Area Studies Programs Courses

The course provides a multidisciplinary introduction of the many dimensions of the African American experience, including the African heritage and diaspora, slavery and freedom, African American artistic and literary expression, and the problem of racism in American society.

Theories, concepts, and case studies relating to the cultural and social construction of gender from an anthropological perspective. Students will examine gender in relation to sexuality, fertility, child-bearing, self-identification, family, power, status, voice, hegemony/resistance, colonialism, and globalization in cultures and societies around the world. Identical with ANT 312. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 312 and ANT 312.

Recommended Prerequisite: HST 103 or HST 104. This course will introduce students to women's participation in Africa's history and contemporary issues. The readings cover a broad geographical range of North, West, Central and Southern Africa. The course will include five topics: Women and the Family; Women, Politics, and Economics; Religious Women; Women in Colonial Rebellion; and Women and National Revolutions. Identical with HST 323. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 323 and HST 323.

Anthropological study of a cultural region of the world (such as the Caribbean, Latin America, or Southeastern Indians), including environment, subsistence, technology, economy, social and political organization, and religion. Identical with ANT 330. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 330 and ANT 330. Variable content course. May be repeated when topic changes.

Recommended Prerequisite: HST 121 or AAS 100. Survey of the experiences of Americans of African descent to 1865. Emphasis on African heritage; African-American contributions and institutions; slavery and quasi-freedom. Identical with HST 331. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 331 and HST 331.

Recommended Prerequisite: HST 122 or AAS 100. Continuation of AAS 331, 1865-present. Emphasis on the struggles for racial justice; protest organizations, philosophies and tactics. Identical with HST 332. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 332 and HST 332.

An exploration of African societies (especially sub-Saharan), including family structure, gender relations, social and political organization, beliefs, economics, art, oral literature, music, dance, and other aspects of culture. Identical with ANT 332. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 333 and ANT 332.

Recommended Prerequisite: HST 103 or HST 104 or HST 121 or AAS 100. This course examines the historical roots, dimensions, and causes of conflict in Africa. Thematically organized to capture developments across the different regions in the continent, the course offers critical insights into the preponderance of conflict in Africa since the Cold War. In addition, the course explores the various ways through which Africans, its partners, and international organizations have fostered peace and conflict resolution in Africa over the years. Identical with HST 334. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 334 and HST 334.

Recommended Prerequisite: HST 103 or HST 104. Historical developments in Africa from antiquity to the present. Emphasis on south Saharan Africa for the period before European contact. Topics in modern nationalism and independence. Africa in the context of world history. Identical with HST 335. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 335 and HST 335.

This course explores the social construction of race and ethnicity. Issues of differential power between racial and ethnic groups and the economic, political, and social structures which are utilized to maintain these power differences are identified. Social movements and social policies designed to address social inequality, prejudice and discrimination are also examined. Identical with SOC 336. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 336 and SOC 336.

This course deals with knowledge generation, production, and dissemination about Africa and its peoples. It traces the origin, progress, and current state of scholarship on Africa and about Africans. It is about writing and understanding Africa and its history. It examines the kind of history that has been written about events in Africa. In other words, it is concerned with the study of and nature of history in Africa. Given this basic disposition, the course is a reflection on history in Africa as a discipline and the problems involved in the writing of African history globally. Identical with HST 338. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 338 and HST 338.

Recommended Prerequisite: HST 103 or HST 104 or HST 121 or AAS 100. This course traces the history of Africa from the slave trade to independence. The course is thematically organized to capture developments across the different regions in the continent; and offers critical insights into the place of Africa in world history, especially in relations to and with global developments. As a survey course, the course offers insights into the different regions, paying particular attention to cultural, economic and political changes. Identical with HST 339. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 339 and HST 339.

Recommended Prerequisite: HST 103 or HST 104; and HST 121 or AAS 100. This course examines various social, political, and economic developments of enslaved societies in the Americas (North, Central and South), the West Indies, and Africa from roughly the 1200s to the late-1800s with a primary focus upon the lives and roles played by people of the African Diaspora and their encounters with Europeans and Indigenous Americans. Identical with HST 345. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 345 and HST 345.

Recommended Prerequisite: REL 131. Explores the establishment and maintenance of African American religious institutions, particularly the Black Churches and their future development. Identical with REL 345. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 346 and REL 345.

Survey of representative works of fiction, poetry, drama, and creative nonfiction in the context of social and cultural movements. Identical with ENG 355. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 346 and ENG 355.

Survey of representative works of fiction, poetry, drama, folklore, personal narratives, and essays from various countries on the African continent written in or translated into English. Identical with ENG 363. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 363 and ENG 363.

Topics of general interest in the area of African American Studies. Examples: African Independence, Negritude, Harlem Renaissance, 1960s Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panther Party, Nation of Islam in the U.S., Afrocentricism, and African/African American Destiny. Variable content course. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours, provided that the topic is different.

Study of African American drama from the antebellum period to the present, with emphasis on the intersections of dramatic art and such social and cultural movements as abolitionism, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Black Arts Movement. Identical with ENG 455. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 455 and ENG 455.

Supervised group study and/or research in an off campus setting. A fee may be charged to cover travel expenses. Identical with ANT 490. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 490 and ANT 490. Variable content course. May be repeated when topic changes.

Analysis of various topics in African American Studies not covered in regular courses. Variable content course. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours, provided that the topic is different.

Study of African American leaders and movements in the United States, with emphasis on the period since World War II. Identical with HST 531. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 531 and HST 531.

Recommended Prerequisite: 50 hours. A comparative study of the political and economic systems of contemporary Africa with emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. Ideologies and strategies pursued by selected African governments are covered, including an assessment of contemporary economic, political, and strategic ties within the region and internationally. The class will emphasize such areas as Mauritania, Senegal, Kenya, Somalia, Nigeria, and South Africa. Identical with PLS 550. Cannot receive credit for both AAS 550 and PLS 550.

This course provides a multidisciplinary introduction to the many dimensions of Disability Studies, including the history, social, cultural, political, legal, and economic perspectives on disability in American society.

Topics of general interest in the area of Disability Studies. Examples: disability cultures, disability rights movement, deaf culture, disability and the law. Variable content course. May be repeated as topics change to a maximum of 6 hours.

Analysis of various topics in Disability Studies not covered in regular courses. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 hours, provided that the topic is different.

An introduction to Gender Studies that explores the influence that ideas about sex, gender, and gender roles have on women and men, both as individuals and as social beings. Using new research on gender in many disciplines, it examines representations of male and female experiences, and historical and social constructions of women's and men's roles.

This course teaches students to analyze the economic decisions made by both males and females in two main areas: the labor market and the household. Specific areas of inquiry include the following: the family as an economic unit, gender differences in labor force participation, occupational gender segregation, explanations for gender earnings differentials and efforts to reduce such differentials, gender earnings discrimination, and international gender issues. Identical with ECO 315. Cannot receive credit for both GST 315 and ECO 315.

This course offers an introductory survey of feminist theories within a sociological framework. Students will read and discuss significant classical and contemporary feminist writings on how social life is organized, maintained or changed. The feminist literature has led to the emergence of diverse theoretical frameworks analyzing historical and contemporary, macro and micro, public and private, local and global issues and concerns. The feminist paradigm, like many other paradigms, is inclusive of many disciplines. The sociological writings within this paradigm provide a wealth of materials on alternative views of social organization, order and conflict.

This course will explore the effects of an integrated global community on gender; how global trends are gender-based in terms of labor market participation, resource allocation, family regulations, health care, crime, war and regional politics. Students will discuss how events and policies in one part of the globe affect gender relations in another region. May be taught concurrently with SOC 600. Cannot receive credit for both GST 400 and SOC 600.

In-depth inquiry into selected topics of Gender Studies. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours if the topic is different.

This course provides a multidisciplinary introduction to the study of the Ozarks region and its inhabitants, including Ozarks history and geography, regional folk culture and traditions, and current issues.

In-depth inquiry into topics in Ozarks Studies. May be repeated to a maximum of six hours if the topic is different.