The following new courses are planned to be offered sometime in the future by the department.

Syllabus Title: Introduction to Pan-Africanism
Monitor Title: PanAfricanism
Course Number: To be determined
Level: two hundred level course

Description: This course explores the ideology of Pan-Africanism and efforts to implement it. We will look at the ideas of some of the foremost proponents of Pan-Africanist ideology, including Edward Wilmot Blyden, Marcus Garvey, W. E. B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, George Padmore, Kwame Nkrumah, and Gamal Abdel Nasser. We will consider the various Pan-Africanist Congresses and their impact on the development of the ideology. The course will also examine Pan-Africanism from the perspective of the struggle for civil rights in the U.S. as well as the struggle for freedom and independence in Africa. In this course we will not shy away from such critical questions as Is Pan-Africanism a racist ideology or a political ideology? How does it compare with such other ideologies as Zionism? The course will conclude with an assessment of the relevance of this ideology today for both Africa and the African Diaspora.

Syllabus Title: Disability, Minorities and Civil Rights
Monitor Title: Disability and Civil Rights
Course Number: To be determined
Level: two hundred level course

Description: Against the backdrop of various Congressional legislation dealing with the civil rights of people with disability (e.g. Americans with Disability Act, Architectural Barriers Act, Section 508 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, etc.), this course seeks to broaden our understanding of issues of disability--but with a focus on minorities--beyond the traditional view of it as an issue of either medical need, or societal compassion (charity), or individual deficit. In other words, this course will look at disability as also a matter of civil rights. Topics that will be covered include: origins, goals, and achievements of the disability movement; disability perspectives on poverty, work and welfare; disability perspectives on the new genetic research; and social inclusion as a democratic and human right.

Syllabus Title: Africa Through the Eyes of Hollywood Filmmakers
Monitor Title: Africa in Films
Course Number: To be determined
Level: Three hundred level course

Description: This course rests on the following simple premise: films have evolved over the past 100 years or so to occupy the center stage of popular culture; consequently, they are among the most powerful medium of socialization to date. In other words, films, like other forms of cultural expression (literature, art, music, theater, etc.) are not only a vehicle for entertainment, but they are also a powerful means for shaping peoples' beliefs, perceptions, opinions, etc.

For good or ill, films are one of the two dominant vehicles for the construction of the imagery of Africa in the minds of the majority of the people in North America and elsewhere outside Africa (the other vehicle is, of course, television). It is our purpose in this course to see how Hollywood filmmakers portray Africa in their films and to examine to what extent this portrayal conforms to reality. Further, we will look at the ideological antecedents of the cinematic imagery of Africa that the filmmakers have constructed over the years. We will conclude the course by undertaking a foray into the impact of such films on U.S. (and other Western) societies as their members interact (be it visually, politically, economically or socially) with Africa, Africans, AND African-Americans.

Among the films we will see in this course will include some of these: The African Queen; Chocolat; Congo; A Dry White Season; A Good Man in Africa; Mister Johnson; Out of Africa; Shaft in Africa; Tarzan's Greatest Adventure; A World Apart; and Zulu Dawn. In addition to the films screened in class, you will also be asked to see a total of THREE films outside class that you will obtain on your own. (More information about this requirement will be available in class.)

In organizational terms, the course has four concurrently running parts to it: (a) a brief introduction to the history of Africa, from pre-colonial times to the present; (b) the exploration of specific relevant themes in the films considered in this course; (c) a basic introduction to the essential elements of the technology and art of filmmaking (in cinema, the medium is also the message); and (d) a brief introduction to the dominant strands in film theory and criticism (formalism; realism; semiotics; the concepts of the montage, the auteur, the patriarchal gaze, the genre, etc.; ideological structuralism; and so on).

From a structural point of view, the course has three layers to it: class lectures, course readings, and audio-visual material. While each of these layers will, of course, be related, they, however, will not always have identical content. For example: class lectures will not always be a repetition of material in course readings. Therefore, attendance in this course is absolutely mandatory.
 

Syllabus Title: Black Women in Cinema
Monitor Title: Black Women in Films
Course Number: To be determined
Level: Three hundred level course

Description: This course rests on the following simple premise: films have evolved over the past 100 years or so to occupy the center stage of popular culture; consequently, they are among the most powerful medium of socialization to date. In other words, films, like other forms of cultural expression (literature, art, music, theater, etc.) are not only a vehicle for entertainment, but they are also a powerful means for shaping peoples' beliefs, perceptions, opinions, etc.

Almost from the very beginning of cinema in this country, black women, have been subjects of either entire film plots, or, as is more often the case, film sub-plots. However, no matter how you cut it, the sad truth is that despite their early cinematic presence, black women have faced a two pronged assault from Hollywood filmmakers (regardless of the race of the filmmaker): one is underrepresentation and the other is the ideological reinforcement of the three headed monster of oppression that dominate the lives of most black women today: racism, sexism and classism. The underrepresentation has three dimensions to it too: underrepresentation in the filmmaking business as a whole (in terms of production, direction, writing, etc.); underrepresentation in roles traditionally occupied by white female actors; and underrepresentation in roles of power within the narrative of the film. While all this will become self-evident as we progress through the course, we will also consider the possibilities of an alternative scenario for black women in cinema by looking at some of the work of independent black filmmakers.

Among the films we will see in this course will include some of these: The Color Purple; Eve's Bayou; Foxy Brown; Girl 6; How Stella Got Her Groove Back; Lady Sings the Blues; The Long Walk Home; Poetic Justice; Waiting to Exhale; What's Love Got to Do with It; and Why Do Fools Fall in Love. In addition to the films screened in class, you will also be asked to see a total of THREE films outside class that you will obtain on your own. (More information about this requirement will be available in class.)

In organizational terms, the course has four concurrently running parts to it: (a) a brief introduction to the central issues of gender and race in U.S. society; (b) the exploration of specific relevant themes in the films considered in this course; (c) a basic introduction to the essential elements of the technology and art of filmmaking (in cinema, the medium is also the message); and (d) a brief introduction to the dominant strands in film theory and criticism (formalism; realism; semiotics; the concepts of the montage, the auteur, the patriarchal gaze, the genre, etc.; ideological structuralism; and so on).

From a structural point of view, the course has three layers to it: class lectures, course readings, and audio-visual material. While each of these three layers will, of course, be related, they, however, will not always have identical content. For example: class lectures will not always be a repetition of material in course readings. Therefore, attendance in this course is absolutely mandatory.
 

Syllabus Title:Hollywood Filmmakers and Civil Rights
Monitor Title: Civil Rights in Films
Course Number: To be determined
Level: Three hundred level course

Description: This course rests on the following simple premise: films have evolved over the past 100 years or so to occupy the center stage of popular culture; consequently, they are among the most powerful medium of socialization to date. In other words, films, like other forms of cultural expression (literature, art, music, theater, etc.) are not only a vehicle for entertainment, but they are also a powerful means for shaping peoples' beliefs, perceptions, opinions, etc.

Among the major themes that run through U.S. history is that of the struggle for civil rights--defined for the purposes of this course broadly to include human rights--by racial minorities and women. Not surprisingly, this theme has also found its way into cinema. Our purpose in this course, then, is to examine how filmmakers have tackled this subject and to attempt to assess the impact of these films on society.

Among the films we will see in this course will include some of these: Amistad; Come See the Paradise; Dead Presidents; Ghosts of Mississippi; Life; The Long Walk Home; Malcolm X; Mississippi Burning; Rosewood; A Time to Kill; and To Kill a Mockingbird. In addition to the films screened in class, you will also be asked to see a total of THREE films outside class that you will obtain on your own. (More information about this requirement will be available in class.)

In organizational terms, the course has four concurrently running parts to it: (a) a brief introduction to the history of the struggle for civil rights in the U.S.; (b) the exploration of specific relevant themes in the films considered in this course; (c) a basic introduction to the essential elements of the technology and art of filmmaking (in cinema, the medium is also the message); and (d) a brief introduction to the dominant strands in film theory and criticism (formalism; realism; semiotics; the concepts of the montage, the auteur, the patriarchal gaze, the genre, etc.; ideological structuralism; and so on).

From a structural point of view, the course has three layers to it: class lectures, course readings, and audio-visual material. While each of these three layers will, of course, be related, they, however, will not always have identical content. For example: class lectures will not always be a repetition of material in course readings. Therefore, attendance in this course is absolutely mandatory.
 

Syllabus Title: The Immigrant Experience in Hollywood Films
Monitor Title: Immigrants in Films
Course Number: To be determined
Level: Three hundred level course

Description: This course rests on the following simple premise: films have evolved over the past 100 years or so to occupy the center stage of popular culture; consequently, they are among the most powerful medium of socialization to date. In other words, films, like other forms of cultural expression (literature, art, music, theater, etc.) are not only a vehicle for entertainment, but they are also a powerful means for shaping peoples' beliefs, perceptions, opinions, etc.

It is a truism to say that the U.S., like the rest of the Americas, is a land of immigrants (a development that has only been possible, of course, through the displacement of the Native peoples). Central to this immigrant experience, whether it has been forced (as in the case of African-Americans) or voluntary (as in the case of most of the rest of the population) have been such themes as initial rejection, home-sickness, self-segregation, struggles for acceptance and inclusion, and so on.

Not surprisingly, Hollywood filmmakers have found a rich tapestry of stories to tell based on the immigrant experience. Our purpose in this course is to see how these stories have been told and to assess their impact on the unending struggle to build a democratic society that has among its foundational principles the idea encapsulated by the phrase: "I want you to help me celebrate the right to be me, and I want to help you celebrate your right to be you."

Among the films we will see in this course will include some of these: Alamo Bay; Amistad; Angela's Ashes; Avalon; Combination Platter; Joy Luck Club; Days of Heaven; El Norte; Heaven's Gate; Mi Familia; Moscow on the Hudson; and One Man's Hero. In addition to the films screened in class, you will also be asked to see a total of THREE films outside class that you will obtain on your own. (More information about this requirement will be available in class.)

In organizational terms, the course has four concurrently running parts to it: (a) a brief introduction to the variegated ethnic/ racial make-up of the U.S. and consideration of the historical antecedents of this diversity; (b) the exploration of specific relevant themes in the films considered in this course; (c) a basic introduction to the essential elements of the technology and art of filmmaking (in cinema, the medium is also the message); and (d) a brief introduction to the dominant strands in film theory and criticism (formalism; realism; semiotics; the concepts of the montage, the auteur, the patriarchal gaze, the genre, etc.; ideological structuralism; and so on).

From a structural point of view, the course has three layers to it: class lectures, course readings, and audio-visual material. While each of these three layers will, of course, be related, they, however, will not always have identical content. For example: class lectures will not always be a repetition of material in course readings. Therefore, attendance in this course is absolutely mandatory.
 

Syllabus Title: African-American Biography I
Monitor Title: Biography I
Course Number: To be determined
Level: Three hundred level course

Description: This course rests on three principal premises: First: that the study of biographies allows us to not only garner personal lessons, but also provides us with a window to look into the times/ circumstances that the subjects of the biographies lived in. In other words, the approach we will take in this course is that society shapes individuals, but individuals also shape society. Therefore, we will work to balance the three critical dimensions of all biographies: the deeds of the subject (what did the person actually do that merits our study of their biography); the personality and character of the subject (what personal elements helped to shape these deeds); and the familial and social context in which the subject lived.

Second: that African-American biography, like that of other ethnic groups in the U.S., can never be studied in isolation from the broader socio-political forces of oppression and counter-oppression that have shaped the historical development of the U.S.

Third: a fruitful study of any biography involves an interdiciplinary approach. Our view in this course will be that biographies are, at once, history, psychology and literature.

The choice of who we will study will be determined by availability of, both, written and audio-visual materials. Among those whose biographies we intend to study in this course will include some of the following: Muhammed Ali, Maya Angelou, Malik Al-Shabbaz (Malcolm X), Arthur Ashe, James Baldwin, Benjamin Banneker , Ralph J. Bunche, Shirley Chisholm, Dorothy Dandridge, Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois, Duke Ellington, Marcus Garvey, Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Toni Morrison, Sidney Poitier, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Paul Robeson, Jackie Robinson, Sojourner Truth, Madame C. J. Walker, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Andrew Young.

Organizationally, the course has two parts to it: (a) a brief introduction to African-American history; and (b) a study of the relevant biographies. From a structural point of view, the course has three layers to it: class lectures, course readings, and audio-visual material. While each of these three layers will, of course, be related, they, however, will not always have identical content. For example: class lectures will not always be a repetition of material in course readings. Therefore, attendance in this course is absolutely mandatory.
 

Syllabus Title: African-American Biography II
Monitor Title: Biography II
Course Number: To be determined
Level: Three hundred level course

Description: A continuation of African-American Biography I, which is a prerequisite for this course.