Africology and African American Studies (AAAS)

Course information contained within the Bulletin is accurate at the time of publication in August 2023 but is subject to change. For the most up-to-date course information, please refer to the Course Catalog.

AAAS 5010. Special Topics in African Languages. 3 Credit Hours.

Languages vary by semester. Please consult with the instructor and/or check the course schedule for specific topic.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.

AAAS 8001. Proseminar in Graduate Work in African American Studies. 3 Credit Hours.

An introduction to the intellectual and professional foundations of the field. It examines the historical origins of African American Studies in the United States and Africa, as well as the context of classic creative, analytical, and autobiographical works.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8002. African Civilizations. 3 Credit Hours.

An intensive investigation into the origins of several major African civilizations. Civilizations and periods chosen may vary at the discretion of the instructor but will normally include the classic cultures of Nubia, Kemet, Axum, Songhay, Mali, Ghana, Monomotapa, Yoruba, and Asante.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8003. Research Methods in African American Studies. 3 Credit Hours.

An introduction to the basic research methods used in African American Studies. It examines historical, anthropological, behavioral, and critical methods, as well as the methodological foundations of the Afrocentric method.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8004. Theories and Methods in African American Studies. 3 Credit Hours.

An intensive critique of African studies within the context of evolving theoretical and methodological issues. Topics include boundaries of particularism, frames of reference, etymology, historical cleavages, and the idea of the African voice. Students will write major research papers analyzing the various perspectives advanced by scholars within the field of African studies.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8005. African Literature. 3 Credit Hours.

Examines African literature from 4000 B.C. to the 20th century. Special attention will be paid to the early sacred works, and didactic oral traditions, poetry, drama, the advent and literary aesthetics of Western-writers.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8006. African American Literature. 3 Credit Hours.

Deals with the social context of African American literary development from enslavement to the present. Students are introduced to the cultural patterns and historical experiences that produced the early autobiographies, narratives, poetry, and essays as well as the 20th century novels, plays, and poetry.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8007. African Aesthetics. 3 Credit Hours.

Examines the interrelationship of the creative process with cultural and philosophical motifs in African history by studying mythology, the generative and productive force of the spoken word and the power and significance of a wide variety of aesthetic concepts.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8008. Ethnographic Methods. 3 Credit Hours.

Examines the various classic and contemporary methods for collecting field data on African cultural and social behaviors. Emphasis on the use of audio and video data gathering methods, and participant observation.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8009. The Afrocentric Paradigm. 3 Credit Hours.

In this intensive critique of African studies we discover the processes by which those working in the discipline of Africology develop their arguments about and/or interpretations of the African world experience transnationally and trans-generationally. Although this course naturally emphasizes theories and methodologies in Africana Studies, our readings and discussions will move beyond the rote acquisition of a list of thinkers and their ideas. Since our main objective is to finish the course with a broader, deeper view of the discipline, our dialogue must intentionally sharpen our skills as critics, theoreticians and researchers, and give us the confidence to examine the agency of African people in any phenomena. Thus, students will explore the historical and intellectual roots of Afrocentricity, as well the main tenets of the most prominent paradigm in the discipline. It is expected, that by the end of the semester, students should be well versed in Afrocentric theories and be able to apply it to their own research interests.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8415. Ancient Egyptian Language I. 3 Credit Hours.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8416. Ancient Egyptian Language II. 3 Credit Hours.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8432. African-American Family. 3 Credit Hours.

Contemporary theories and research on the African American family. Includes assessment of family behavior, the role of children, sex roles, perceptual changes within the context of society, demographic factors, impact of unemployment and underemployment, and income distribution.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8435. Ebonics: African American Language. 3 Credit Hours.

Examines variations of African American languages found throughout the Americas. Special attention to the Gullah prototype from South Carolina and Georgia. Presents the major theoretical arguments about the development of the languages.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8441. African Philosophical Thought. 3 Credit Hours.

An analytical and historical overview of the ideas that have made the African culture, with particular emphasis on the resurrection idea, the concept of rule, harmony and balance, divination systems, dual-gender responsibility, and relationship between human beings.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8442. African Religions. 3 Credit Hours.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8446. Cheikh Anta Diop. 3 Credit Hours.

A critical examination of the portions of Diop's corpus on the African origin of civilization with special inquiry into the nature of his evidences. Students will present papers analyzing Diop's Afrocentric perspective and his impact on African scholarship around the world.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8449. Pan Africanism. 3 Credit Hours.

A survey of the major currents of Pan African Thought from the early Pan African Congresses to the events of the Sixth Pan African Congress of Dar Es Salaam. Opposing critiques will be presented and discussed, especially the Marxist critique of Pan Africanism.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8455. Caribbean Culture and Politics. 3 Credit Hours.

An investigation of the roles of culture and politics in the development of the Caribbean basin. Particular emphasis will be placed on the ways that African cultural survivals, creolism, syncretism, and political struggle have acted to create the unique Caribbean outlook.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8464. Literature of the Harlem Renaissance. 3 Credit Hours.

A study of the African-American realization of literary revivals between the two great 20th Century European wars. Special emphasis on Harlem as a venue and symbol of the emergence of modern African American literature.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8465. Literature of the Black Power Revolution. 3 Credit Hours.

An overview of the major African American literary developments of the 1960's and 1970's in the United States. Looks at the works of Amiri Baraka, James Baldwin, Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, Haki Madhubuti, and others.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8468. Major African Writers. 3 Credit Hours.

Examines the 20th Century prose, fiction, and poetry, of major writers of the African world. Students analyze writers in accordance with the protocols of literary innovations, Afrocentric motifs, symbolic functionalism and political themes.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8521. Readings in African History. 3 Credit Hours.

Survey of the major developments in Africa through written and oral records with discrete emphasis on the analysis of perspectives both external and internal to Africa. Collected traditions, colonial and neocolonial scholarship, liberal and feminist writings, Marxist and neo-Marxist treatises as well as Africanist and afrocentrist literature will be examined.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8542. Readings in African American Social Thought. 3 Credit Hours.

An intensive reading of the works of Frederick Douglass, Martin Delany, Frances Harper, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Edward Blyden, Booker T. Washington, E. Franklin Frazier, Ida B. Wells, Anna Julia Cooper, and others. Looks at the intellectual roots of the ideas of significant contemporary thinkers.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8547. Readings in 1960's Protests. 3 Credit Hours.

Close reading of documentary evidences in African American political, historical, and social thought during the turbulent sixties. Students prepare papers from primary documents.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8561. African American Theatre. 3 Credit Hours.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 8566. African American Music. 3 Credit Hours.

A survey of the rich musical tradition of African Americans from the emergence of the field hollers and work songs to contemporary music. Attention given to spirituals, jazz, blues and rock as major genres.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 9001. Seminar in African Aesthetics. 3 Credit Hours.

Examines the philosophical foundations of African aesthetics by concentrating on the cosmology, ritual religions, oral traditions, and proverbs of African people. Examines the question of what constitutes African standards of beauty, or art, or good, or culture.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 9002. Teaching African American Studies. 1 to 3 Credit Hour.

Required of all graduate teaching assistants prior to the assumption of teaching duties. Designed to teach communication and organizational skills. Supervision of teaching is required.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 9614. African American Diaspora. 3 Credit Hours.

Using primary source material and with special attention to the United States, students will examine the African experience in the Americas from the 14th century to the present. Movements, periods, events and people that represent the major social, economic and political African American thought will be surveyed.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 9615. Seminar in African American Psychology. 3 Credit Hours.

An examination of theory and research pertaining to African American psychology. A selected discussion of various theoretical perspectives on African American personality and socialization.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 9625. Nile Valley Civilization. 3 Credit Hours.

A critical examination of selected topics in the civilizations of Kemet, Nubia and Axum. Detailed analysis and discussion on the primacy of Kemet in African civilization.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 9641. Sem Life & Work Malcom X. 3 Credit Hours.

Examines the life and work of Malcolm X from the standpoint of his impact on social, political, and economic movements in the United States. The moral force of Malcolm X as seen in the growth of various urban religious and spiritual groups will be assessed.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 9642. Seminar in African American Social Philosophy. 3 Credit Hours.

An intensive seminar in the writings and activities of major social philosophers such as Edward Blyden, Ida B. Wells, Paul Cuffee, Martin Delany, David Walker, Malcolm X, Harold Cruse, and Angela Davis.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 9643. Research and Writings of W.E.B. DuBois. 3 Credit Hours.

An intensive examination of selected topics in the autobiographical works of Du Bois, historical, sociological, and creative works.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 9645. Seminar in the African American Woman. 3 Credit Hours.

An exhaustive treatment of theories relating to the role of the African American woman. Topics will include gender bias within the African American community, feminism and the black woman, sexism, classism, and racism, and the future of the black woman in America.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 9662. Seminar in the African American Novel. 3 Credit Hours.

A seminar in the African American novel which may focus on one or several principal figures or examine a single theme during a particular historical period, i.e., the novel after 1945.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 9761. Seminar in African American Studies: Social Behavior. 3 Credit Hours.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may not be repeated for additional credits.

AAAS 9982. Individual Research in African American Studies. 1 to 6 Credit Hour.

Individual Research In African American Studies while still in the coursework phase of the program.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.

AAAS 9993. Master’s Comprehensive Examination. 1 to 6 Credit Hour.

Preparation for master’s comprehensive exam.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.

AAAS 9994. Preliminary Examination Preparation. 1 to 6 Credit Hour.

Preliminary Exam Preparation. Following coursework completion, registration in AAS 9994 is required to prepare for Preliminary Exams.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.

AAAS 9996. Master's Thesis. 1 to 3 Credit Hour.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.

AAAS 9998. Pre-Dissertation Research. 1 to 6 Credit Hour.

Pre-Dissertation Research. After having passed the Preliminary exams, registration is appropriate for students working on the dissertation proposal.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.

Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.

AAAS 9999. Dissertation Research. 1 to 6 Credit Hour.

This course is intended only for those students who have achieved Ph.D. Candidacy status. A minimum of 6 semester hours is required for graduation.

Level Registration Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Levels: Graduate.
Student Attribute Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Student Attributes: Dissertation Writing Student.

Repeatability: This course may be repeated for additional credit.