List of Africana Studies Courses

AFST 101 - Swahili I
Foundation course for all beginning students interested in reading or speaking the language. {Offered upon demand}
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 103 - Foundations of Africana Studies
In this course we will study the areas, methods, and practice of African American Studies as a discipline. The course covers four central facets of Africana Studies: 1) the history of Africana Studies as a discipline; 2) the fields of study comprising Africana Studies; 3) the basic methods of interdisciplinary work; 4) the research, analytical, and writing skills fundamental to the practice of Africana studies scholarly work.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 106 - Elementary Arabic I (Also offered as ARAB 101)
A course in elementary modern standard Arabic.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 107 - Elementary Arabic II (Also offered as MLNG 107)
A course for those with very minimal exposure to modern Arabic Language.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 115 - Communication Across Cultures (Also offered as CJ 115)
An introduction to communication among people from different cultural backgrounds, emphasizing intercultural relations. The class seeks to identify, honor and enhance the strengths of different cultural perspectives.
3.000 Credit Hours; 3.000 Lecture hours

AFST 206 - Intermediate Arabic I (Also offered as MLNG 206)
The course covers the writing system, phonology, vocabulary, morphology and syntax structures of the Arabic language. Students will attend language laboratory to enhance their listening, comprehension and pronunciation skills.
Prerequisites: 106 and 107. Restriction: permission of instructor.
3.000 Credit Hours; 3.000 Lecture hours

AFST 207 - Intermediate Arabic II (Also offered as ARAB 202)
This course increases student's reading, writing, and speaking skills in Arabic including student's knowledge of the writing system, the phonology, the vocabulary, the morphology and the syntax structure of the language. Language laboratory requirement is optional.
Prerequisites: 206. Restriction: permission of instructor.
3.000 Credit Hours; 3.000 Lecture hours

AFST 250 - Black Woman (Also offered as WMST 250)
This survey course reviews the contributions of Black Women to American history. This course will study the managerial role Black women provided during the slavery era;the foundational invisible heroine role black women performed during the Civil Rights Era; the internal struggle black women had during the Women's Movement; and the modern Black women's challenges and successes in crafting modern American society. An additional focus of the readings, discussions, films, and student assignments will be to understand the life cycles and multiple roles of black women as mothers, daughters, helpmates, workers, and social change agents. This course will also discuss where modern black female stereotypes originated and how they are being countered in modern culture. The concepts of cuisine, music, beauty, and 'sisterhood' as it pertains to the black woman will be expounded upon throughout the course.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 251 - African-American Literature I (Also offered as ENGL 281)
The course introduces students to the African American classics of the slavery era. Daily experiences of the characters in these books become the basis for discussing race, class, gender, revolt, freedom, peace and humanity.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 251A - Black Books I (Also offered as ENGL 281)
The course introduces students to the African American classics of the slavery era. Daily experiences of the characters in these books become the basis for discussing race, class, gender, revolt, freedom, peace and humanity.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 280 - African-American Culture (Also offered as AMST 250)
An analysis of the political, economic, religious and familial organization of African-American communities in the United States.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 284 - African-American History I (Also offered as HIST 284)
A comprehensive survey of the story of African-Americans from pre-European days in Africa to the Civil War, U.S. {Fall}
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 285 - African-American History II (Also offered as HIST 285)
This course will examine the major problems and movements of the African American experience from the end of the Civil War through the Black Power movement of the 1970's. There will be reference to and discussion of present conditions and political movements, however, the primary readings and topics will cover the period from 1865 through 1975. Specific topics covered will be Black Reconstruction and White Redemption, the Black Codes, and the history of racial segregation and racial violence in the South. We will also discuss the issues of labor, the black family, and the role of African American women. We will also cover the Harlem Renaissance, and discuss why African Americans were disproportionately impacted by the economic conditions of the Great Depression, and yet did not initially benefit from the programs of the New Deal. Other major topics will be the legal cases which led to the overturning of segregation laws in the South, the modern Civil Rights Movement and the B lack Power movement of the 1960's and 1970's. During class discussions we will explore the social construction of race, and discuss topics such as whether having a black President has changed American attitudes toward race.
3.000 Credit Hours; 3.000 Lecture hours

AFST 297 - Interdisciplinary Topics
Special topic courses in specialized areas of African-American Studies. Community Economic Development; Race and American Law; Culture and Personality.
1.000 TO 3.000 Credit Hours; 1.000 TO 3.000 Lecture hours

AFST 297 - Swahili II
Swahili is an important language of the African diaspora, and much in demand for many Government jobs these days. It is also straightforward, pronounceable, and mainly spoken by other people for whom it is a second language. If you have taken Swahili 101, or have some knowledge of the language through life experience, please consider joining us. ROTC cadets may be eligible for a stipend--see your Department Chairs.

AFST 297. 001 #34479 - Race, Sports and the Media (Also offered as SOC 398. 005 and MA 330. 001)
This course will examine how race, sport, and media converge to influence the way the public views different members of different cultures, ethnic groups and gender. At the end of this course you will have a better knowledge and understanding of media's effect on sport culture.
3.000 Credits

AFST 299 - Black Leaders in the U.S.
This course will discuss Black leaders, Leading Blacks, Blacks in leadership, and the wisdom to know the difference. Through discussion, guest speakers, and assignments, we will focus on three eras in American history, while studying movements and philosophies that shaped each time: Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Era, and the Age of Obama. This course will examine the work and impact of Black elected and non-elected leaders of each era. Students will be given the opportunity to learn and freely discuss issues surrounding leadership in the Black American community such as organizational resources and approaches, political leadership, representation, integrationist and separatist ideologies, and various strategies for African-American political empowerment. We will reflect on the history of Black leadership, analyze the current state of Black leadership, and design the future of Black leadership in America.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 303 - Introduction to Black Liberation and Religion (Also offered as RELG 303)
This course will examine the tenets of the Black American religious experience, with particular emphasis on the influence of religion and religious leaders in the struggle for equality, justice, and liberation. We will study the definition of God and Jesus Christ as they relate to the quest for justice in the Black religious community. We will also have an opportunity for an in-depth study of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This course will also analyze the religious ideas of Black Americans with special attention given to Black Muslims, Black Christianity, Soul Theology, Womanism politics. This course will also review the role of the religious community as it relates to social justice. We will also study various Black religious beliefs in 21st century America such as economic empowerment ministries, and the rising relationships between African and Black American religious communities.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 307 - Blacks in the U.S. West (Also offered as AMST 351)
The purpose of this course is to provide a survey of the lives and experiences of Blacks in the U.S. West from 1528 to circa 1918, placing in perspective the contributions, struggles, achievements and the impact of the role of Blacks in America's westward movement and the development of the nation.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 309 - Black Politics (Also offered as POLS 309)
A study of the history and diverse educational and political maturation processes of elected American officials and functions of the political process. {Fall}
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 318 - Civil Rights Politics and Legislation (Also offered as POLS 318)
An analysis of the dynamics of the major events, issues and actors in the civil rights movement (and legislations) in view of the theories of U.S. politics. This course introduces students to civil rights politics and legislation in the United States. Readings and discussion topics include selected historical works on civil rights, communities, and organizations. Landmark Supreme Court decisions, the Acts of Congress and the roles of presidents will be analyzed.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 320 - Arabic Study Abroad (Also offered as ARAB 320)
An introduction to Arabic culutres and language through study abroad. Course locations vary according to course content.
1.000 TO 6.000 Credit Hours

AFST 329 - Introduction to Africian Politics (Also offered as POLS 329)
An introductory course in the volatile politics in Africa. The various ideologies that underlie political movements and influence African governments will be explored.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 333 - Black Political Theory
This is a survey course of Black political ideas with emphasis on African American experience and the African liberation movements. Socialistic and democratic paradigms will be examined, together with theories of capitalism, colonialism, and pan-Africanism.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 380 - African Literature
An analytical look at the works of major African writers and their usage of African symbols to portray Africa of the past, present and the future.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 381 - African-American Literature II (Also offered as ENGL 381)
This is the second phase of a three-part journey through the African-American experience in search of humanity and peace. The vehicle is post-slavery books written by and about African-American people. Issues raised and the characters in the books provide the occasion for in-depth discussion of inhumanity, protests, self definition, race relationships, liberalism, etc.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 382A - Malcolm X
The course allows the many voices of Malcolm X to speak through selected materials on Malcolm X. The materials become vehicles for discussing Malcolm's and the many social, political and cultural issues the literature raises.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 385 - The African World
An interdisciplinary introduction to the study of Africa; its political and economic geographies; its traditional and new societies; and its politics in global perspectives.
3.000 Credit Hours; 3.000 Lecture hours

AFST 386 - Peoples and Cultures of the Circum-Caribbean (Also offered as ANTH 387)
Outlines the sociocultural transformation of the region since 1492. Emphasis upon cultural legacies of, and resistance, to colonialism, the Afro-Caribbean and Hispanic heritages, and the contemporary trans-nationalization of island identities.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 388 - Blacks in Latin America I
A comprehensive analysis of the plight of Black people in Latin America as compared with their experiences in North America, from the 15th to 19th century. This course examines the resemblance and diversity among blacks in the United States,blacks in Latin America, and blacks in the Hispanophone Caribbean. Through literature, the class will explore what it means to be 'black' in the Americas (that is, a US/American, Caribbean or Latin American person of African descent). We will also examine the growing usage and acceptance of the term Afro Latinos/Afrolatinos as a racial, ethnic and/or national identity. By engaging novels such as Child of the Dark: the Diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus (Brazil), Las Criadas de La Habana (Cuba), and Geographies of Home (United States), students will unearth varied histories and religions; cultural and racial identities; socio-political and power relations; and lived realities and ideologies that comprise the black experience(s) in the America. All novels are taught in English, with novels from Latin America comprising 50% of the course texts.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 391 - Problems {Summer, Fall, Spring}
1.000 TO 3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 392 - Black Liberation and Religion (Also offered as RELG 392)
Introduction to some traditional western religious schools of thought as a basis for intensive examination of the works of prominent Black liberation theologians.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 395 - Education and Colonial West Africa
A study of European education and its psychological, sociological and cultural impact on traditional African society. {Fall, Spring}
3.000 Credit Hours; 3.000 Lecture hours

AFST 396 - Emancipation and Equality
The course examines the ending of and aftermath of slavery focusing on Silversmith's The First Emancipation and also the general emancipation of the Civil War era. {Summer}
3.000 Credit Hours; 3.000 Lecture hours

AFST 397 - Interdisciplinary Topics
Special topic courses in specialized areas of African-American Studies. African-American Literature; Sociopolitics: Africa; Politics of Southern Africa; Black Books III, Education and African-American Education and Free Society. {Fall, Spring}
1.000 TO 3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 397. 001 #34474 - Race Equality in Health Care (Also offered as SOC 398.004)
There's much more to our well-being than genes, behavior and medical care. This class emphasizes team based learning to show how our health and well-being are tied to policies that promote economic and social justice. Students will learn multiple concepts in team based activities centering on readings from a text, the published literature, and film documentary series. Students will attend all sessions, submit a one-two page paper on the day's required reading at the beginning of each class and participate in group discussions. Each team will lead a 20 minute discussion on a paper selected by the group. A brief paper reflecting on what the student learned and how he or she might apply it will be required at the end of the course. Completion of the above requirements may earn the student a grade of up to A-. Submission of an additional, 5-7 page literature-based paper of good quality, of an instructor approved topic may raise the final grade by a half-point.
3.000 Credits

AFST 397. 003 # 31601 - Race Class and Feminism (Also offered as WMST 325. 003, AMST 350.003, SOC 398. 010, POLS 300.003)
The objective of this course is to examine the complex relationship of patriarchy, and its relations to gender, racial, and class identities. We shall begin with the Aristotelian categories of division of population along biological lines. Then we shall move onto Marx's division of labor as the basis of social division, especially gender division. Next we shall examine the notion of gender as theorized by the 19th and 20th century feminists. We shall critique some of the foundational assumptions of these theorists. In the course of the semester we shall show that all identities are extremely complex and are socially produced. Our readings will consist of articles that will show how identities are produced by the existing powers in society via the ideology of the Nation, the State apparatus, control over sexualities and bodies, and via religious and economic ideologies. In the end we shall see if the complex and over-determined identities can make any room for resistance and so cial changes.
3.000 Credits

AFST 397. 004 #34478 - Race and the Law (Also offered as POLS 303.004, SOC 398.004, AMST 303.004)
Are we a post-racial society? Is English-only the way to go? Is there a model minority? Are Native American children better off with Native American parents? Should affirmative action be abolished? Did Brown help? This seminar will explore the historical and contemporary treatment of race in the United States by both the courts and the legislature. We will examine the connection between law and the construction of race as a concept and position of identity. To this end, students will examine the legal ordering of individuals as members of racial groups and their treatment under the law across various timeframes, specifically studying Black Americans, American Indians, Asian Pacific Americans, and Chicana/os. Through an integrated analysis of the groups legal histories, the class will foster a comprehensive understanding of race and racism as foundational elements of U.S. law. The seminar will also employ an interdisciplinary approach to examining the social and political for ces that have and continue to contribute to the development of legal doctrine in the areas of education, employment, health care, criminal justice, interracial sex and marriage, and contract law, among other things. Those electing to take this class should understand that this class continually examines how power has been distributed by the law and how power has been used to privilege some and marginalize and/or oppress others. We will look primarily to the text book for our understanding, but you also will be exposed to various source materials in an effort to assist you in producing a worthwhile scholarly paper. Plan to explore this topic of race and the law outside of the classroom as we visit local courthouses, talk with judges, and visit correctional facilities for a first hand view of the implementation of the law. The seminar will examine race from a multiracial, multiethnic perspective. Participation from a diverse group of students is encouraged.
3.000 Credits

AFST 397. 005 #32682 - Refugee Health Development II (Also offered as PSY 450.008, ANTH 450.008)
Every day around the world many people are forced to flee their homes to escape persecution and violence. These refugees often lose everything and have to start their lives all over again in a new country. This course focuses on learning about the experiences, mental health, and cultures of African refugees from Liberia, Burundi, Congo, and Rwanda, and trains students to work with these refugees and their families. In addition to helping families get the community resources they need, students will participate in innovative learning circles which will include one-on-one tutoring and cultural exchange between students and refugee children, adolescents, and adults. This course provides an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on experience working with African refugees, other community members, organizations, and service providers. Students involved in this course will receive both individual and group supervision and support throughout the two-semester course sequence. The c lass size is small (approximately 25 students per 2 instructors). Students must make a two-semester commitment to the course and attendance is mandatory. This is an enrollment-controlled course. Assignments include readings, class discussion, oral and written quizzes, reflection papers, and case responsibility for working with a refugee family. No midterm or final exams or papers. Students must have completed Refugee Health & Development I before enrolling in Refugee Health & Development II.
3 Credits //TR 900-1045 LOGAN-B15 Isakson bisakson@salud.unm.edu

AFST 397. 012 #36035 - Africana Community Internship
The African American Community Experience Project encourages students to utilize the knowledge obtained in Africana Studies courses in practical settings. Students may earn 1-3 credits by interning with a community group focused on providing services to the African American community and to Africans living in New Mexico. Students must commit to providing two hours per week for each credit received. Students may provide service to the African-American community in New Mexico through groups such the African American Museum and Cultural Center, Refugee Resettlement Program of Catholic Services, Office of African American Affairs, The Charlie Morrissey Educational Foundation, the Ralph J. Bunch Academy or the New Mexico State Office of African American Affairs. After completing the internship, students will be expected to write a 10-page pager that chronicles and analyzes what happened during the experience.
1-3 CREDITS; afamstds@unm.edu ARRANGED

AFST 397. 037 #33118 - North African Literature and Culture (Also offered as MLNG 457.037, ENGL 332.037)
An analytical look at the works of some of the major writers of North Africa and their usage of African symbols to portray Africa of the past and the present. At the beginning of the course some background information about North Africa, its history, colonization, and independence will be given. One or two lectures will be given about each of the writers studied and their country of origin. The work of each writer should occupy the class for about three weeks. Students will be asked to write five short, 3-5 page papers, on each writer. They will also be asked to answer a set of questions on each book they read.
3 Credits

AFST 397. 039 #34476 - History of African American Education (Also offered as SOC 398.039)
This course will examine the historical role of education in the production and amelioration of social inequality for African Americans in the United States. Readings and dialogue will support students understanding of non-traditional and traditional education institutions (plantation, church, community/freedom schools secondary and higher education) and the roles that race, identity, sexism, family, and community play in the training of African American students. In the end, students will acquire knowledge of the historical trends and an understanding of racial differences in opportunity and achievement.
3 Credits //TR 1600-1715 MVH-4022; Becknell cbeck@unm.edu

AFST 397. 040 #34477 - Caribbean Women Writers
This course is designed to introduce students to Caribbean cultures, identities and nations via literature. Students will explore literature by Caribbean women of African descent through the thematic focus of 'home'. Using the interpretative lenses of gender, race, class, sexuality, ethnicity, and nationality, the class will examine various constructions and representations of 'home', as place, person or cultural ideology, in the literary works of Afro-Caribbean women writers. Some key questions we will seek to answer are: What constitutes home: is it physical, meta-physical, psychological or geographic? Is there such a thing as a Caribbean identity? How does the Caribbean help shape our notions of global blackness? This semester, our primary texts are works of fiction and poetry; however, when necessary and appropriate, the class may engage other genres that include but are not limited to film and drama.
3 Credits

AFST 397. 041 #34476 - History of the Harlem Renaissance
This course will be a historical, cultural, and literary analysis of the movement known as the 'Harlem Renaissance'. The rough time period covered is 1914-1935. We will begin with a brief look at the social, racial, and economic conditions under which the majority of black Americans were living under at the turn of the century. From there we will proceed into an analysis of the factors that contributed to the creation of a critical mass of artists and intellectuals in Harlem. Topics such as racial violence, migration, and isolation issues of the urban experience will be primary topics for conversation.
The Harlem Renaissance was a political, literary, and artistic movement. This course will explore each area and attempt to determine the extent to which the black people living in Harlem during this time had a lasting and significant impact on the social conditions of African Americans living in other parts of the country and the world.
The readings covered in this course will reflect the diversity of perspectives and artistic inclinations that Harlem Renaissance artists and intellectuals held. The readings will also serve as a backdrop for wide ranging discussions of race, class, and culture.
3 Credits

AFST 399 - Culture and Education (Also offered as LLSS 424)
Analysis of the different child-rearing practices and their effects on the academic performances of children. Analyzes the role of culture in education.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 453 - African American Art (Also offered as ARTH 453)
This class provides an overview of African American artists and contextualizes their creativity within the wider framework of U.S. art. What, for example, are the benefits and pitfalls of assigning race to any creative practice?
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 490 - Black Liberation and Religion (Also offered as RELG 490)
Introduction to some traditional western religious schools of thought as a basis for intensive examination of the works of prominent Black liberation theologians.
3.000 Credit Hours

AFST 491 - African-American Religious Traditions (Also offered as RELG 491)
This course will examine the bipolarity of religion in African-American history, showing how Black religion in the U.S. has served as an institution both for acculturation and also for self and cultural assertion.
3.000 Credit Hours