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| African-American and African Studies | |
| AAS 150 | Special Topics in African American Studies (0) |
| Special Topics in African American Studies. | |
| AAS 1010 | Introduction to African-American and African Studies I (4) |
| This introductory course surveys the histories of people of African descent in Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean from approximately the Middle Ages to the 1880s. Emphases include the Atlantic slave trade and its complex relationship to Africa; the economic systems, cultures, and communities of Africans and African-Americans in the New World, in slavery and in freedom; the rise of anti-slavery movements; and the socio-economic systems that replaced slavery in the late 19th century. | |
| AAS 1020 | Introduction to African-American and African Studies II (4) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This introductory course builds upon the histories of people of African descent in Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean surveyed in AAS 1010. Drawing on disciplines such as Anthropology, History, Religious Studies, Political Science and Sociology, the course focuses on the period from the late 19th century to the present and is comparative in perspective. It examines the links and disjunctions between communities of African descent in the United States and in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa. The course begins with an overview of AAS, its history, assumptions, boundaries, and topics of inquiry, and then proceeds to focus on a number of inter-related themes: patterns of cultural experience; community formation; comparative racial classification; language and society; family and kinship; religion; social and political movements; arts and aesthetics; and archaeology of the African Diaspora. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 |
| AAS 1559 | New Course in African and African American Studies (1 - 4) |
| New course in the subject of African American Studies. | |
| AAS 2210 | Introduction to African Literatures & Cultures (3) |
| This course is a survey of literary texts in English by contemporary African writers. Students will read a variety of texts including novels, short stories, poetry, film and songs and critically analyze the cultural and aesthetics of the literary landscape. Particular attention will be on how authors engage themes such as identity, patriarchy, gender, class, and politics in post-colonial structures. | |
| AAS 2220 | Introduction to Race, Class, Politics & the Environment (3) |
| Students will be introduced to the evidence and debates surrounding the claims that racialized and poor communities disproportionately shoulder society's environmental burdens. Through a variety of analytical and contextual lenses, we examine fundamental environmental problems faced by individuals and communities of color and the policies and initiatives designed to address them. | |
| AAS 2224 | Black Femininities and Masculinities in the US Media (3) |
| This course, taught as a lower-level seminar, will address the role the media has played in creating images and understandings of 'Blackness' in the United States, particularly where it converges with popular ideologies about gender. Course was offered January 2025, Summer 2024, January 2024, Fall 2023, Summer 2023, Spring 2023, January 2023, Fall 2022, Summer 2022, Spring 2022, Janiuary 2022, Fall 2021, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, January 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Summer 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, Summer 2015, Spring 2015, Summer 2014, Spring 2014, Summer 2013 | |
| AAS 2225 | Black Love: Media Representations vs. Reality (3) |
| How do media representations shape our perceptions and lived experiences of Black love? In this course, we will examine media portrayals of Black love alongside theoretical readings about the historical, social, and cultural elements that impact the development of Black relationships. In addition to exploring examples of Black romantic relationships, we will also explore Black love in the context of family, friendships, and community. | |
| AAS 2230 | African Refugees Cultures & Stories (3) |
| This course examines the experiences of African migrants and refugees through the lens of race, ethnicity, and migration. Through an engagement with the International Rescue Committee in Charlottesville and migrants in the area as well as literary and other written sources, notions of displacement, migration, genocide, ethnic and racial formation among other factors that are important in understanding international migration. | |
| AAS 2240 | Africans in America (3) |
| This course will focus on recent African arrivals to the United States, exploring the history of Africans who voluntarily entered the country. We will examine the lives of Africans who came to the US in the late 19th, 20th, and 21st century as students, visitors, missionaries, & temporary residents, as well as the reasons for African migration, settlement patterns and adjustment issues, and immigrant relationships with Americans, black and white. | |
| AAS 2263 | UVA in Kenya - Swahili Cultures: Then & Now (3) |
| Located in Kenya as a study abroad experience, this course is aimed at providing students with an immersive, interactive and intellectually enriching experience of the Swahili coast. Some of the main themes covered include language, cultures and practices, a critical understanding of the experience of race and racism, slavery and enslavement in the Swahili coast, and the historical cultural context of the region. | |
| AAS 2450 | The Health of Black Folks (3) |
| An interdisciplinary course analyzing the relationship between black bodies and biomedicine both historically and in the present. The course is co-taught by Norm Oliver, M.D. (UVa Department of Family Medicine), and offers political, economic, and post-structuralist lenses with which to interpret the individual and socio/cultural health and disease of African-Americans. Readings range across several disciplines including anthropology, epidemiology/public health, folklore, history, science studies, political science, sociology and literary criticism. Topics will vary and may include: HIV/AIDS; reproductive issues; prison, crime and drugs; and body size/image and obesity; the legacy of the Tuskegee Syphilis Trials. Cross listed as ANTH 2450. | |
| AAS 2500 | Topics Course in Africana Studies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Lower-level topics course: reading, class discussion, and written assignments on a special topic in African-American and African Studies Topics change from term to term, and vary with the instructor. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Summer 2022, Spring 2022 |
| AAS 2559 | New Course in African and African American Studies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | New course in the subject of African and African American Studies Course was offered Spring 2023, Fall 2021, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, January 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, January 2020, Fall 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Summer 2018, Summer 2017, Fall 2016, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, January 2016, Fall 2015, Summer 2015, Spring 2015, January 2014, Summer 2013, Fall 2012, Summer 2012, Fall 2011 |
| AAS 2657 | Routes, Writing, Reggae (3) |
| In this course, we will trace the history of reggae music and explore its influence on the development of Jamaican literature. With readings on Jamaican history, we will consider why so many reggae songs speak about Jah and quote from the Bible. Then, we will explore how Marcus Garvey's teachings led to the rise of Rastafarianism, which in turn seeded ideas of black pride and black humanity into what would become reggae music. | |
| AAS 2700 | Festivals of the Americas (3) |
| Communities throughout the Caribbean, and South, Central and North America celebrate festivals which are rooted in religious devotion, and which serve to mark sacred time and and to assert claims about religious, ethnic, and national identities. The class will read ethnographic accounts and listen to musical recordings of signature religious festivals--such as Saint Patrick's Day in Boston, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and Carnival in Brazil. | |
| AAS 2710 | Introduction to Afro-Latin America (3) |
| This seminar examines the historical and contemporary trajectories and the cultural and intellectual contributions of Afro-descendant peoples in Latin America. Students explore the myriad ways in which Afro-Latin Americans have shaped their societies from the colonial period to the present day. | |
| AAS 2740 | Peoples and Cultures of Africa (3) |
| In this course, students will gain an understanding of the richness and variety of African life. While no course of this kind can hope to give more than a broad overview of the continent, students will learn which intellectual tools and fundamental principles are necessary for approaching the study of the hundreds of cultural worlds that exist today on the African continent. This course will draw from ethnographic texts, literary works and film. | |
| AAS 2751 | African History through the Novel (3) |
| This course will introduce students to themes in the history of Africa and the African Diaspora through novels. The class encourages students to read several novels as history. The novels will help us understand various themes in African history from the precolonial era to independence, exploring the role of religion, gender, slavery, and colonialism, and relationship with the African Diaspora in the lives of African peoples. | |
| AAS 2760 | Empowered Women of Africa (3) |
| In this interdisciplinary survey course on women leaders in urban areas in Africa, we will examine the experiences of women from diverse societies across the Eastern and Southern regions of Africa during the colonial and postcolonial periods. Of particular importance is how women in these societies have faced challenges and how they emerge as leaders in their communities. | |
| AAS 3000 | Women and Religion in Africa (3) |
| This course examines women's religious activities, traditions and spirituality in a number of different African contexts. Drawing on ethnographic, historical, literary, and religious studies scholarship, we will explore a variety of themes and debates that have emerged in the study of gender and religion in Africa. Topics will include gendered images of sacred power; the construction of gender through ritual; sexuality and fertility; and women Course was offered Fall 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2015, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| AAS 3113 | Horror Noire: A History of Black Americans in Horror (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | The horror genre provides daring, unflinching lessons. It is a syllabus of our social, political, and racial world. Black horror, in particular, has established itself as a primer on the quest for social justice. What can such a boundary-pushing genre teach us about paths to solidarity and democracy? What can we learn about disrupting racism, misogyny, and anti-Blackness? |
| AAS 3157 | Caribbean Perspectives (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Breaking with popular constructions of the region as a timeless tropical paradise, this course will re-define the Caribbean as the birthplace of modern forms of capitalism, globalization, and trans-nationalism. We will survey the founding moments of Caribbean history, including the imposition of slavery, the rise of plantation economies, and the development of global networks of goods and peoples. |
| AAS 3158 | Haiti and the US (3) |
| What are the origins of anti-Haitian antagonism in the U.S. and why has it persisted? From zombies to AIDS to the sensational headlines animating recent presidential debates, we uncover why Haiti has played a central role in U.S. political discourse, immigration policy, and popular culture for centuries. Explore the connection between history, film, photography, literature, and more! | |
| AAS 3160 | African Americans in Sport (3) |
| This course provides a historical and analytical understanding of the issues involving race, racism, race relations in American sport. This course provides an overview of the sporting events, activism, icons, and time periods that have been shaped by Americas continued struggle to improve race relations. | |
| AAS 3200 | Martin, Malcolm and America (3) |
| An intensive examination of African-American social criticism centered upon, but not limited to, the life and thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. We will come to grips with the American legacy of racial hatred and oppression systematized in the institutions of antebellum chattel slavery and post-bellum racial segregation and analyze the array of critical responses to, and social struggles against, this legacy. Course was offered Spring 2022, Spring 2020, Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| AAS 3220 | Environmental Justice: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Policy & Practice (3) |
| Through selected case studies, we will examine theories of racism and justice, the conceptual history and definitions of environmental racism, the historical development and goals of the environmental justice movement, stakeholder responses to environmental inequities , the impact of environmental justice policies on environmental inequities as well as their impact on subsequent political behavior and the impact of environmental justice policies | |
| AAS 3231 | Rise and Fall of the Slave South (3) |
| A history of the American South from the arrival of the first English settlers through the end of Reconstruction in 1877. Cross-listed with HIUS 3231. | |
| AAS 3245 | Slavery in the Contemporary Literary Imagination (3) |
| This course will examine the work of African American authors whose work forms a subgenre of African American letters sometimes called the neo-slave narrative, concerned to explore and expand the historical and creative representation of slavery in the US and the UK. We will explore the limits of literary forms, racial (mis)representation and the historical records that have yielded this compelling production of writing in the past 30 years. | |
| AAS 3280 | Reading the Black College Campus (3) |
| Historically Black Colleges and University campuses are records of the process of democratizing (extending to excluded social groups such as African-Americans) opportunities for higher education in America. Through landscapes, we trace this record, unearthing the politics of landscapes via direct experience as well as via interpretations of representations of landscapes in literature, visual arts, maps, plans, and photographs. | |
| AAS 3300 | Social Science Perspectives on African American and African Studies (3) |
| This course will focus on major debates, theories, and methodological approaches in the social sciences that contribute to African American Studies. The course helps students to consider how a multidisciplinary approach enriches efforts to analyze such issues as health disparities, education, and incarceration as they relate to the African Diaspora. | |
| AAS 3310 | Environmental Justice in the Mid-Atlantic Region (3) |
| This course is dedicated to examining government responses to environmental injustice. Our readings and discussions will use an interdisciplinary social-science perspective to track the trajectory of environmental justice activism and official responses to it in the five states (DE, MD, PA, VA, WVA) the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has designated as comprising the important but understudied mid-Atlantic region. | |
| AAS 3351 | African Diaspora Religions (3) |
| This seminar examines changes in ethnographic accounts of African diaspora religions, with particular attention to the conceptions of religion, race, nation, and modernity found in different research paradigms. Prerequisite: previous course in one of the following: religious studies, anthropology, AAS, or Latin American studies. | |
| AAS 3356 | Culture, Race and World Politics (3) |
| This course explores the role of culture and race in international politics. Cultural and ethnic factors have long influenced international relations, especially in the post Cold War era. These "identity" issues raise new questions about the role of national sovereighty and the prospects for democracy in countries around the world. We focus on several broad themes structured around the pivot of identity and otherness. | |
| AAS 3450 | Race, the Law, and the American Constitution (3) |
| This course will introduce students to the substance of the Constitution, the conditions under which it was developed, what it means, how its meaning has been determined, changed, interpreted and the ways in which it has shaped and has been shaped by ideas about and considerations of race. | |
| AAS 3456 | The Supreme Court and the Civil Rights Movement (3) |
| This course explores the role of the United States Supreme Court in defining the legality of racial distinctions in the United States in the post-Civil War era. Special attention is paid to the role of the court's landmark 1954 decision, Brown v. Board of Education. The class will be taught in a discussion format based upon assigned readings. | |
| AAS 3457 | Issues in Civil Rights Law (3) |
| An exploration of critical issues in modern civil rights law. We engage competing visions of racial equality through law by examining topics such as school desegregation, affirmative action, urban policymaking, and the crisis of mass incarceration. This course will also highlight the limitations of civil rights law and consider the ways in which the law is often complicit in perpetuating race, gender and class hierarchies. Course was offered Summer 2011 | |
| AAS 3471 | History of American Labor (3) |
| This course examines the economic, cultural, and political lives of the US working classes from the end of the Civil War to the present. | |
| AAS 3500 | Intermediate Seminar in African-American & African Studies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Reading, class discussion, and written assignments on a special topic in African-American and African Studies. Topics change from term to term, and vary with the instructor. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Summer 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Summer 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Summer 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Summer 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| AAS 3559 | New Course in African and African American Studies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | New course in the subject of African and African American Studies. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2019, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Summer 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Summer 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2010 |
| AAS 3645 | Musical Fictions (3) |
| Over the course of the semester, we will explore the genre of the contemporary musical novel in order to better understand why writers and readers are so intrigued by the figure of the musician as a literary trope. Pairing close listening and music theory with close readings of seminal blues, jazz, reggae, mambo, calypso and rock novels set in the US, UK, Jamaica, Trinidad, France and Germany. | |
| AAS 3652 | African American History since 1865 (3) |
| This course surveys the major political, economic, and cultural developments in black America from the end of the Civil War to the present. Through an engagement with various primary and secondary texts, and multimedia, students examine African Americans' endeavors to build strong families and communities, create socially meaningful art, and establish a political infrastructure capable of bringing into existence a more just and humane world. Course was offered Spring 2021, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Fall 2015, Fall 2013, Fall 2011 | |
| AAS 3671 | History of the Civil Rights Movement (3) |
| This course examines the history and legacy of the African American struggle for civil rights in twentieth century America. It provides students with a broad overview of the civil rights movement -- the key issues, significant people and organizations, and pivotal events -- as well as a deeper understanding of its scope, influence, legacy, and lessons for today. Course was offered January 2024, Fall 2020 | |
| AAS 3710 | African Worlds through Life Stories (3) |
| This course examines an array of African cultural worlds from the perspective of a variety of different life story genres. We will be addressing biography, autobiography, autofiction, memoirs, diaries, biographical documentary film and various artistic representations. Some critics claim that such genres, concentrating on the 'individual' in Western terms, are not appropriate for representing African experiences of personhood. | |
| AAS 3745 | Currents in African Literature (3) |
| In this course, we will read a sampling of some exciting new works of fiction from Africa's young and established writers. In particular, we will examine the literary innovations that African writers use to narrate issues affecting the continent such as dictatorship, the lingering effects of colonization, the postcolonial nation state, the traumas of war and geo-politics, religion, gender and sexuality, and migration, among others. Course was offered Spring 2021, Fall 2019 | |
| AAS 3749 | Food and Meaning in Africa and the Diaspora (3) |
| This course investigates the traditions and symbolics of food and eating in Africa and throughout the African Diaspora -- wherever people of African descent have migrated or have been forced to move. This course will help students to investigate the way the foods people eat' or don't eat' hold meaning for people within a variety of cultural contexts.Topics will include symbol, taboo, sexuality, bodies, ritual, kinship & beauty, among others. Course was offered Fall 2018, Summer 2018, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, Summer 2015, Spring 2015, Summer 2014, Fall 2013, Summer 2013 | |
| AAS 3750 | Women in African History (3) |
| This course explores themes and issues in the lives of women in Africa. These include women in early African history, culture, and the role of gender in Africa, encounter with Islam and the West, womens search for autonomy, etc. Emphasis is placed, as much as is possible, on the perspectives of women, how they view their history and their ongoing struggle for self-determination. | |
| AAS 3760 | Reading Black Digital Culture (3) |
| Using a mix of scholarly and popular-press readings and an examination of digital artifacts, we will analyze the creations and contributions of Black digital culture from the mid-90s to the present. Covering topics including the early Black blogosphere; the creation of niche content sites like BlackPlanet.com; the emergence of Black Twitter; the circulation of memes, and the use second-screening. Course was offered Fall 2023 | |
| AAS 3770 | Black Girlhood & the Media (3) |
| How do movies, viral videos, and memes impact the material lives of Black girls? This course offers an introduction to the emergent and growing field of Black Girlhood Studies, especially in relation to media representation and engagement. The course will cover foundational texts about Black girlhood alongside a range of media to explore the ways in which Black girlhood has been constructed and portrayed through these platforms. | |
| AAS 3810 | Race, Culture and Inequality (3) |
| This course will examine how culture matters for understanding race and social inequality. It will survey social science research about cultural forms such as everyday discourse, styles of dress, music, literature, visual arts, and media as they relate to race and inequality. Course was offered Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019 | |
| AAS 3820 | Race, Medicine and Incarceration (3) |
| This intermediate seminar course explores selected topics in the history of race, medicine, and incarceration (broadly defined) and the ways in which the captive black body has functioned as a site of medical exploitation and profit from the period of slavery to the present. | |
| AAS 3830 | Being Human: Race, Technology, and the Arts (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course is an introduction to Afrofuturism, exploring race and alienness, race and technology, and race and modernity through global futuristic representations of blackness in TV, film, music, art, and literature. Course was offered Spring 2020 |
| AAS 3853 | From Redlined to Subprime: Race and Real Estate in the US (3) |
| This course examines the history of housing and real estate and explores its role in shaping the meaning and lived experience of race in modern America. We will learn how and why real estate ownership, investment, and development came to play a critical role in the formation and endurance of racial segregation, modern capitalism, and the built environment. | |
| AAS 4005 | Morven's Enslaved and Descendant Communities (3) |
| This course invites students to explore the complex, multilayered history and evolving interpretation of UVA's Morven Farm, with a focus on the site's 19th century enslaved and descendant communities. The course combines lectures, research, and seminar-style discussions with field trips to area archives and historic sites. Does not count toward 4000-level seminar requirement. Course was offered Summer 2023 | |
| AAS 4070 | Distinguished Major Thesis I (3) |
| Students in the Distinguished Majors Program should enroll in this course for their first semester of thesis research. | |
| AAS 4080 | Distinguished Major Thesis II (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Second-semester DMP students should enroll in this course to complete their theses. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 |
| AAS 4109 | Civil Rights Movement and the Media (3) |
| Course examines the crucial relationship between the Civil Rights Movement and mass media from 1950s through early 1970s, looking at a variety of media forms: Hollywood cinema, network television, mainstream newspapers, photojournalism, the black press, and news as primary documents that can tell us something about American race relations during this period and how the nation responded to challenges posed by a powerful social change movement. | |
| AAS 4471 | Black Women and Work (3) |
| This advanced seminar explores selected topics in the history of black women and work (broadly defined) in the United States. Using gender, race, and class as essential categories of analysis, this course is designed to help students better understand the myriad contributions working class black women have made to American history--across time and space--as slaves, convict laborers, domestic servants, sex workers, labor activists, and more. | |
| AAS 4500 | Advanced Seminar in African-American and African Studies (3) |
| Reading, class discussion, and research on a special topic in African-American and African Studies culminatiing in the composition of a research paper. Topics change from term to term, and vary with the instructor. Primarily for fourth-year students but open to others. Course was offered Spring 2016, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| AAS 4501 | Advanced Research Seminar in History & AAS (4) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Reading, class discussion, and research on a special topic in African-American and African Studies culminating in the composition of a research paper. Topics change from term to term, and vary with the instructor. Primarily for fourth-year AAS and History students--double majors and others. Crosslisted with the History major seminar. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2012, Spring 2011 |
| AAS 4559 | New Course in African and African American Studies (1 - 4) |
| New course in the subject of African and African American Studies. | |
| AAS 4570 | Advanced Research Seminar in African-American & African Studies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Reading, class discussion, and research on a special topic in African-American and African Studies culminating in the composition of a research paper. Topics change from term to term, and vary with the instructor. Primarily for fourth-year students but open to others. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| AAS 4724 | Africa in the U.S. Media (3) |
| This course will address the role the media has played in creating images and understandings of "Africa" and "Blackness" in this country. We will focus primarily on the context of the present-day United States. However, we will also address pre-colonial and colonial periods and touch on the role of popular media in particular contemporary African contexts. | |
| AAS 4725 | Queer Africas (3) |
| How does "Africa" shape the contours of queerness? We will explore the complex iterations of afro-queer subjectivities in the the circum-Atlantic world. Importantly, we will examine the extent to which the afterlife of slavery in the Americas intersect with the state of postcoloniality in Africa, and how blackness and queerness get conditioned at these intersections. By providing an introduction to various artists, activists, and intellectuals in both Africa and its myriad diasporas, this interdisciplinary seminar will thus examine what it means to be both black and queer historically, spatially, and contemporarily. | |
| AAS 4749 | Engaging Local Histories: River View Farm (4) |
| This course situates and sheds light on various aspects of Black history and culture in Albemarle County and the surrounding regions through the lens and example of River View Farm and those who lived there, farmed there, and led local and regional communities. Part of the work of this class involves actively working with the Ivy Creek Foundation to support their mission of providing education about local Black histories to the public. | |
| AAS 4845 | Black Speculative Fiction (3) |
| This course seeks to explore the world of African American 'speculative' fiction. This genre of writing largely includes science fiction, fantasy fiction, and horror. In this class, we will read, watch, and discuss narratives by black writers of speculative fiction to better understand the motivation, tone, and agenda in the work of black writers. We will also consider the role of black culture and representation in the larger field. Course was offered Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| AAS 4993 | Independent Study (1 - 12) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Allows students to work on an individual research project. Students must propose a topic to an appropriate faculty member, submit a written proposal for approval, prepare an extensive annotated bibliography on relevant readings comparable to the reading list of a regular upper-level course, and complete a research paper of at least 20 pages. Course was offered Fall 2024, Summer 2024, Fall 2023, Summer 2023, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Summer 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Summer 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Summer 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Summer 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Summer 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Summer 2011, Spring 2011, January 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| AAS 5559 | New Course in African and African American Studies (1 - 4) |
| New course in the subject of African and African American Studies. | |
| AAS 7000 | Introduction to Africana Studies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This is an introductory course that will survey selected recent and classic texts in the interdisciplinary fields of African American, African, and Caribbean Studies. By the end of the course, students will be prepared to identify and understand major themes that have shaped the development of the discipline of Africana Studies. |
| AAS 7200 | Black Environmental Thought (3) |
| Beginning in the colonial and antebellum periods of American history and moving through the twentieth century into the twenty-first, this class will highlight the myriad approaches black women and men adopted to address shifting manifestations of racialized environmental injustice. At the foundation of the course will be an exploration of the environmental history of slavery in the United States. Course was offered Fall 2019 | |
| AAS 7300 | Revolutionary Struggles of the African Atlantic (3) |
| In this course, we will grapple with the concept of struggle as it pertains to Africans' desire to wrestle themselves from the interlocking white supremacist systems of colonialism, enslavement, apartheid and racialized capitalism. How has the desire to be 'free' from these systems of oppression defined Black identities in Africa & its myriad diasporas? Course was offered Fall 2019 | |
| AAS 7310 | The Imperial Encounter in Africa (3) |
| This course studies the concept of the "imperial encounter" in Africa -- what it involved, who it exploited, and why today we still grapple with its legacies. This class analyzes the concept of "the encounter" in the period between 1450 and 1950 using a variety of sources: literature, poems, films, maps, voyagers' accounts, artwork, and scholarly works by historians. Course was offered Spring 2021 | |
| AAS 7315 | Development and the Environment in Modern Africa (3) |
| Focusing largely on east and central Africa, this class studies ideologies of economic development towards Africa, and the localized responses of rural communities across the continent. Fusing histories of imperialism and capitalism alongside works of literature, philosophy, and activism, the class explores how the global economy has sought to exploit the natural resources of Sub-Saharan Africa. Course was offered Spring 2021 | |
| AAS 7725 | Queer Africas (3) |
| How does "Africa" shape the contours of queerness? We will explore the complex iterations of afro-queer subjectivities in the the circum-Atlantic world. Importantly, we will examine the extent to which the afterlife of slavery in the Americas intersect with the state of postcoloniality in Africa, and how blackness and queerness get conditioned at these intersections. By providing an introduction to various artists, activists, and intellectuals in both Africa and its myriad diasporas, this interdisciplinary seminar will thus examine what it means to be both black and queer historically, spatially, and contemporarily. | |
| AAS 9710 | Woodson Institute Fellows Pre- and Post-Doctoral Research (12) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This is a supervised research course without formal classroom instruction. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021 |
| Swahili | |
| SWAH 1010 | Introductory Swahili I (3) |
| Prerequisite: limited or no previous knowledge of Swahili. Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Summer 2015, Summer 2014, Summer 2013, Summer 2012, Summer 2011, Summer 2010 | |
| SWAH 1020 | Introductory Swahili II (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Prerequisite: SWAH 1010. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Summer 2015, Summer 2014, Summer 2013, Summer 2012, Summer 2011, Summer 2010 |
| SWAH 1559 | New Course in Swahili (1 - 4) |
| New course in the subject of Swahili. | |
| SWAH 2010 | Intermediate Swahili I (3) |
| Develops skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing, and awareness of the cultural diversity of the Swahili-speaking areas of East Africa. Readings drawn from a range of literary and journalistic materials. Prerequisite: SWAH 1020 | |
| SWAH 2020 | Intermediate Swahili II (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Further develops skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing, and awareness of the cultural diversity of the Swahili-speaking areas of East Africa. Readings drawn from a range of literary and journalistic materials. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2010 |
| SWAH 2559 | New Course in Swahili (1 - 4) |
| New course in the subject of Swahili. | |