AFRC8001 - The Craft of Dissertation Writing in Africana Studies

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.