Title | Instructors | Location | Time | Description | Cross listings | Fulfills | Registration notes | Syllabus | Syllabus URL | ||
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AFRC 0012-401 | Toni Morrison and the Adventure of the 21st Century | Herman Beavers | TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | This course introduces students to literary study through the works of a major African American author. Reading an individual author across an entire career offers students the rare opportunity to examine works from several critical perspectives in a single course. How do our author's works help us to understand literary and cultural history? And how might we understand our author's legacy through performance, tributes, adaptations, or sequels? Exposing students to a range of approaches and assignments, this course is an ideal introduction to literary study. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings. | ENGL0012401 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. Arts & Letters Sector |
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AFRC 0019-301 | Visions of America: Plural Nations, Places and Ideals | Michael G. Hanchard | W 12:00 PM-2:59 PM | This course will introduce students to a more hemispheric understanding of the American experience, through the writings of many authors from the New World, including the United States, on what it means to be an American. Students will read texts from many genres including but not limited to poetry, film, prose, political speeches and autobiography, to come to terms with histories of native Americans, African-Americans, Latinos, and whites in the United States, as well as peoples of South America and the Caribbean. In the process students will become familiar with scholarship across the social sciences and humanities that consider issues of race, culture, nation, freedom and inequality in the Americas, and how racial slavery and the Afro-American hemispheric experience has informed multiple American visions. | Humanties & Social Science Sector Cross Cultural Analysis |
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AFRC 0070-401 | Masculinities and Politics in Global Perspective | Paniz Musawi Natanzi | TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM | This survey course introduces students to scholarship on men, masculinities, and their politics in global context. Combining academic readings with film, visual artwork and other media, the course will put the politics of masculinities in South Asia-- with particularly attention to Afghanistan and Pakistan--into conversation with scholarship from Africana Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, and American Studies to compare experiences and contexts across the globe. The course will engage readings from feminist political geography; trans, queer, and sexuality studies; cultural studies; sociology; history; and anthropology. | GSWS0070401, SAST0070401, SOCI0070401 | ||||||
AFRC 0350-401 | Africa Since 1800 | Lee V Cassanelli | TR 9:00 AM-9:59 AM | 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 "tribalism" in modern Africa. | HIST0350401 | History & Tradition Sector Cross Cultural Analysis |
https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=AFRC0350401 | ||||
AFRC 0350-402 | Africa Since 1800 | F 9:00 AM-9:59 AM | 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 "tribalism" in modern Africa. | HIST0350402 | History & Tradition Sector Cross Cultural Analysis |
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AFRC 0350-403 | Africa Since 1800 | F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM | 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 "tribalism" in modern Africa. | HIST0350403 | Cross Cultural Analysis History & Tradition Sector |
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AFRC 0350-404 | Africa Since 1800 | R 12:00 PM-12:59 PM | 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 "tribalism" in modern Africa. | HIST0350404 | Cross Cultural Analysis History & Tradition Sector |
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AFRC 1000-401 | Introduction to Sociology | Benjamin J Shestakofsky | MW 1:45 PM-2:44 PM | Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and social interaction. Sociology is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and changed, and how they affect the lives of individuals. We will consider what theory and research can tell us about our social world. | SOCI1000401 | Society Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. |
https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=AFRC1000401 | ||||
AFRC 1000-402 | Introduction to Sociology | Morgan Wagdy Hanna Ghattas | R 9:00 AM-9:59 AM | Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and social interaction. Sociology is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and changed, and how they affect the lives of individuals. We will consider what theory and research can tell us about our social world. | SOCI1000402 | Society Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. |
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AFRC 1000-403 | Introduction to Sociology | Ran Wang | R 9:00 AM-9:59 AM | Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and social interaction. Sociology is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and changed, and how they affect the lives of individuals. We will consider what theory and research can tell us about our social world. | SOCI1000403 | Society Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. |
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AFRC 1000-404 | Introduction to Sociology | Morgan Wagdy Hanna Ghattas | R 10:15 AM-11:14 AM | Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and social interaction. Sociology is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and changed, and how they affect the lives of individuals. We will consider what theory and research can tell us about our social world. | SOCI1000404 | Society Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. |
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AFRC 1000-405 | Introduction to Sociology | Ran Wang | R 10:15 AM-11:14 AM | Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and social interaction. Sociology is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and changed, and how they affect the lives of individuals. We will consider what theory and research can tell us about our social world. | SOCI1000405 | Society Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. |
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AFRC 1000-406 | Introduction to Sociology | Abby Lim | R 12:00 PM-12:59 PM | Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and social interaction. Sociology is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and changed, and how they affect the lives of individuals. We will consider what theory and research can tell us about our social world. | SOCI1000406 | Society Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. |
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AFRC 1000-407 | Introduction to Sociology | Yang Rui | R 12:00 PM-12:59 PM | Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and social interaction. Sociology is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and changed, and how they affect the lives of individuals. We will consider what theory and research can tell us about our social world. | SOCI1000407 | Society Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. |
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AFRC 1000-408 | Introduction to Sociology | Abby Lim | R 1:45 PM-2:44 PM | Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and social interaction. Sociology is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and changed, and how they affect the lives of individuals. We will consider what theory and research can tell us about our social world. | SOCI1000408 | Society Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. |
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AFRC 1000-409 | Introduction to Sociology | Yang Rui | R 1:45 PM-2:44 PM | Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and social interaction. Sociology is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and changed, and how they affect the lives of individuals. We will consider what theory and research can tell us about our social world. | SOCI1000409 | Society Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. |
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AFRC 1000-410 | Introduction to Sociology | Chaewon Lee | F 9:00 AM-9:59 AM | Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and social interaction. Sociology is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and changed, and how they affect the lives of individuals. We will consider what theory and research can tell us about our social world. | SOCI1000410 | Society Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. |
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AFRC 1000-411 | Introduction to Sociology | Chaewon Lee | F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM | Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and social interaction. Sociology is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and changed, and how they affect the lives of individuals. We will consider what theory and research can tell us about our social world. | SOCI1000411 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. Society Sector |
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AFRC 1000-601 | Introduction to Sociology | Jan Jaeger | W 5:15 PM-8:14 PM | Sociology provides a unique way to look at human behavior and social interaction. Sociology is the systematic study of the groups and societies in which people live. In this introductory course, we analyze how social structures and cultures are created, maintained, and changed, and how they affect the lives of individuals. We will consider what theory and research can tell us about our social world. | SOCI1000601 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. Society Sector |
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AFRC 1001-001 | Introduction to Africana Studies | Jasmine Johnson Marc Alexander Ridgell |
TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | The term Africana emerged in public discourse amid the social, political, and cultural turbulence of the 1960s. The roots of the field, however, are much older,easily reaching back to oral histories and writings during the early days of the Trans-Atlantic African slave trade. The underpinnings of the field continued to grow in the works of enslaved Africans, abolitionists and social critics of the nineteenth century, and evolved in the twentieth century by black writers, journalists, activists, and educators as the sought to document African descended people's lives. Collectively, their work established African Studies as a discipline,epistemological standpoint and political practice dedicated to understanding the multiple trajectories and experiences of black people in the world throughout history. As an ever-transforming field of study, this course will examine the genealogy, major discourses, and future trajectory of Africana Studies. Using primary sources such as maps and letters, as well as literature and performance, our study of Africana will begin with continental Africa, move across the Atlantic during the middle passage and travel from the coasts of Bahia in the 18th century to the streets of Baltimore in the 21st century. The course is constructed around major themes in Black intellectual thought including: retentions and transferal, diaspora, black power, meanings of blackness, uplift and nationalism. While attending to narratives and theories that concern African descended people in the United States, the course is uniquely designed with a focus on gender and provides context for the African diasporic experience in the Caribbean and Latin America. | Humanties & Social Science Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. |
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AFRC 1100-401 | American Jesus | MW 8:30 AM-9:59 AM | Images and beliefs about Jesus have always been a compelling part of American life. This course seeks to examine the social, political, religious and artistic ways that Jesus has been appropriated and used in American life, making him a unique figure for exploring American religious life. Special attention will be given to how Jesus is used to shape social and political concerns, including race, gender, sexuality and culture. | RELS1100401 | |||||||
AFRC 1166-401 | A Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered | Hardeep Dhillon | MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | Many Americans widely accept the notion that the United States is a nation of immigrants despite the fact that immigration and border control has been a central feature of this nation’s past. This course explores the United States’ development of immigration and border enforcement during the twentieth century through an intersectional lens. It roots the structures of modern immigration and border enforcement in Native dispossession and histories of slavery, and interrogates how Asian, Black, and Latinx immigration has shaped and expanded immigration controls on, within, and beyond US territorial borders. In addition to historicizing the rise and expansion of major institutions of immigration control such as the US Border Patrol and Bureau of Naturalization, we explore how immigration controls were enforced on the ground and impacted the lives of everyday people. | ASAM1166401, HIST1166401, LALS1166401 | ||||||
AFRC 1169-401 | History of American Law Since 1877 | Karen Tani | MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | This course introduces students to major themes in U.S. legal history from 1877 to the present. Topics include (but are not limited to) citizenship and immigration, federalism, public regulation of economic activity, lawyers and the legal profession, criminalization, social welfare provision, and rights-claiming. Prominent through-lines include the relationship between law and politics; the struggles of marginalized groups for recognition and inclusion; and shifting, competing understandings of liberty, equality, and justice. Judicial decisions figure prominently in this course, but so, too, do other sources of law, including statutes, administrative decisions, and provisions of the U.S. Constitution. Students will leave this course with a better grasp of how the U.S. legal system operates and how it has channeled power, resources, and opportunity over time. | HIST1169401 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. | |||||
AFRC 1171-401 | The American South 1865-Present | William Sturkey | TR 10:15 AM-11:14 AM | This course will trace the history of the American South from the end of the Civil War to the present. Charting its course out of the smoldering aftermath of the post-Civil War South, it will track a narrative of politics, economics, and culture across more than 150 years of life in the modern American South. The course will include deep examinations of race, gender, and culture, including a broad set of Southern stories and voices in an interdisciplinary journey across what is perhaps America’s most storied region. | HIST1171401 | History & Tradition Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. |
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AFRC 1171-402 | The American South 1865-Present | F 10:15 AM-11:14 AM | This course will trace the history of the American South from the end of the Civil War to the present. Charting its course out of the smoldering aftermath of the post-Civil War South, it will track a narrative of politics, economics, and culture across more than 150 years of life in the modern American South. The course will include deep examinations of race, gender, and culture, including a broad set of Southern stories and voices in an interdisciplinary journey across what is perhaps America’s most storied region. | HIST1171402 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. History & Tradition Sector |
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AFRC 1171-403 | The American South 1865-Present | CANCELED | This course will trace the history of the American South from the end of the Civil War to the present. Charting its course out of the smoldering aftermath of the post-Civil War South, it will track a narrative of politics, economics, and culture across more than 150 years of life in the modern American South. The course will include deep examinations of race, gender, and culture, including a broad set of Southern stories and voices in an interdisciplinary journey across what is perhaps America’s most storied region. | HIST1171403 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. History & Tradition Sector |
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AFRC 1171-404 | The American South 1865-Present | F 12:00 PM-12:59 PM | This course will trace the history of the American South from the end of the Civil War to the present. Charting its course out of the smoldering aftermath of the post-Civil War South, it will track a narrative of politics, economics, and culture across more than 150 years of life in the modern American South. The course will include deep examinations of race, gender, and culture, including a broad set of Southern stories and voices in an interdisciplinary journey across what is perhaps America’s most storied region. | HIST1171404 | History & Tradition Sector Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. |
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AFRC 1171-405 | The American South 1865-Present | CANCELED | This course will trace the history of the American South from the end of the Civil War to the present. Charting its course out of the smoldering aftermath of the post-Civil War South, it will track a narrative of politics, economics, and culture across more than 150 years of life in the modern American South. The course will include deep examinations of race, gender, and culture, including a broad set of Southern stories and voices in an interdisciplinary journey across what is perhaps America’s most storied region. | HIST1171405 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. History & Tradition Sector |
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AFRC 1171-406 | The American South 1865-Present | R 5:15 PM-6:14 PM | This course will trace the history of the American South from the end of the Civil War to the present. Charting its course out of the smoldering aftermath of the post-Civil War South, it will track a narrative of politics, economics, and culture across more than 150 years of life in the modern American South. The course will include deep examinations of race, gender, and culture, including a broad set of Southern stories and voices in an interdisciplinary journey across what is perhaps America’s most storied region. | HIST1171406 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. History & Tradition Sector |
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AFRC 1171-407 | The American South 1865-Present | CANCELED | This course will trace the history of the American South from the end of the Civil War to the present. Charting its course out of the smoldering aftermath of the post-Civil War South, it will track a narrative of politics, economics, and culture across more than 150 years of life in the modern American South. The course will include deep examinations of race, gender, and culture, including a broad set of Southern stories and voices in an interdisciplinary journey across what is perhaps America’s most storied region. | HIST1171407 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. History & Tradition Sector |
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AFRC 1177-401 | African American History 1876 to Present | Vaughn A Booker | MW 5:15 PM-6:44 PM | 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. | HIST1177401 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. History & Tradition Sector |
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AFRC 1187-301 | The History of Women and Men of African Descent at the University of Penn | Charles L Howard Daina A Troy |
M 10:15 AM-1:14 PM | The history of the women and men of African Descent who have studied, taught, researched, and worked at the University of Pennsylvania provides a powerful window into the complex history of Blacks not only in America but throughout the Diaspora. This class will unpack, uncover, and present this history through close studies of texts and archived records on and at the university, as well as through first hand accounts by alumni and past and present faculty and staff members. These stories of the trials and triumphs of individuals on and around this campus demonstrate the amazing and absurd experience that Blacks have endured both at Penn and globally. Emphasis will be placed on the research process with the intent of creating a democratic classroom where all are students and all are instructors. Students will become familiar with archival historical research (and historical criticism) as well as with ethnographic research. Far more than just a survey of historical moments on campus and in the community, students will meet face to face with those who have lived and are presently living history and they will be faced with the challenge of discerning the most effective ways of documenting, protecting, and representing that history for future generations of Penn students. | |||||||
AFRC 1200-401 | Introduction to African American Literature | Dagmawi Woubshet | CANCELED | An introduction to African-American literature, ranging across a wide spectrum of moments, methodologies, and ideological postures, from Reconstruction and the Harlem Renaissance to the Civil Rights Movement. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings. | ENGL1200401, GSWS1201401 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. Arts & Letters Sector |
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AFRC 1310-401 | Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade | Roquinaldo Ferreira | MW 5:15 PM-6:44 PM | This course focuses on the history of selected African societies from the sixteenth through the mid-nineteenth centuries. The primary goal is to study the political, economic, social, and cultural history of a number of peoples who participated in the Atlantic slave trade or were touched by it during the era of their involvement. The course is designed to serve as an introduction to the history and culture of African peoples who entered the diaspora during the era of the slave trade. Its audience is students interested in the history of Africa, the African diaspora, and the Atlantic world, as well as those who want to learn about the history of the slave trade. Case studies will include the Yoruba, Akan, and Fon, as well as Senegambian and West-central African peoples. | HIST1310401, LALS1310401 | Cross Cultural Analysis | |||||
AFRC 1400-401 | Jazz Style and History | Max Allan Johnson | MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | This course is an exploration of the family of musical idioms called jazz. Attention will be given to issues of style development, selective musicians, and to the social and cultural conditions and the scholarly discourses that have informed the creation, dissemination and reception of this dynamic set of styles from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. Fulfills Cultural Diversity in the U.S. | MUSC1400401 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. | |||||
AFRC 1500-401 | World Musics and Cultures | Shivanand Boddapati Jiwon Kwon Carol Ann Muller Echezonachukwu Chinedu Nduka Kingsley Kwadwo Okyere |
TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM | This course examines how we as consumers in the "Western" world engage with musical difference largely through the products of the global entertainment industry. We examine music cultures in contact in a variety of ways-- particularly as traditions in transformation. Students gain an understanding of traditional music as live, meaningful person-to-person music making, by examining the music in its original site of production, and then considering its transformation once it is removed, and recontextualized in a variety of ways. The purpose of the course is to enable students to become informed and critical consumers of "World Music" by telling a series of stories about particular recordings made with, or using the music of, peoples culturally and geographically distant from the US. Students come to understand that not all music downloads containing music from unfamiliar places are the same, and that particular recordings may be embedded in intriguing and controversial narratives of production and consumption. At the very least, students should emerge from the class with a clear understanding that the production, distribution, and consumption of world music is rarely a neutral process. Fulfills College Cross Cultural Foundational Requirement. | ANTH1500401, MUSC1500401 | Arts & Letters Sector Cross Cultural Analysis |
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AFRC 1500-402 | World Musics and Cultures | Laurie Lee | TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM | This course examines how we as consumers in the "Western" world engage with musical difference largely through the products of the global entertainment industry. We examine music cultures in contact in a variety of ways-- particularly as traditions in transformation. Students gain an understanding of traditional music as live, meaningful person-to-person music making, by examining the music in its original site of production, and then considering its transformation once it is removed, and recontextualized in a variety of ways. The purpose of the course is to enable students to become informed and critical consumers of "World Music" by telling a series of stories about particular recordings made with, or using the music of, peoples culturally and geographically distant from the US. Students come to understand that not all music downloads containing music from unfamiliar places are the same, and that particular recordings may be embedded in intriguing and controversial narratives of production and consumption. At the very least, students should emerge from the class with a clear understanding that the production, distribution, and consumption of world music is rarely a neutral process. Fulfills College Cross Cultural Foundational Requirement. | ANTH1500402, MUSC1500402 | Arts & Letters Sector Cross Cultural Analysis |
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AFRC 1500-403 | World Musics and Cultures | Ryan L Tomski | CANCELED | This course examines how we as consumers in the "Western" world engage with musical difference largely through the products of the global entertainment industry. We examine music cultures in contact in a variety of ways-- particularly as traditions in transformation. Students gain an understanding of traditional music as live, meaningful person-to-person music making, by examining the music in its original site of production, and then considering its transformation once it is removed, and recontextualized in a variety of ways. The purpose of the course is to enable students to become informed and critical consumers of "World Music" by telling a series of stories about particular recordings made with, or using the music of, peoples culturally and geographically distant from the US. Students come to understand that not all music downloads containing music from unfamiliar places are the same, and that particular recordings may be embedded in intriguing and controversial narratives of production and consumption. At the very least, students should emerge from the class with a clear understanding that the production, distribution, and consumption of world music is rarely a neutral process. Fulfills College Cross Cultural Foundational Requirement. | ANTH1500403, MUSC1500400 | Arts & Letters Sector Cross Cultural Analysis |
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AFRC 1500-404 | World Musics and Cultures | James Sykes | TR 3:30 PM-4:59 PM | This course examines how we as consumers in the "Western" world engage with musical difference largely through the products of the global entertainment industry. We examine music cultures in contact in a variety of ways-- particularly as traditions in transformation. Students gain an understanding of traditional music as live, meaningful person-to-person music making, by examining the music in its original site of production, and then considering its transformation once it is removed, and recontextualized in a variety of ways. The purpose of the course is to enable students to become informed and critical consumers of "World Music" by telling a series of stories about particular recordings made with, or using the music of, peoples culturally and geographically distant from the US. Students come to understand that not all music downloads containing music from unfamiliar places are the same, and that particular recordings may be embedded in intriguing and controversial narratives of production and consumption. At the very least, students should emerge from the class with a clear understanding that the production, distribution, and consumption of world music is rarely a neutral process. Fulfills College Cross Cultural Foundational Requirement. | ANTH1500404, MUSC1500404 | Arts & Letters Sector Cross Cultural Analysis |
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AFRC 1500-405 | World Musics and Cultures | Ryan L Tomski | TR 8:30 AM-9:59 AM | This course examines how we as consumers in the "Western" world engage with musical difference largely through the products of the global entertainment industry. We examine music cultures in contact in a variety of ways-- particularly as traditions in transformation. Students gain an understanding of traditional music as live, meaningful person-to-person music making, by examining the music in its original site of production, and then considering its transformation once it is removed, and recontextualized in a variety of ways. The purpose of the course is to enable students to become informed and critical consumers of "World Music" by telling a series of stories about particular recordings made with, or using the music of, peoples culturally and geographically distant from the US. Students come to understand that not all music downloads containing music from unfamiliar places are the same, and that particular recordings may be embedded in intriguing and controversial narratives of production and consumption. At the very least, students should emerge from the class with a clear understanding that the production, distribution, and consumption of world music is rarely a neutral process. Fulfills College Cross Cultural Foundational Requirement. | ANTH1500405, MUSC1500403 | Arts & Letters Sector Cross Cultural Analysis |
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AFRC 1780-401 | Faculty-Student Collaborative Action Seminar in Urban University-Community Rltn | Ira Harkavy Theresa E Simmonds |
W 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | This seminar helps students develop their capacity to solve strategic, real-world problems by working collaboratively in the classroom, on campus, and in the West Philadelphia community. Students develop proposals that demonstrate how a Penn undergraduate education might better empower students to produce, not simply "consume," societally-useful knowledge, as well as to function as caring, contributing citizens of a democratic society. Their proposals help contribute to the improvement of education on campus and in the community, as well as to the improvement of university-community relations. Additionally, students provide college access support at Paul Robeson High School for one hour each week. | HIST0811401, URBS1780401 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. | https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=AFRC1780401 | ||||
AFRC 2010-401 | Social Statistics | Pilar Gonalons-Pons | MW 10:15 AM-11:14 AM | This course offers a basic introduction to the application/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. | SOCI2010401 | Quantitative Data Analysis | |||||
AFRC 2010-402 | Social Statistics | Nazar Khalid | R 9:00 AM-9:59 AM | This course offers a basic introduction to the application/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. | SOCI2010402 | Quantitative Data Analysis | |||||
AFRC 2010-403 | Social Statistics | Nazar Khalid | R 10:15 AM-11:14 AM | This course offers a basic introduction to the application/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. | SOCI2010403 | Quantitative Data Analysis | |||||
AFRC 2010-404 | Social Statistics | CANCELED | This course offers a basic introduction to the application/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. | SOCI2010404 | Quantitative Data Analysis | ||||||
AFRC 2010-405 | Social Statistics | CANCELED | This course offers a basic introduction to the application/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. | SOCI2010405 | Quantitative Data Analysis | ||||||
AFRC 2159-401 | The History of Family Separation | Hardeep Dhillon | M 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | This course examines the socio-legal history of family separation in the United States. From the period of slavery to the present-day, the United States has a long history of separating and remaking families. Black, Indigenous, poor, disabled, and immigrant communities have navigated the precarious nature of family separation and the legal regime of local, state, and federal law that substantiated it. In this course, we will trace how families have navigated domains of family separation and the reasoning that compelled such separation in the first place. Through an intersectional focus that embraces race, class, disability, and gender, we will underline who has endured family separation and how such separation has remade the very definition of family in the United States. | ASAM2159401, GSWS2159401, HIST2159401 | ||||||
AFRC 2161-401 | The Civil Rights Movement | William Sturkey | TR 3:30 PM-4:59 PM | This course will examine the classical phase of the African American Civil Rights Movement between the years 1954 and 1968. Focusing primarily on the American South, this class will explore the nature of Jim Crow-era racial segregation and the origins and effects of the massive rise in social protests that fundamentally reshaped race in the United States of America and influenced social and political movements across the world. We will study iconic civil rights campaigns and legendary figures, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the 1964 Freedom Summer, and Fannie Lou Hamer, while also closely examining the activism of lesser-known actors and analyzing how dramatic racial alterations affected the lives of everyday people. | HIST2161401 | ||||||
AFRC 2162-401 | Beyond 40 Acres and a Mule: History & Practice of Reparations in the African Diaspora (ABCS course) | Breanna Moore | MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | How did enslaved people and their descendants conceptualize reparations? What strategies did they employ to achieve them? How do present day movements for reparations seek to address historic harms? This ABCS course will examine the history of reparations advocacy amongst enslaved Africans and their descendants from the inception of the trans-Atlantic traffic in enslaved people to present day. This action-oriented course will explore the root of reparations - repair - and the historical and current strategies that people are employing, both nationally and globally, to advance racial and reparatory justice for descendants of enslaved Africans in the United States. By situating reparatory justice initiatives in the context of the African diaspora, the course will examine demands, goals, implementation plans, and organizing methods used by the descendants of enslaved Africans for the harms and legacies of slavery and colonization. Penn students will travel to Science Leadership Academy at Beeber once a week for ten weeks. *History Majors may write a 15-20 page research paper for the final project to fulfill the History Major research requirement.* | HIST2162401 | https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=AFRC2162401 | |||||
AFRC 2219-401 | ‘Global Inequalities’: A Comparative History of Caste and Race. | Ketaki Umesh Jaywant Ameen Muhammed Perumannil Sidhick |
TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM | Can we deploy a comparative lens to understand the categories of caste and race better? Does their juxtaposition illuminate new facets of these two structures of ‘global inequalities’? The course seeks to explore these questions by systematically studying how both caste and racial institutions, structures, and identities were historically produced, transformed, and challenged through their global circulation from the nineteenth-century to the present. Caste and race have been old co-travelers, and their various points of intersection can be traced at least to the nineteenth century. And so, in this course we will embark upon a historical adventure, one replete with stories of violence, political intrigue, intense emotions, as also episodes of incandescent resistance. Together, we will trace the genealogy of how modern categories of ‘caste’ and ‘race’ were systematically composed by colonial knowledge production, orientalist writings, and utilitarian discourse, both in Europe and the colonies. While colonialism and the global hegemony of European modernity were crucial to the co-constitution and the circulation of caste and race, anti-caste and anti-race politics too have historically brought a unique comparative lens to these two categories. And so, this course will also include a close analysis of critical works on caste and race by activists and intellectuals from the nineteenth century to the present from all over the world. Taking our key question about the comparative study of caste and race as out point of departure, the course will interrogate this juxtaposition by closely studying some crucial analytical grounds commonly shared by the two structures in question. We will explore the intersections, exchanges, and divergences between caste and race by approaching them from the perspective of violence, colonialism, Slavery and Abolition, mid-twentieth century writings in American and South Asian politics, experience and testimonios, and subaltern international solidarities. |
GSWS2219401, SAST2219401, SOCI2970401 | ||||||
AFRC 2220-401 | African Women's Lives: Past and Present | Pamela Blakely | T 5:15 PM-8:14 PM | Restoring women to African history is a worthy goal, but easier said than done.The course examines scholarship over the past forty years that brings to light previously overlooked contributions African women have made to political struggle, religious change, culture preservation, and economic development from pre-colonial times to present. The course addresses basic questions about changing women's roles and human rights controversies associated with African women within the wider cultural and historical contexts in which their lives are lived. It also raises fundamental questions about sources, methodology, and representation, including the value of African women's oral and written narrative and cinema production as avenues to insider perspectives on African women's lives. | GSWS2220401 | Cross Cultural Analysis | |||||
AFRC 2232-001 | Africa in India and Arabia | Ali B. Ali-Dinar | TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM | Africa has interwoven linkages for centuries with the Arabian Peninsula, and India, politically, historically, geographically, and culturally. These linkages were represented in continuous migrations of peoples, the circulation of goods and ideas, and the interaction with foreign forces. The ancient world of Africa, Arabia, and India had served as an epicenter of the global economy in the pre-modern world. As such, it gave rise to trading networks and political empires. The eastern and southern shores of Africa are both the recipients and the transmitters of cultural and political icons. The existence of many islands that separate Africa from India and Arabia stand as hybrid cultures that are influenced by forces from different continents. Political and cultural relations between African regions, India, and Arabia are evident with the presence of African-descent populations in these places, as well as the prevalence of cultural practices of African origin. Signs of interaction between these three regions are also apparent in several archeological sites and in the expansion that allowed the populations in these areas to share strategies during their independence movements to thwart western political hegemony. With the current advanced forms of globalization, this region is moving more towards economic and political cooperation and addressing the transnational natural and man-made threats. The objectives of this course are to achieve the followings: • Explore the geographic and historical interconnectedness between Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and India. • Examine the history of the different forces that have shaped the cultural landscape of the African shores with reference to India and the Arabian Peninsula. • Examine the political, economic, and cultural interconnections between Africa, Arabia, and India and the impact of Europe's colonial expansion. •Explore the historical concept of globalization and the challenges of inter-disciplinary study and research in the study of Africa and its neighbors. |
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AFRC 2240-401 | Law and Social Change | Hocine Fetni | TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM | 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) how and 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, emphasis will be on the laws of the United States. However, laws of other countries and international law relevant to civil liberties, economic, social and political progress will be studied. Throughout the course, discussions will include legal controversies relevant to social change such as issues of race, gender and the law. Other issues relevanat to State-Building and development will discussed. A comparative framework will be used in the analysis of this interdependent relationship between law and social change. | SOCI2240401 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. | |||||
AFRC 2324-401 | Dress and Fashion in Africa | Ali B. Ali-Dinar | TR 3:30 PM-4:59 PM | Throughout Africa, social and cultural identities of ethnicity, gender, generation, rank and status were conveyed in a range of personal ornamentation that reflects the variation of African cultures. The meaning of one particular item of clothing can transform completely when moved across time and space. As one of many forms of expressive culture, dress shape and give forms to social bodies. In the study of dress and fashion, we could note two distinct broad approaches, the historical and the anthropological. While the former focuses on fashion as a western system that shifted across time and space, and linked with capitalism and western modernity; the latter approach defines dress as an assemblage of modification the body. The Africanist proponents of this anthropological approach insisted that fashion is not a dress system specific to the west and not tied with the rise of capitalism. This course will focus on studying the history of African dress by discussing the forces that have impacted and influenced it overtime, such as socio-economic, colonialism, religion, aesthetics, politics, globalization, and popular culture. The course will also discuss the significance of the different contexts that impacted the choices of what constitute an appropriate attire for distinct situations. African dress in this context is not a fixed relic from the past, but a live cultural item that is influenced by the surrounding forces. | ANTH2024401, ARTH2094401 | ||||||
AFRC 2430-401 | Race, Science & Justice | Dorothy E Roberts | MW 5:15 PM-6:15 PM | What is the role of the life and social sciences in shaping our understanding of race? How has racial stratification influenced scientists and how have scientists constructed racial difference and helped to maintain or contest racial inequities? How have these racial theories shaped the production of scientific knowledge and the way we think about human bodies, diversity, and commonality—and what are the consequences for justice in our society? This course draws on an interdisciplinary body of biological and social scientific literature to explore critically the connections between race, science, and justice in the United States, including scientific theories of racial inequality, from the eighteenth century to the genomic age. After investigating varying concepts of race, as well as their uses in eugenics, criminology, anthropology, sociology, neuroscience, medicine, and public health, we will focus on the recent expansion of genomic research and technologies that treat race as a biological category that can be identified at the molecular level, including race-specific pharmaceuticals, commercial ancestry testing, and racial profiling with DNA forensics. We will discuss the significance of scientific investigations of racial difference for advancing racial justice in the United States. | SOCI2430401 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. | |||||
AFRC 2430-402 | Race, Science & Justice | Rehana T. Odendaal | R 12:00 PM-12:59 PM | What is the role of the life and social sciences in shaping our understanding of race? How has racial stratification influenced scientists and how have scientists constructed racial difference and helped to maintain or contest racial inequities? How have these racial theories shaped the production of scientific knowledge and the way we think about human bodies, diversity, and commonality—and what are the consequences for justice in our society? This course draws on an interdisciplinary body of biological and social scientific literature to explore critically the connections between race, science, and justice in the United States, including scientific theories of racial inequality, from the eighteenth century to the genomic age. After investigating varying concepts of race, as well as their uses in eugenics, criminology, anthropology, sociology, neuroscience, medicine, and public health, we will focus on the recent expansion of genomic research and technologies that treat race as a biological category that can be identified at the molecular level, including race-specific pharmaceuticals, commercial ancestry testing, and racial profiling with DNA forensics. We will discuss the significance of scientific investigations of racial difference for advancing racial justice in the United States. | SOCI2430402 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. | |||||
AFRC 2430-403 | Race, Science & Justice | Rehana T. Odendaal | R 1:45 PM-2:44 PM | What is the role of the life and social sciences in shaping our understanding of race? How has racial stratification influenced scientists and how have scientists constructed racial difference and helped to maintain or contest racial inequities? How have these racial theories shaped the production of scientific knowledge and the way we think about human bodies, diversity, and commonality—and what are the consequences for justice in our society? This course draws on an interdisciplinary body of biological and social scientific literature to explore critically the connections between race, science, and justice in the United States, including scientific theories of racial inequality, from the eighteenth century to the genomic age. After investigating varying concepts of race, as well as their uses in eugenics, criminology, anthropology, sociology, neuroscience, medicine, and public health, we will focus on the recent expansion of genomic research and technologies that treat race as a biological category that can be identified at the molecular level, including race-specific pharmaceuticals, commercial ancestry testing, and racial profiling with DNA forensics. We will discuss the significance of scientific investigations of racial difference for advancing racial justice in the United States. | SOCI2430403 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. | |||||
AFRC 2760-401 | African American Life and Culture in Slavery | Heather A Williams | M 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | This course will examine the lives of enslaved African Americans in the United States, both in the North and the South. We will engage historiographical debates, and tackle questions that have long concerned historians. For example, if slaves were wrenched from families and traded, could they sustain family relationships? If slaves worked from sun-up until sun-down, how could they create music? We will engage with primary and secondary sources to expand our understandings of values, cultural practices, and daily life among enslaved people. Topics will include: literacy, family, labor, food, music and dance, hair and clothing, religion, material culture, resistance, and memories of slavery. Several disciplines including History, Archaeology, Literature, and Music, will help us in our explorations. Written, oral, and artistic texts for the course will provide us with rich sources for exploring the nuances of slave life, and students will have opportunities to delve deeply into topics that are of particular interest to them. | HIST0710401 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. | |||||
AFRC 2851-680 | Advanced Swahili II | Elaine Mshomba | The objectives are to continue to strengthen students' knowledge of speaking, listening, reading, and writing Swahili and to compare it with the language of the students; to continue learning about the cultures of East Africa and to continue making comparisons with the culture(s) of the students; to continue to consider the relationship between that knowledge and the knowledge of other disciplines; and using that knowledge, to continue to unite students with communities outside of class. Level 3 on the ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable) scale. | SWAH1200680, SWAH5400680 | Penn Lang Center Perm needed | ||||||
AFRC 2870-401 | Religion and Society in Africa | David K. Amponsah Olivia Kerr |
MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | In recent decades, many African countries have perennially ranked very high among the most religious. This course serves as an introduction to major forms of religiosity in sub-Saharan Africa. Emphasis will be devoted to the indigenous religious traditions, Christianity and Islam, as they are practiced on the continent. We will examine how these religious traditions intersect with various aspects of life on the continent. The aim of this class is to help students to better understand various aspects of African cultures by dismantling stereotypes and assumptions that have long characterized the study of religions in Africa. The readings and lectures are will be drawn from historical and a few anthropological, and literary sources. | HIST0837401, RELS2870401 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. History & Tradition Sector |
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AFRC 3165-401 | Slavery, Freedom, and the U.S. Civil War | Francis A Russo | W 3:30 PM-6:29 PM | It is difficult to exaggerate the significance of the Civil War as a landmark event in the making of the modern United States, and indeed, the modern world. In addition to destroying slavery and the slaveholding class within the United States, the era introduced enduring dilemmas: What is the legacy of slavery in U.S. history and contemporary life? Who is entitled to citizenship in the United States? How do radical social movements relate to democratic political change? What is the nature of liberty in a “free” capitalist society? What do freedom and equality mean in concrete terms? Far from a straightforward transition from slavery to freedom, the story of the U.S. nineteenth century is much more complex: the Union victory in the Civil War eradicated slavery from American life but left it to future generations, including our own, to confront the legacies of slavery and to probe the meaning of freedom and to give it substance. This seminar explores enduring paradoxes of slavery and freedom through an in-depth historical analysis of the causes, course, and consequences of the U.S. Civil War. Topics include the place of slavery in the Federal Constitution, the spread of the cotton kingdom, Jacksonian democracy and the Market Revolution, ideologies of slavery and freedom, the rise of antislavery and proslavery politics, the growing social and economic divisions between North and South, the sectional crisis leading to war, the course and consequences of Northern military victory, emancipation, and the Reconstruction Amendments. We pay attention to these large-scale historical developments while also studying the individual experiences of statesmen and ordinary Americans, women as well as men, the enslaved as well as the free. | HIST3165401 | https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=AFRC3165401 | |||||
AFRC 3700-401 | Abolitionism: A Global History | Roquinaldo Ferreira | T 5:15 PM-8:14 PM | This class develops a transnational and global approach to the rise of abolitionism in the nineteenth century. In a comparative framework, the class traces the rise of abolitionism in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia, examining the suppression of the transatlantic slave trade, the rise of colonialism in Africa, and the growth of forced labor in the wake of transatlantic slave trade. We will deal with key debates in the literature of African, Atlantic and Global histories, including the causes and motivations of abolitionism, the relationship between the suppression of the slave trade and the growth of forced labor in Africa, the historical ties between abolitionism and the early stages of colonialism in Africa, the flow of indentured laborers from Asia to the Americas in the wake of the slave trade. This class is primarily geared towards the production of a research paper. *Depending on the research paper topic, History Majors and Minors can use this course to fulfill the US, Europe, Latin America or Africa requirement.* | HIST3700401, LALS3700401 | ||||||
AFRC 3990-017 | Sighting Black Deaf Voices: Deaf Schools and Integration | David K. Amponsah | In the senior year each student, working with a faculty advisor, must complete a substantial Capstone paper of 20-25-pages on a topic of the student’s choice within the chosen Concentration. | ||||||||
AFRC 4200-401 | The US and Human Rights: Policies and Pratices | Hocine Fetni | M 5:15 PM-8:14 PM | After an examination of the philosophical, legal, and political perspectives on Human Rights, this course will focus on US policies and practices relevant to Human Rights. Toward that end, emphasis will be placed on both the domestic and the international aspects of Human Rights as reflected in US policies and practices. Domestically, the course will discuss (1) the process of incorporating the International Bill of Human Rights into the American legal system and (2) the US position on and practices regarding the political, civil, economic, social, and cultural rights of minorities and various other groups within the US. Internationally, the course will examine US Human Rights policies toward Africa. Specific cases of Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt, as well as other cases from the continent, will be presented in the assessment of US successes and failures in the pursuit of its Human Rights strategy in Africa. Readings will include research papers, reports, statutes, treaties, and cases. | SOCI2902401 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. | |||||
AFRC 4400-401 | African Art, 600-1400 | Sarah M. Guerin Sheridan Nicole Marsh |
TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM | This course examines the flourishing civilizations of the African continent between the Fall of the Roman Empire and the dawn of the "Age of Discovery." Although material remains of the complex cultures that created exceptional works of art are rare, current archaeology is bringing much new information to the fore, allowing for the first time a preliminary survey of the burgeoning artistic production of the African continent while Europe was building its cathedrals. Bronze casting, gold work, terracotta and wood sculpture, and monumental architecture - the course takes a multi-media approach to understanding the rich foundations of African cultures and their deep interconnection with the rest of the world before the disruptive interventions of colonialism. | AFRC6402401, ARTH4400401, ARTH6401401 | ||||||
AFRC 4406-401 | Existence in Black | David K. Amponsah | R 12:00 PM-2:59 PM | Racial, colonial, and other political formations have encumbered Black existence since at least the fifteenth-century. Black experiences of and reflections on these matters have been the subject of existential writings and artistic expressions ranging from the blues to reggae, fiction and non-fiction. Reading some of these texts alongside canonical texts in European existential philosophy, this class will examine how issues of freedom self, alienation, finitude, absurdity, race, and gender shape and are shaped by the global Black experience. Since Black aliveness is literally critical to Black existential philosophy, we shall also engage questions of Black flourishing amidst the potential for pessimism and nihilism. | AFRC5060401, HIST0873401, PHIL4515401, PHIL6515401 | ||||||
AFRC 4480-401 | Neighborhood Displacement and Community Power | Walter D Palmer | T 5:15 PM-8:14 PM | This course uses the history of black displacement to examine community power and advocacy. It examines the methods of advocacy (e.g. case, class, and legislative) and political action through which community activists can influence social policy development and community and institutional change. The course also analyzes selected strategies and tactics of change and seeks to develop alternative roles in the group advocacy, lobbying, public education and public relations, electoral politics, coalition building, and legal and ethical dilemmas in political action. Case studies of neighborhood displacement serve as central means of examining course topics. | URBS4480401 | Cultural Diviserity in the U.S. | |||||
AFRC 4605-301 | Topics in Black Feminism | Jasmine Johnson | T 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | This course examines the field of Black Feminism—or, the political, social, and economic forces that shape Black diasporic people’s gendered lives. Exploring iterations of Black feminism over time, it necessarily pluralizes feminism, paying attention to its meanings, uses, and applications across the African diaspora. Together, we'll ride the three waves of Black feminism to explore the ways Black women and Black femme’s political and cultural work has been consequential to notions of citizenship, belonging, culture and liberation. Drawing from Black Studies, Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies, and Performance Studies we will ask: — How do Black women and Black femme's lives, labor, and cultural productions lay bare the limits of maleness and whiteness as dominant frames? — How have/do their lives suggest other modalities of living, knowledge production, relations of being, and critiques of power/violence? — How might we learn from the past in order to envision and build nourishing spaces for Black femmes today? |
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AFRC 4990-044 | Cosmopolitanism as Resistance: African Women, Hidden Identities, and the Contemporary Arts Movement | Vanicleia Silva Santos | Consult the Africana Studies Department for instructions. Suite 331A, 3401 Walnut or visit the department's website at https://africana.sas.upenn.edu to submit an application. | ||||||||
AFRC 5060-401 | Existence in Black | David K. Amponsah | R 12:00 PM-2:59 PM | Racial, colonial, and other political formations have encumbered Black existence since at least the fifteenth-century. Black experiences of and reflections on these matters have been the subject of existential writings and artistic expressions ranging from the blues to reggae, fiction and non-fiction. Reading some of these texts alongside canonical texts in European existential philosophy, this class will examine how issues of freedom, self, alienation, finitude, absurdity, race, and gender shape and are shaped by the global Black experience. Since Black aliveness is literally critical to Black existential philosophy, we shall also engage questions of Black flourishing amidst the potential for pessimism and nihilism. | AFRC4406401, HIST0873401, PHIL4515401, PHIL6515401 | ||||||
AFRC 5087-401 | Race, Nation, Empire | Deborah A Thomas | M 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | This graduate seminar examines the dynamic relationships among empires, nations and states; colonial and post-colonial policies; and anti-colonial strategies within a changing global context. Using the rubrics of anthropology, history, cultural studies, and social theory, we will explore the intimacies of subject formation within imperial contexts- past and present- especially in relation to ideas about race and belonging. We will focus on how belonging and participation have been defined in particular locales, as well as how these notions have been socialized through a variety of institutional contexts. Finally, we will consider the relationships between popular culture and state formation, examining these as dialectical struggles for hegemony. | ANTH5087401, GSWS5087401, LALS5087401 | ||||||
AFRC 5172-401 | The Black Freedom Spirit: Readings in African American Religious History II | Vaughn A Booker | T 3:30 PM-6:29 PM | This graduate seminar introduces participants to the major works and themes in the field of African American religious history, covering the period of colonial encounters through the middle decades of the twentieth century. This graduate seminar focuses on histories of activism, organizing, and alternative forms of institution-building by religious women and men of African descent in African American Religious History. Our readings attend to the regional, gendered, sociopolitical, intellectual, and international dimensions of African American religious history. Seminar participants will also critically examine the place of Black Christianity (sometimes defined as Afro-Protestantism) in scholarly constructions of African American religions, acquiring the grounding to rethink, nuance, and expand the field beyond conventional focuses. The seminar’s primary aims are to help participants define interests within the field to pursue further study, to consider potential areas of research, and to aid preparation for doctoral examinations. |
RELS5172401 | ||||||
AFRC 5220-401 | Psychology of the African-American | Howard C. Stevenson | T 5:15 PM-7:14 PM | Using an Afro-centric philosophical understanding of the world, this course will focus on psychological issues related to African Americans, including the history of African American psychology, its application across the life span, and contemporary community issues. | EDUC5522401 | ||||||
AFRC 5240-401 | Inequality & Race Policy | Daniel Q Gillion | R 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | There is little question that inequality along the lines of race and ethnicity remain a constant problem in American society. And over time, the federal government has implemented several policy initiatives to address these inequities. However, less well understood is the success of these federal policies or the process in which they emerge from government as a viable solution. This course will provide an overview of the link between federal government action and changes in minority inequality. We will analyze several issue spaces that cover health, crime and incarceration, social policy and equal rights, education, welfare, and economics. We will take a multi-method approach to exploring the success of federal policies by conducting historical assessments and statistical analysis. Advanced undergraduates are welcome to take the course with permission. | PSCI5290401 | ||||||
AFRC 5702-301 | African and African Diasporic Material Culture in the Black Atlantic before 1800 | Vanicleia Silva Santos | R 5:15 PM-8:14 PM | This class delves into the multifaceted role of African and African diasporic material culture, particularly sacred artifacts and relics, which have been preserved and transformed across the Black Atlantic. Students will explore the profound relationship between the Transatlantic Slave Trade and material culture, examining how these objects reflect African contexts and have served as instruments of resistance against religious intolerance while affirming cultural continuity. The course integrates diverse historical sources, including written records, oral traditions, museum collections, and archaeological discoveries. Through detailed case studies of specific artifacts and their symbolic meanings, students will analyze their presence in textual and visual sources, museum collections and engage in critical discussions on approaches to heritage preservation, resistance movements, and cultural continuity within diasporic communities. This interdisciplinary seminar aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the significance of African material culture in the Black Atlantic, offering students a critical lens to evaluate its impact and legacy. |
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AFRC 5725-401 | Songs of Dissent: African American Poetry in the 21st Century | Herman Beavers | M 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | This course explores how poetry and poetics figure into the effort to theorize the African American subject in the 21st Century. Different instructors may emphasize difference aspects of the topic. Please see English.upenn.edu for a full list of course offerings. | COML5725401, ENGL5725401 | ||||||
AFRC 6020-401 | Stereotype Threat, Impostor Phenomenon, and African Americans | Ufuoma Abiola | W 7:15 PM-9:14 PM | This course critically examines stereotype threat and impostor phenomenon as they relate to African Americans. Both stereotype threat and impostor phenomenon negatively affect African Americans. The apprehension experienced by African Americans that they might behave in a manner that confirms an existing negative cultural stereotype is stereotype threat, which usually results in reduced effectiveness in African Americans' performance. Stereotype threat is linked with impostor phenomenon. Impostor phenomenon is an internal experience of intellectual phoniness in authentically talented individuals, in which they doubt their accomplishments and fear being exposed as a fraud. While stereotype threat relies on broad generalization, the impostor phenomenon describes feelings of personal inadequacy, especially in high-achieving African Americans. This course will explore the evolving meanings connected to both stereotype threat and impostor phenomenon in relation to African Americans. | EDUC5538401 | ||||||
AFRC 6401-301 | Proseminar in Africana Studies | Marcia Chatelain | W 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | This course focuses on the historical and cultural relationship between Africans and their descendants abroad. | |||||||
AFRC 6402-401 | African Art, 600-1400 | Sarah M. Guerin Sheridan Nicole Marsh |
TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM | This course examines the flourishing civilizations of the African continent between the Fall of the Roman Empire and the dawn of the "Age of Discovery." Although material remains of the complex cultures that created exceptional works of art are rare, current archaeology is bringing much new information to the fore, allowing for the first time a preliminary survey of the burgeoning artistic production of the African continent while Europe was building its cathedrals. Bronze casting, gold work, terracotta and wood sculpture, and monumental architecture - the course takes a multi-media approach to understanding the rich foundations of African cultures and their deep interconnection with the rest of the world before the disruptive interventions of colonialism. | AFRC4400401, ARTH4400401, ARTH6401401 | ||||||
AFRC 7230-401 | Multicultural Issues in Education | Tamika D. Easley Vivian Lynette Gadsden |
T 2:00 PM-4:29 PM | This course examines critical issues, problems, and perspectives in multicultural education. Intended to focus on access to literacy and educational opportunity, the course will engage class members in discussions around a variety of topics in educational practice, research, and policy. Specifically, the course will (1) review theoretical frameworks in multicultural education, (2) analyze the issues of race, racism, and culture in historical and contemporary perspective, and (3) identify obstacles to participation in the educational process by diverse cultural and ethnic groups. Students will be required to complete field experiences and classroom activities that enable them to reflect on their own belief systems, practices, and educational experiences. | EDUC7323401 | ||||||
AFRC 7904-401 | New Directions in Twenty-First Century Black Studies | Margo N. Crawford | W 5:15 PM-8:14 PM | This course explores contemporary Black thought through a set of literary, visual, and theoretical texts. Our theoretical repertoire will include concepts like love, quiet, fabulation, and gaze to explore Black interiority in relation to political movements, aesthetic experimentation, gender and sexual identity, and African continental and diasporic practices. The course will draw on a range of genres (including films, photo portraits, personal essays, and criticism) and also take a comparative approach (including works from Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States). See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a complete description of the current offerings. | COML7904401, ENGL7904401, GSWS7904401 | ||||||
AFRC 8001-301 | The Craft of Dissertation Writing in Africana Studies | Keisha-Khan Perry | M 10:15 AM-1:14 PM | Black thought, culture, history, socio-economic conditions, and politics worldwide matter. How we tell the stories about the vastness of Black lives in our scholarship matter even more greatly. The course will focus on the craft of writing the dissertation in the interdisciplinary field of Africana Studies with a focus on producing innovative scholarship as emergent scholars. Targeting students who have advanced to doctoral candidacy, the primary intent is to learn from African diaspora scholars who write about writing as well as to admire the writers in our field who craft stories about Black lives that we want to read. We will devote some class time to discussing some prominent writers (Alice Walker, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, bell hooks, Claudia Tate, Binyavanga Wainaina) who have discussed their craft of writing to shine a light on Africa and the diaspora. However, the main aim of the course is to give advanced PhD students the time and physical space to write their dissertations in community with students. In this workshop style course, the focus will be on supporting students through the challenging task of completing dissertations in ways that illustrate their innovative and critical approaches to research and writing. The course objectives include: 1. To provide advanced doctoral students with the consistent time and physical space to complete at least one chapter of their dissertations. 2. To introduce students to discussions about the craft of writing about Black lives in global contexts. 3. To teach students how to craft detailed outlines and writing plans for significant bodies of work such as a dissertation and a book. 4. To teach how to organize original research data and archival materials to write narratives that give significant attention to those materials. 5. To learn how to balance theoretical engagement with existing scholarship and offering new insights drawn from the dissertation research. 6. To provide students with the tools for processing substantive feedback on the writing and organizing critiques for revision of the dissertation, and how to turn the dissertation into articles and a book. Prerequisite: Doctoral candidates in the Department of Africana Studies and students who have received the Certificate in Africana Studies who are actively writing the dissertation. |
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AFRC 9999-042 | Archiving Black Chicago | Marcia Chatelain | Consult the Africana Studies Department for instructions. Suite 331A, 3401 Walnut or visit the department's website at https://africana.sas.upenn.edu to submit an application. |