Ike" as compared with other religious and social leaders such as Martin Luther King and Jesse Jackson.

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. (ANTH156, 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. Staff.

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.

176. (HIST176) Afro-American History 1550-1876. (D) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Engs. 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.

177. (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.

203. (AFST213, FOLK203) Afro-American Folklore. (C) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in History & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.

An overview of the major forms of expressive culture developed by Afro-Americans.  The course focuses on the continuous development of black cultural expression from slavery to the present, emphasizing the socio-historical context in which they are to be understood and interpreted.

SM 204. (ANTH303, URBS213) Methods in Urban Ethnography. (M) Staff.

This course will teach qualitative research techniques such as field notes, participant-observation, interviews, and data interpretation and contextualize them within a discussion of anthropological theory.  To put what they are learning into practice, students will engage in participant-observation at field sites in Philadelphia, complete short exercises, and submit ethnographic accounts of their work.  Emphasis will be placed on community service and participatory-action research.

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 when the subject matter is related to Afro-American issues.

SM 206. (HIST206) Major Seminar of the World after 1800: African Intellectual History. (C) Babou.

Introduction to some of the important ideas and intellectual currents that have emerged in Africa over the past two hundred years.  While giving some attention to aspects of "traditional African thought," the main emphasis will be on the writings of African intellectuals in English, French, Portuguese, or Arabic languages.  Topics include political thought, culture and identity, pan-Africanism, revolution, ethics, and religion.

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.

210. (AFST210, HIST250, RELS210) African Religions. (M) Ofosu-Donkoh.

Religion permeates all aspects of African life and thought.  There is no dichotomy between religion and society in Africa.  Religion is therefore an essential tool for understanding and appreciating the behavior and lifestyle of African peoples.  In this course, we will survey some of the indigenous religions of Africa and examine their nature and their philosophical foundations.  We will examine African systems of beliefs, myths, symbols, and rituals, as developed by African societies to express their distinctive worldviews.  We will also raise a few general questions about the interrelationship of religion and culture as well as religion and social change in Africa, and the challenges of modern technologies to African beliefs.  We will examine the future of African religions and analyze the extent to which African peoples can hold on to their beliefs in this age of rapid technological and scientific development.  Emphasis will be on themes rather than on individual national or ethnic religions.  Case studies will be limited to West Africa among the Akan of Ghana, the Yoruba of Nigeria and the Mende of Sierra Leone.  Questions are provided (a) to guide and direct reading (b) to form the basis for discussions (c) as exercises and (d) for examinations.

SM 214. (AFST214, ANTH214) Societies and Cultures of Africa. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kopytoff. Also offered through the College of General Studies - See CGS Guide.

An introduction to the peoples and cultures of sub-Saharan Africa, including culture, history, languages, traditional social and political structures, and traditional religions.

218. (LGST218) Race, Racism, and American Law. (C) Shropshire.

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: affirmative action; diversity; and the Rodney King and O.J.  Simpson verdicts will all be covered in their social and legal context.  The basis for discussion will be a case book by Professor Derrick Bell, other assigned texts and handouts.  Course requirements will include examinations, class discussions and debates, a journal, and papers.

225. (AFST225) African Languages and Culture. (C) Staff. 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 culture.  It will introduce students to major features of African languages and to sociological and historical implications.  As an introduction to the study of language and culture in Africa, the following topics will be explored: Typological and genetic classification of languages, linguistic geography, historical aspects--both linguistics and socio-cultural--multilinguism and diglossia.  Language policies in education, language use (including politeness and indirectness), and verbal art forms such as stories, story telling, riddles and proverbs will be discussed. Native speakers of languages from different language groups will be invited guests.

SM 230. (AFRC533, AFST230, SOCI230) Special Topics in Sociology. (C) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Zuberi.

This course is cross-listed with SOCI 230 (Special Topics in Sociology) when the subject matter is related to 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." Consult the Center for Africana Studies for detailed course descriptions

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) howand 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.

SM 255. (HIST255, URBS255) Urban Neighborhoods: Cities & Social Movements in the Global Economy. (B) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.

The last several decades have witnessed a dramatic acceleration in the interconnections of cities around the world.  The globalization of the economy,the spread of communications technology, major migrations between urbanlocations and the wider dissemination of products of the culture industry have all contributed to this process.  This course will examine these transformation by focusing on the changing relationships between urban neighborhoods in the United States and elsewhere in the world.  In particular, class readings and discussions will explore the wide range of ways (political, social, cultural; organized and informal) that individuals and institutions in urban neighborhoods have reacted to global transformations and what effect and consequences those reactions have precipitated.

257. (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.

258. (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, we will be explored with a view toward understanding its connections to the central analytical paradigm of the course--diaspora.  Throughout the course, will listen to many different styles and repertories of music, ranging from calypse to junkanoo, from rumba to merengue, and from dancehall to zouk.  We will then work to understand them not only in relatin to the readings that frame our discussions, but also in relation to our own North-American contexts of music consumptions and production.

SM 262. (AFST260, ENGL260, GSOC260, LALS260) Advanced Topics in Narrative. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Clarke.

This course is cross-listed with English 260 (Advanced Topics in Narrative) when the course content includes significant African American or other African Diaspora literatures.  Spaces will be reserved for English majors.

        This course explores an aspect of the novel intensively, asking how novels work and what they do to us and for us.  Topics vary.  A recent topic of this course was "Gather at the Marketplace: Twentieth Century Caribbean Women Writers".

SM 263. (ENGL253, GSOC284) Topics in Nineteenth-Century American Literature. (M) Staff.

This is an English topics course in 19th Century American Literature.  The course is cross-listed with ENGL 253 when the course content includes significant African American or other African Diaspora literatures.  Content varies with the instructor.  A recent topic of this course was "Race, Law & Literature".

SM 266. (ENGL264) Topics in Modern American Literature. (M) Staff.

This course explores an aspect of Modern American literature intensively; specific course topics will vary, and have included "American Expatriotism," "The 1930s," and "Intimacy and Distance: William Faulkner, Zora Neale Hurston, Eudora Welty, and Richard Wright."

        See the Africana Department's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for a description of the current offerings.

SM 272. (URBS270) Ethnicity. (M) Society Sector. All classes. Vitiello.

We live in a global economy and society, but what does this mean at the local lvel?  Globalization is an old phenomenon - from the era of European colonization, cities in North America have been nodes in global networks of migrations and trade.  Ethnic and racial identities hav eevolved in response to the movement and interaction and racial identities have evolved in response to the movement and interaction of people in America's diverse society.  Yet in recent years the pace of economic, social, ecological, and cultural change and exchange has accelerated.

        Using Philadelphia as a case study, this course examines the effects of globalization and migration in urban and suburban neighborhoods in the 20th and 21st century U.S.  Class readings, discussions, and regular visits to a variety of Philadelphia's immigrant neighborhoods and organizations will explore themes including race and ethnic relations, global markets, community formation, labor and political relations, social and cultural institutions, urban planning and policy, and the built environment.

SM 281. (COML325, ENGL281, GSOC281) Topics in African American Literature. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.

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). When offered, the topic for this course changes.  Recent topics this course has addressed include "Black Literature and Music," "Dialogue and Revision in Afro-American Narrative," "Black Literature: The Spirit in the Text," "Modern Afro-American Women's Narratives," "Filming Black Words: Hollywood Adaptations of Afro-American Narratives," "Belonging and Desire in African American Narrative" and "Slavery and Narration." Consult the Center for Africana Studies for current detailed course descriptions.

SM 283. (AFST283, ENGL271) Anglophone African Literature. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.

In this course we will survey Anglophone African Literature from its oral beginnings to the present time.  The development of modern African literature is tied to the history of the continent which it mirrors, beginning with the slave trade, colonialism, independence, and the neo-colonial era.  In their quest to convey their reactions to the African experience, African writers have evolved unique literary styles which form their contribution to the literature of the world.  What is the essential character of Anglophone African Literature?  This course will answer this question through an examination of the writings of major figures in the field such as Peter Abrahams, Chinua Achebe, Ama ata Aidoo, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Femi Osofisan, Ayi Ke ei Armah, Kofi Awoonar, Okot p' Bitek, Jared Angira, Niyi Osundare, Isidore Okepewho, Odun Balogun, and John Pepper Clark.  We will also examine the critical responses to their works.

SM 286. (ENGL284) Topics in Race and Ethnicity - Intimacy and Distance: Faulkner, Hurston, Welty,and Wright. (M) Beavers.

This course presents four 20th Century writers whose literary careers were shaped by their unique experiences as Southerners.  While each of these writers has gained a considerable reputation as an American writer whose writing transcents regional distinctions, the South resonates in their voices and mediates their vision.  What each writer finally confronts is Southern history as burden and souce, convention and curse.  This course will begin by exploring the myths and cultural codes shaping life in the South (particularly after the Civil War).  We will then proceed towards an examination of how the writers in the course frame Southern experience, given their differences in race, class, and gender, as they portray lives lived within and across a variety of socially recognized boundaries.  Works to be read include Absalom, Absalom.  Their Eyes Were Watching God, Uncle Tom's Children, Black Boy, The Wide Net and Other Stories, and Losing Battles.  There will also be screenings of the films The Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind.  Coursework will consist of two critical essays and final group project.

SM 288. (COML288, ENGL288) Topics in Modern American Poetry. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Beavers.

This course is cross-listed with ENGL 288 (Topics in Modern American Poetry) when the course content includes significant African American or other African Diaspora literatures.  A frequent topic is "Nation and Imagination: 20th Century African American Poetry"

        Sometimes limiting itself to the works of one or more authors, sometimes focusing on a particular theme such as "American Poetry and Democratic culture," this course devotes itself to the study of twentieth-century American poetry.

SM 290. (ENGL290, GSOC290) Topics in Women and Literature. (C) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff.

This is an English topics course: Topics in Women and Literature.  The course is cross-listed with ENGL 290 (Black Women and Literature) when the title is "Black Women and Literature"

        Black Women and Literature: This course offers a comparative study of black women writers in Africa and the Americas.  We will examine select works of African American and Caribbean fiction in the context of literary history and modern culture.  We will explore thematic, structural, and stylistic similarities among these works through lectures, class discussions, and papers.  We will consider what characterizes the perspective of contemporary black women writers and explore areas of connection and difference in theme and technique with select works of fiction by African women.

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 int he 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 308. (FOLK310, RELS310, URBS310) Religious Diversity in America: Religious and Social Change in West Philadelphia, 1950-2000. (M) Distribution Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Matter.

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 Prostestant, Catholic, and Jew. Now it is clearly also a land of Muslims and Hindus, Buddhists and Taoists, Rastafarians and Neo-pagans and many more religious groups.  This course will focus upon a variety of topics: religious diversity in West Philadelphia, Philadelphi and beyond; the politics of religious diversity; religion in American schools and cities; and conflicts and cooperation among diverse religious groups.

SM 310. Without Struggle: Contemporary Issues of Extended Identity and Community Focused Research. (C) Stevenson.

Knowledge of self is the key to understanding, and ultimately wisdom.  But what is self?  An African-centered perspective defines self as the collective, for "I Am Because We Are." However, America has historically promoted the individualistic "survival of the fittest" mentality, thus we are left with the question of what Africans in America are supposed to believe, and how does this quandry influence our individual and collective identities.  Part 1 of the course will focus on identity issues, from how we view ourselves to how our identities change in relationships (family, social).  A heavy emphasis will be placed on an African-centered paradigm.  The principle objectives of this portion of the course are to have students go through a process of self-analysis and exploration in hopes that they can better understand their powers and weaknesses, their belief systems, and the various roles that they play, while at the same time learning about their peers.  The initial phase of the course is key to the second phase which will look at various community issues and research topics.  The overall objective of the course will be to have students engage in critical thought on several levels (self, inter-personal, House, community, worldview) and merge this thought into a relevant research topic.

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 and 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.

SM 356. (PSCI355) Topics in Race and International Relations: W.E.B.Du Bois's Global Vision. (M) Vitalis.

This seminar is a sustained, collective engagement with the life and works of W.E.B.  Du Bois.  In the early years of the twenieth century, Du Bois began to develop an analysis of America's tradition of a scriptive hierachy--the Jim Crow system--in a global context.  His repeated evocations of the idea of the color line--in his 1900 speech to the first Pan-African Congress, inthe essay "On The Dawn of Freedom" in Souls of Black Folk (1903), and in his "The Color Line Belts the World" (Collier's, Oct.  20, 1906)--mark the grounds of a challenge of historic importance to dominant American constructions of race, to international relations theory and to develop practice.  He continued to deepen this analysis, at significant personal costs, in the ensuing decades. His criticism of racism was relentless, and in the years after World War II he was branded by postwar US administrations as a threat to national security. This towering figure in a vital current black internationalism was subject to harassment.  Du Bois died in exile in Ghana.  We hope to build the semester's work in significant part around the question of what it means to analyze Du Bolis using the same global view that he brought to the analysis if race in America and that informed his politics of transnational solidarity in defense of peoples' rights.

L/R 363. (HIST363) The Civil War and Reconstruction. (B) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Engs. 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.

365. (HIST365) The South in the National Experience, 1876-1976. (A) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Hackney.