We live in a country which places a premium on indivi dual accomplishments. Hence, all of you worked extremely hard to get into Penn. Yet, social factors also have an impact on life chance. This class provides an overview of how membership in social groups shapes the outcomes of individuals. We will look at a range of topics from the organizational factors which promoted racial inequality in Ferguson, Mo to the refusal of (mostly elite) parents to vaccinate their children. The experience of women and men in the labor market -- and the social factors that lead women to earn less than men -- is another interesting topic taken up in the course. Who gets ahead in America? Course requirements include a midterm, research paper (five to six pages), final and recitation activities. Students are not expected to have any previous knowledge of the topic. Welcome to the course!

We live in a country which places a premium on indivi dual accomplishments. Hence, all of you worked extremely hard to get into Penn. Yet, social factors also have an impact on life chance. This class provides an overview of how membership in social groups shapes the outcomes of individuals. We will look at a range of topics from the organizational factors which promoted racial inequality in Ferguson, Mo to the refusal of (mostly elite) parents to vaccinate their children. The experience of women and men in the labor market -- and the social factors that lead women to earn less than men -- is another interesting topic taken up in the course. Who gets ahead in America? Course requirements include a midterm, research paper (five to six pages), final and recitation activities. Students are not expected to have any previous knowledge of the topic. Welcome to the course!

We live in a country which places a premium on indivi dual accomplishments. Hence, all of you worked extremely hard to get into Penn. Yet, social factors also have an impact on life chance. This class provides an overview of how membership in social groups shapes the outcomes of individuals. We will look at a range of topics from the organizational factors which promoted racial inequality in Ferguson, Mo to the refusal of (mostly elite) parents to vaccinate their children. The experience of women and men in the labor market -- and the social factors that lead women to earn less than men -- is another interesting topic taken up in the course. Who gets ahead in America? Course requirements include a midterm, research paper (five to six pages), final and recitation activities. Students are not expected to have any previous knowledge of the topic. Welcome to the course!

We live in a country which places a premium on indivi dual accomplishments. Hence, all of you worked extremely hard to get into Penn. Yet, social factors also have an impact on life chance. This class provides an overview of how membership in social groups shapes the outcomes of individuals. We will look at a range of topics from the organizational factors which promoted racial inequality in Ferguson, Mo to the refusal of (mostly elite) parents to vaccinate their children. The experience of women and men in the labor market -- and the social factors that lead women to earn less than men -- is another interesting topic taken up in the course. Who gets ahead in America? Course requirements include a midterm, research paper (five to six pages), final and recitation activities. Students are not expected to have any previous knowledge of the topic. Welcome to the course!

The aim of this course is to provide an interdisciplinary examination of the complex array of African American and other African Diaspora social practices and experiences. This class will focus on both classic texts and modern works that provide an introduction to the dynamics of African American and African Diaspora thought and practice. Topics include: What is Africana Studies?; The History Before 1492; Creating the African Diaspora After 1500; The Challenge of Freedom; Race, Gender and Class in the 20th Century; From Black Studies to Africana Studies: The Future of Africana Studies.

SPRING 2016: This graduate research seminar is created to explore the history of slavery in the Middle East and parts of Africa, from the reign of the Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent, through the spread of Ottoman rule to the Arab world, to Iran and the Gulf, and throughout the Nile Valley, to the legacies of many different trades in slavery in the contemporary Middle East. Students will be asked to think seriously about how slavery impacted Middle Eastern societies, and how this phenomenon has been studied. The material we will use will draw from historians of the Middle East, the narratives of slave-owners and former slaves, and from the historiography of other fields of study, notably Africana and African Studies. We will also begin to explore the visual culture of slavery, in art, in photography and in film.

This course provides the opportunity for students to investigate the relationship between the emergence of African peoples as historical subjects and their location within specific geopolitical and economic circumstances.


SPRING 2017: This jointly taught course is designed to introduce students to scholarship on the politics of Africa and the African diaspora in the period after World War II. The major themes of the 19th and 20th century congeal during this period: colonialism and anti-colonial movements toward national liberation, anti-apartheid and civil rights movements ranging from black movements in Brazil , Jamaica and the United States to South Africa, Britain and France. Readings and lectures will cover the politics of several African nation-states and diaspora populations, with an emphasis on the continuities and tensions between territorial nationalist movements with internal ethno-national tensions (African politics), to civil rights movements within plural societies where black populations have been characterized as minority populations. Students will read across several disciplines: history, sociology, political science, comparative literature, cultural studies, as well as Africana Studies, in the exploration of concepts and phenomena of sovereignty and citizenship, identity and identification, networks across nation-state and regional boundaries linking diverse African-descended populations, all within the context of the nation-state system.

See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for a description of the current offerings.

Reading and discussion course on selected topics in African history.

Reading and discussion course on selected topics in African history.