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Course Catalog 2022-2023 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Course Search
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This is a comprehensive listing of all active, credit-bearing courses offered by Oberlin College and Conservatory since Fall 2016. Courses listed this online catalog may not be offered every semester; for up to date information on which courses are offered in a given semester, please see PRESTO.
For the most part, courses offered by departments are offered within the principal division of the department. Many interdisciplinary departments and programs also offer courses within more than one division.
Individual courses may be counted simultaneously toward more than one General Course Requirement providing they carry the appropriate divisional attributes and/or designations.
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Africana Studies |
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AAST 060 - Probs: Talking Book Workshop HC ARHU CD
2 credits
This workshop is a hands on exploration of spoken/written narrative within African American visual tradition(s). We will view works by Carrie Mae Weems, Amina Robinson, David Hammons, Whitfield Lovell, and others alongside of texts, listening assignments, and poetry to explore the presence of the spoken word within African American expressivity. Students will be required to write, perform, and compose sonic landscapes that explore their own sense of self and place. Weekly reflections will be assigned in addition to one major project as a culmination of each student’s research.
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AAST 066 - Intro: Circling Back, Building Story HC ARHU CD
2 credits
The Site and Community of Oberlin exists as an intersection of living histories. The boundaries of this town are linked to ongoing histories of refuge, resistance, struggle, and imagination of possible futures: ideas that intentionally embrace and actively construct an existence in which all people experience the fullness of Being uninterrupted. Within this class, each student enrolled will work throughout the course to compose one intentional gesture that articulates a story resonant with a history embedded within this specific place. Our process will be interdisciplinary, and may span written/spoken word, performance, assemblage, and/or any components of photography, drawing, or painting.
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AAST 072 - Blues Aesthetic: Continuity and Transformation FC ARHU CD
4 credits
The emphasis of this course is upon the thesis that the Black or `Blues Aesthetic’ is a cultural perspective that emerges from within the experiences of Black people, facing the socio-political and economic conditions of modern and contemporary America. Our focus will be upon the traditions of African American music, literature, theater/film, and specifically the visual arts. Consent of instructor required.
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AAST 101 - Introduction to Africana Studies FC SSCI CD
4 credits
An interdisciplinary exploration of key aspects of Black history, culture, and life in Africa and the Americas. The course attempts to provide students with a fundamental intellectual understanding of the universal Black experience as it has been described and interpreted by humanists and social scientists. Included in the course will be such topics as: the Africana Studies movement, the African heritage of Afro-Americans, Pan-African relations, racism and sexism, the family, the role of religion in Black life, class structure and class relations, the political economy of African American life, and Black political power.
Prerequisites & Notes: Declared majors are given priority for this course
This course is appropriate for new students.
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AAST 122 - Caribbean Survey: Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic: Indigenous to 1898 FC SSCI CD
4 credits
The course provides an introduction to the history of Caribbean nations beginning in Africa to the mid-20th century. The class explores the geography of the Caribbean, the indigenous population, and the role of Africa in providing laborers for the region’s plantation work and its enduring impact on the region’s cultural traditions. Students will examine resistance movements against slavery and imperialism. The class investigates the various methods individuals have used in recording moments of the past.
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AAST 123 - Caribbean Survey: Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic: 1898-1986 FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course continues its examination of these three Caribbean nations from the mid 20th century to the early 21st century. The class reflects on the nations’ political, social, and cultural contributions while discussing some of its major contradictions and challenges. The course addresses the nations’ independence struggles, systems of governance, and interactions with the global world. We will investigate the various methods individuals have used in recording moments of the past.
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AAST 124 - Earth Science and Social Justice FC NSMA CD QFR
4 credits
This course will focus on social justice issues that are related to geologic issues and illuminated and remediated by geology-related actions such as water pollution, groundwater contamination, mining, and energy resources. Each unit will build skills and knowledge in geology, then will apply that to particular case studies such as the Flint water crisis, pipe-line issues on native lands, and chemical contamination in urban neighborhoods.
Does this course require off campus field trips? Yes
This course is cross-listed with GEOS 124
Sustainability
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AAST 126 - Archives ReImagined FC SSCI CD
4 credits
The course introduces students to archives and field research from a global perspective. The class will expose students to: primary sources including letters and proclamations written in cursive; reports of trauma recorded in microfiche; and radio and telegram communique. The course takes an interdisciplinary approach that stretches the boundary of traditional archives (also known as repositories) by having learners explore murals, art, song, poetry, dance, and oral stories. Students should expect guest lectures about digital archiving, guest artists, multilingual materials, and reading about how scholars record silence and absence in archives. The class includes lectures and discussions. Optional field trips include an excursion to your nearby museum, library, and research on murals in your area.
Does this course require off campus field trips? Yes
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AAST 131 - Traditional African Cosmology and Religions: Shifting Contours and Contested Terrains FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This class will explore how African Cosmology (the conception of the origin and nature of the universe) helps to frame the understanding of Traditional African religions (TAR) and their practices as they have emerged in the history of the African continent. It examines the underlying nature of African Religious thought and the role and function of myth and ritual in these religions. The class will investigate indigenized Islam and Christianity as well as western modernity.
This course is cross-listed with RELG 281
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AAST 132 - Introduction to African Studies: Patterns, Issues and Controversies FC SSCI CD WINT
4 credits
This course introduces students to the study of Africa. It examines the often negative media representation of Africa as a continuation of a long pattern established by colonial anthropologists, officials and literary writers. It also examines the destabilizing impact of colonialism on pre-colonial African political institutions, social organizations, patterns of belief, etc. Africa’s current difficulties can more fully be understood within this context, which contemporary media portrayals of Africa often ignore.
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AAST 141 - The Heritage of Black American Literature FC ARHU CD
4 credits
A survey of Black American literature from its inception in the 18th century to the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920’s. Phillis Wheatley, Jupiter Hammon, David Walker, Maria Stewart, and others up to DuBois and Anna Julia Cooper, including related slave songs, sermons, spirituals, blues, slave narratives and other folk expressions.
Prerequisites & Notes: Preference for declared majors and department credit students.
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AAST 158 - Something from Something FC ARHU CD
4 credits
This course is a ‘hands on’ exploration of vernacular visual traditions existing within African American Culture. We will examine design choices/material processes used to define and describe the specificity of lived experience within African American culture. Our focus is upon elders within black communities and the stories that they tell through their work. These ‘folk artists’ function as influences upon contemporary African American artists ranging from Alison Saar, to Renee Stout. These vernacular traditions will serve as resources that extend our own working processes as we tell our own stories.
Prerequisites & Notes: Consent of instructor required.
This course is cross-listed with ARTS 074
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AAST 161 - Capoeira Angola I FC ARHU CD
4 credits
Capoeira Angola is the African-Brazilian martial art that combines dance, music, and combat to create a game of strategy, style and wit. This course will introduce students to the aspects of Capoeira Angola including the movement, music, philosophy and history traced through great masters of the past to its African beginnings in the Bantu’s dance of N’golo. Each class will involve daily physical training and music lessons. Students will also engage in readings and discussions aimed at providing a historic context for contemporary styles and traditions.
Prerequisites & Notes: Consent of instructor required. May be repeated for credit.
This course is cross-listed with DANC 161
This course is appropriate for new students.
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AAST 171 - Introduction to African American Music I FC ARHU CD
4 credits
The first semester of a one-year survey of musical styles and forms cultivated by African Americans. First semester includes West African music and West African continuity in the American, early African American instrumental-vocal forms, and the social implications of African American music. Second semester includes later instrumental and vocal music (jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, gospel, soul, etc.) and important composers and performers of works in extended forms.
This course is cross-listed with JAZZ 290, MHST 290
This course is appropriate for new students.
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AAST 172 - Introduction to African American Music II FC ARHU CD
4 credits
The second semester of a one-year survey of musical styles and forms cultivated by African Americans. This semester includes later instrumental and vocal music (jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, gospel, soul, etc.) and important composers and performers of works in extended forms.
This course is cross-listed with JAZZ 291, MHST 291
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AAST 190 - West African Dance Forms I FC ARHU CD
4 credits
This course is an introduction to the fundamentals and basic movements of West African Dance. Traditional dance and rhythmic structures of Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, and Mali will be studied to develop skills in beginning African Dance. Culture, history and philosophy of West African dance will also be explored through song, music, performance and academic discourse. This class will be taught from a traditional West African perspective and Pan-African world view in the context of their social, occupational, and religious functions.
This course is cross-listed with DANC 190
This course is appropriate for new students.
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AAST 191 - West African Dance Forms II FC ARHU CD
4 credits
This course is an expansion to the fundamentals, basic movements, forms, and techniques explored in African Dance I. Traditional dance and rhythmic structures of Senegal, Gambia, Guinea and Mali will be studied in depth to develop skills in advanced African Dance. This class will be explored in total context with traditional costuming, music, culture and customs. This class will be taught from a traditional West African perspective and African world view. Students will perform in a final culminating studio concert.
Prerequisites & Notes: DANC/AAST 190 or previous dance experience.
This course is cross-listed with DANC 191
This course is appropriate for new students.
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AAST 199 - Dance Forms of the African Diaspora FC ARHU CD
4 credits
This course is designed to promote and develop creativity in dance performance of new works through the African-American experience. This course will explore the history, development, and core elements of dance forms of the African Diaspora: Modern Fusion, Afro-beat, Soukous, and Hip-Hop.
This course is cross-listed with DANC 199
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AAST 199H - Dance Forms–African Diaspora HC ARHU CD
2 credits
This course is designed to promote and develop creativity in dance performance of new works through the African-American experience. This course will explore the history, development, and core elements of dance forms of the African Diaspora: Modern Fusion, Afro-beat, Soukous, and Hip-Hop.
This course is cross-listed with DANC 199H
This course is appropriate for new students.
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AAST 202 - African American History Since 1865 FC SSCI CD
4 credits
An analysis of African American history from the Reconstruction Era to the Rise of Black Power. Coverage includes: the Age of Booker T. Washington, Urbanization, Pan-Africanism, Depression and War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Resurgence of Black Nationalism.
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AAST 213 - Long Walk to Freedom: South Africa Since 1948 FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course underscores the Black struggle in SA to bring about a peaceful transition to democracy. Several constituencies figure in this transition, including the ANC, PAC, Inkatha, COD, COSATU, and others whose roles in bringing about freedom from Afrikaner rule are explored. Students gain a fuller appreciation of the racialized class- and gender-based dynamics of the struggle for Black liberation through 1994 and beyond.
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AAST 216 - Lifting as We Climb: Historically Black Colleges and the Cultural Ideology of Education FC ARHU CD
4 credits
Lifting as We Climb: Historically Black Colleges and the Cultural Ideology of Education, is an examination of the cultural and intellectual dynamics of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Examining their origins in the mid 19th Century abolitionist movement, this course interrogates the relationship between the academic, political and cultural mission of these institutions. Asserting HBCUs as a foundation in the development of African American leadership and community advancement, the course examines the relationship between, history, politics and the self-affirming intentionality of the HBCUs’ pedagogical mission. The policies, customs, and traditions of these institutions will serve as a point of analysis.
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AAST 217 - Unspoken Images: Complex Identities in Black Film HC ARHU CD
2 credits
The Spring 2021 course AAST “Unspoken Images: Complex Identities in Black Film”, will examine the cinematic presentation of divergent images of African American people. Through the examination of a select group of studio and independent films, the course analyzes the manner in which the film makers actively disrupt stereotypical ideas of Black life. Screening films that range in setting from the 1960s to the 2010s, the course engages with the evolution and complication of Black popular cultural identity in the post civil rights era.
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AAST 218 - M4BL: History and Practice of An Idea FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course offers students a way to understand more fully the 19thc. historical roots of the Black Lives Matter Movement, its ideology and contemporary critique of white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism, and the legal and material gains of the movement. Through a variety of on-line and other sources, students will carefully track the events of the mid-2000s to the present, create research models of protests, and discuss with people on the ground the kinds of citizen actions and discourses preferable in the time of COVID.
Prerequisites & Notes: AAST 101 is Prereq; Field Trips may be included but not determined at this time; course registration is by CONSENT.
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AAST 219 - Freedom Movements: Civil Rights and Black Power FC SSCI CD
4 credits
Freedom Movements: Civil Rights and Black Power
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AAST 220 - Doin’ Time: A History of Black Incarceration FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course considers how a system of imprisoning Black men and women in the U. S. has been sustained from colonial times to the present. Beginning with Foucault’s Discipline and Punish, and Davis’s Are Prisons Obsolete?, the course establishes a theoretical grounding upon which to understand early systems of surveillance and confinement. The course surveys institutions, justice systems, and incarcerated men’s and women’s crimes, punishments and experiences negotiating what can arguably be termed 21st century re-enslavement.
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AAST 221 - Historic and Contemporary Debates in African American Education FC SSCI CD
4 credits
Students will learn about the evolution of African American education through the examination of notable debates of the 20th and 21st centuries that have impacted its development. In this discussion based interactive course, students will explore topics such as school integration, bussing, charter schools, the use of African American Vernacular English in academic instruction, and the importance of Africana Studies in higher education.
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AAST 222 - Historic and Contemporary Debates in African American Education II FC SSCI CD
4 credits
Building upon AAST 221, (Historic and Contemporary Debates in African American Education) this highly interactive, discussion-based course explores the evolution of African American education through a thorough examination of important debates of the 20th and 21st centuries that have impacted its development. We will examine topics such as the school to prison pipeline, scarcity of Black male identifying educators, racial disparities in school discipline, increased enrollment in and stigma around attending historically Black colleges and universities, and the imposter syndrome.
Prerequisites & Notes: Students must have successfully completed AAST 221 to be enrolled in this class.
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AAST 223 - Africa, Memory & Diasporic Identity FC ARHU CD WINT
4 credits
The diremptive nature of the Atlantic Slave Trade forced the dramatic reconstruction of the lives of the millions of enslaved captives within hostile and alienating circumstances. Yet despite what James Baldwin would call the “strange grafting” (sic) of these captives and their descendants onto “Western” societies, the question of the role of pre-Western (African) forms and the idea of these forms on their social, cultural and political lives remains an active question. Africa, its histories, peoples and meaning, as an existential question lies heavily on its Diasporic descendants.
“Africa, Memory and Diasporic Identity” addresses the question of African-Americans as African peoples and how that idea has informed the social, political and cultural expressions of the African Diaspora. Starting from the presumption that the millions of Africans brought to the West were not tabula rasa but were human beings stuffed with their persona, cultural, and historical memories, “Africa, Memory and Diasporic Identity” explores the discovered and imagined effect of that presumption up on the 400 year sojourn of African descendants across the Atlantic world. Utilizing the works of historians, anthropologists, poets, novelists, filmmakers, musicians, philosophers and political theorists/activists, “Africa, Memory and Diasporic Identity” will explore across disciplines and media the question posed by Countee Cullen almost a century ago,
What is Africa to me:
Copper sun or scarlet sea,
Jungle star or jungle track,
Strong bronzed men, or regal black
Women from whose loins I sprang
When the birds of Eden sang?
One three centuries removed
From the scenes his fathers loved,
Spicy grove, cinnamon tree,
What is Africa to me? (“Heritage”)
Prerequisites & Notes: This is a StudiOC cluster course (Janet Fiskio and Gunnar Kwakye are the other two members of the cluster).
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AAST 223OC - Africa, Memory & Diasporic Identity FC ARHU CD WINT
4 credits
The diremptive nature of the Atlantic Slave Trade forced the dramatic reconstruction of the lives of the millions of enslaved captives within hostile and alienating circumstances. Yet despite what James Baldwin would call the “strange grafting” (sic) of these captives and their descendants onto “Western” societies, the question of the role of pre-Western (African) forms and the idea of these forms on their social, cultural and political lives remains an active question. Africa, its histories, peoples and meaning, as an existential question lies heavily on its Diasporic descendants.
“Africa, Memory and Diasporic Identity” addresses the question of African-Americans as African peoples and how that idea has informed the social, political and cultural expressions of the African Diaspora. Starting from the presumption that the millions of Africans brought to the West were not tabula rasa but were human beings stuffed with their persona, cultural, and historical memories, “Africa, Memory and Diasporic Identity” explores the discovered and imagined effect of that presumption up on the 400 year sojourn of African descendants across the Atlantic world. Utilizing the works of historians, anthropologists, poets, novelists, filmmakers, musicians, philosophers and political theorists/activists, “Africa, Memory and Diasporic Identity” will explore across disciplines and media the question posed by Countee Cullen almost a century ago,
What is Africa to me:
Copper sun or scarlet sea,
Jungle star or jungle track,
Strong bronzed men, or regal black
Women from whose loins I sprang
When the birds of Eden sang?
One three centuries removed
From the scenes his fathers loved,
Spicy grove, cinnamon tree,
What is Africa to me? (“Heritage”)
Prerequisites & Notes: This is a StudiOC cluster course (Janet Fiskio and Gunnar Kwakye are the other two members of the cluster).
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AAST 224 - Beginning Choreography in Cultural Traditions FC ARHU CD
4 credits
This class focuses on the study of choreography, cultural traditions, performance, and participation in the mounting of traditional dance works from inception through rehearsal to performance. Weekly Readings are assigned, exploring the use of space, ritual, rhythm, shape and culture. Classes will emphasize the creative process and the working, artistic relationship between the choreographer and dancers. Repertory rehearsals are geared to enrich and develop personal expression and performance skills in a class setting in order that the final choreographic work is a dynamic experience for both group and individual performance. Readings, discussions and performances are required.
Prerequisites & Notes: DANC/AAST 190 or 191
This course is cross-listed with DANC 224
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AAST 227 - Saint Domingue/Haiti in the Atlantic World FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course introduces students to the history of the Atlantic World through an in-depth examination of one of its richest and violent colonies, Saint-Domingue. The course begins with the discussion of the indigenous population, pre-1492 and ends in 1805, with the issuance of Haiti’s first Constitution. Students will explore the diverse population of St. Domingue (indigenous, African and European); the structure of colonial society; and St. Domingue’s participation in the Age of Revolution that produced Haiti.
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AAST 228 - Katrina and Black Freedom Struggle FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course situates August 29, 2005 and the meaning of the Katrina disaster in the history of Black Struggle in Louisiana and the surrounding region. Using texts such as Adam Fairclough’s Race and Democracy, Spike Lee’s When the Levees Broke, and Hartman and Squires’s There Is No Such Thing As A Natural Disaster, students examine the historical interplay of race, gender, poverty, and the politics of resistance in a unique area of the U. S. South.
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AAST 229 - Radical Thinkers and Movements in the Caribbean FC SSCI CD WINT
4 credits
This course engages the works of Caribbean people to document the history of radical thought and movements from the 18th to the mid 20th century. Students are exposed to different areas of the Caribbean and its Diaspora (Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Cuba, Martinique, and the United States, etc.), and its people (Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Arturo Schomburg, Fernando Ortiz, Amy Jacques Garvey, and Shirley Chisholm, etc.) in an examination of revolutionary and nationalist ideologies
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AAST 231 - African American Politics FC SSCI CD
4 credits
African American Politics is an introductory course that examines the traditions of political engagement by the African American community. The course will discuss the major figures, movements and events of the African American political tradition. Specifically the course interrogates ideological , formal and informal political movements and the historic and contemporary effect of Public Policy on African American life.
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AAST 232 - Africana Philosophy FC ARHU CD
4 credits
‘Africana Philosophy’ is a survey course that explores the tradition of philosophical speculation among the communities of the Africana world. Important to the course is the question of ‘what is philosophy’ and ‘what is a philosopher’ in the context of Africana life. The course will examine major texts, writers and diverse schools of thought that explore race, politics, identity, sexuality, and other areas of speculation.
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AAST 234 - Africana Popular Culture FC ARHU CD
4 credits
Africana Popular Culture’ is a survey course that explores forms of popular cultural expression in the Africana world. The course will explore the relationship between cultural expression and its relationship to mass popular consciousness, culture and expression. The course will examine popular cultural expression in the fields of music, religion, sport and graphic novels.
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AAST 235 - Government and Politics of Africa FC SSCI CD WINT
4 credits
This course examines pre-colonial African political and social systems and how these were weakened by the imposition of colonialism. It also considers the rise of leaders such as Nkrumah, Kenyatta, and Nyerere, and the liberation struggles and the wave of independence that swept through Africa in the 1960s. While acknowledging Africa’s development challenges, this course also highlights recent developments such as relative political stability, democratic deepening and the emergence of the African Union as constituting grounds for hope.
This course is appropriate for new students.
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AAST 236 - Politics and Society in Africa since the 1980s FC SSCI CD
4 credits
Two momentous changes have occurred in Africa since the 1980s. The first was the shift to liberal economic reforms commonly called structural adjustment. The second was democratization. These changes, many argue, have vastly diminished the autonomy of the African state, and enabled external hegemonic powers to gain unprecedented influence in Africa since independence. This course examines the political, social and economic implications of these changes at both local and international levels.
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AAST 242 - “Framing the Hood:” Examining the “Hood Film” and its Significance in Black Art Culture FC ARHU CD
4 credits
Within the world of Black filmmaking, there is the genre sometimes referred to as the “hood film.” These films have become cultural staples within Black communities. In this course we will examine the beauty of these films technically and narratively to understand why these films, often considered flops by white critics, are integral parts of Black Communities for years after their release. This course will also explore the many ways in which these films challenge, reflect, and build upon hegemonic notions of Black life and experiences.
This course is appropriate for new students.
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AAST 248 - Resistance and Voice: Literature of the African Diaspora FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course is a comparative examination of literature written by peoples of African descent internationally. The course will examine the literary expression of peoples of African descent and Africans in the Americas, Europe, South and Central America. Using Paule Marshall’s discussion of ‘taking [one’s] mouth and [making] a gun,’ we will look at the ways in which peoples of African descent write resistance into their literature in creative ways. We will read the work of several authors including, Paule Marshall, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Ama Ata Aidoo, Dorothea Smartt, Kwame Dawes, Toni Morrison, Edwidge Danticat, Amiri Baraka, Suheir Hammad, and Earl Lovelace.
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AAST 249 - Afruturism and Black Speculative Fiction: Black to the Future FC ARHU CD WINT
4 credits
What are Speculative Fiction and Afrofuturism? How have they gained momentum in African Diasporic literature, art, and popular culture? When Octavia Butler and Charles Delaney coined ‘speculative fiction’ as a genre that challenged absence of Black people in conventional science fiction, they presented models for a future where Black people were subjects not excluded from the narrative of American progress. This course examines the emergence Afrofuturism in 1992 and its application to Black Speculative Fiction in the 20th and 21 st centuries in an international dialogue on Black identities. Authors will include works by Butler, Delaney, Gomez, Okri, Hopkinson, and Okarofor. Required Field Trips: Westwood Cemetery, Allen Art Museum, Oberlin Underground Railroad Center, and relevant sites in Cleveland.
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AAST 253 - African American Political Thought FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course is an introduction to African American political thought. We will focus on how black political thinkers and activists have sought to shape the American polity and respond to central political questions and shared experiences in the American context. This course will familiarize students with debates and conflicts in Black Political Thought, the historical context of African American social movements and the relationship between Black Political Thought and major trends in Western thought.
This course is cross-listed with POLT 253
This course is appropriate for new students.
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AAST 258 - Intermediate: Talking Book FC ARHU CD
4 credits
This class is a hands on exploration of spoken/written narrative within African American visual tradition(s). We will view works by Carrie Mae Weems, Faith Ringgold, David Hammons, Lil’ Willie, Glen Ligon, and many more. These artists will serve as models for the layering of voices gathered and conjured within class projects. Students will be required to write, perform, compose (visually, and/or sonically) tapestries of voices carried within themselves. Projects will range from portraits of self, to portraits of place and time. Sound equipment will be made available to students enrolled (no previous experience necessary).
This course is cross-listed with ARTS 075
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AAST 261 - Framing Blackness: African Americans and Film In The United States 1915 to the Present FC ARHU CD
4 credits
Through an interrogation of Hollywood’s construction of Black images and the development of African American independent cinema, this class will examine the multifaceted relationship of African American people to the powerful medium of film. Drawing its title from Ed Guerrero’s book of the same name, ‘Framing Blackness’ will draw on historical and critical readings as well as film viewing. The course will also track the rise of independent Black voice in film and the development of a distinctively Afrocentric aesthetic. Discussions and paper will be used for evaluation.
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AAST 262 - Capoeira Angola II FC ARHU CD
4 credits
This is a continuation in the study of Capoeira Angola. Students will continue to build strength, coordination, rhythm, and balance as well as learn to play rhythms on all the instruments of Capoeira Angola with special attention given to the berimbau. Readings and discussions will further explore the history and emergence of Capoeira Angola as a tool for African spirituality, liberation and Cultural Revolution within the new world. Throughout the semester students will engage in special events and performances that present our work to the campus community.
This course is cross-listed with DANC 262
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AAST 263 - Black English and Voice: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics FC ARHU CD WINT
4 credits
Sociolinguistics studies the relationship between language and society and/or language variation by group and location. Given that it is a highly developed ‘dialect’ that was central to definition of the field, this course examines regularities of Black English (sometimes called Ebonics, to indicate both speaker and sound). Along the way, students will be introduced to key concepts of sociolinguistics (e.g., speech community and speech act as well as semantics, morphology, and phonetics/phonology). The course also re-visits the 1997 debates involving Oakland’s intention to feature Ebonics in English education and culminates with consideration of differently stylized ‘literary’ renderings of Black speech. Field trips required.
Prerequisites & Notes: AAST 101, AAST 202, or equivalent.
This course is cross-listed with ENGL 263
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AAST 264 - African American Drama FC ARHU CD
4 credits
This class surveys plays written by Black Americans from the post-slavery period through the late 20th century. An overview of the history of African-American performance is followed by reading and discussion of current criticism and a wide selection of plays by writers such as James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Adrienne Kennedy, Langston Hughes, Ntozake Shange, August Wilson, and George Wolfe. Requirements include papers, journals and scene work.
This course is cross-listed with THEA 264
This course is appropriate for new students.
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AAST 268 - Black Arts Workshop FC ARHU CD
4 credits
The Black Arts Workshop combines theory and performance in African American cultural styles. Readings and discussions encompass Afrocentric philosophy, history, religion and aesthetics, dance, music, visual arts and drama. Classroom exercises focus on meditation, movement, dance and acting skills. In the latter part of the semester there is a focus on Black Theater including scene work. Written work is required. Final projects are to be creative in nature.
Prerequisites & Notes: May be repeated twice for credit.
This course is cross-listed with THEA 268
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AAST 278 - Playwrighting and Performance in the Time of the Black Lives Matter Movement FC ARHU CD
4 credits
In this exciting time in the fight for social justice centered on the Black Lives Matters Movement, students will write/create their own original plays and performance pieces responding to current and historical events.Students from all backgrounds are invited to explore how the worlds of theater and performance are making work steeped in the quest for Black equality in a climate of other great challenges-including works on virtual platforms.Student work in this class may be recorded or performed in the Summer Term show, “The Word and the Beat.”
This course is cross-listed with THEA 278
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AAST 280 - Africana Philosophies of Education FC SSCI CD
4 credits
A survey course, Africana Philosophies of Education will explore historic and contemporary theories of knowledge and the role of formal and informal learning within Africana Philosophy.
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AAST 281 - Practicum in Tutoring HC SSCI CD
2 credits
In the tutoring practicum, students will attend a weekly two hour session on Saturdays which will be offered as tutoring hours for children in grades K-12 in the community. In addition to tutoring, students will have assigned reading related to pedagogical approaches to educating Black children. Students will participate in online class discussion forums in order to share, compare, and learn from each other’s experiences and discuss the reading. At the end of the semester, students will write and present a paper to the class.
Prerequisites & Notes: Repeatable up to eight hours. P/NP grading. TB test required. Obtain and return questionnaires before tutoring.
Community Based Learning
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AAST 282 - Black Nationalism FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course will explore Black Nationalism as foundational world view within the African American Experience. By investigating Black Nationalism’s major theoreticians, texts and movements, the course will examine Black Nationalism as it presents itself as a social, cultural, political and economic force.
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AAST 285 - African American Women’s History FC SSCI CD
4 credits
A general survey of the history of Black women from colonial times to the present. This course will examine the uniqueness of the Black female experience through the lens of the intersection of race, class and sex in American society. This course studies the lives of Black women from slavery through reconstruction, northern migration, the Harlem Renaissance, the civil rights movement, and on to the development of a contemporary Black feminism. The course includes literature and political commentary from Black women writers and activists.
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AAST 291 - The Abolitionist Movement FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course explores the 19th century social movements collectively known as the Abolitionist movement. We will analyze the differing methods and goals of the movement’s various streams through its leading Black figures and thinkers. We will also look at the major theories that sociologists and political scientists have created to explain the mobilization and outcomes of social movements.
This course is cross-listed with POLT 291
This course is appropriate for new students.
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AAST 302 - Marxism and the Black Radical Tradition FC SSCI CD
4 credits
A seminar, Marxism and the Black Radical Tradition is an examination of the analysis, interrogation and implementation of Marxist based theory and praxis within the Black Radical Tradition. Utilizing texts across the fields of history, philosophy, political theory, sociology, fiction and post colonial theory, the course will highlight figures, events, texts and movements that exemplify this area.
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AAST 304 - Africana Humanities in Dialogue FC ARHU CD
4 credits
An upper-level seminar course that examines the theoretical and conceptual dialogues that take place between influential texts within the Africana intellectual and aesthetic corpus and similar or overlapping works from other intellectual traditions.
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AAST 305 - Interpreting Tom Tom: An Epic of Music and The Negro FC ARHU CD
4 credits
This seminar will examine the groundbreaking opera of Oberlin Conservatory alumna, author, composer, and musicologist Shirley Graham Du Bois (1934). In 1932, she was commissioned to compose and direct “Tom Tom,” the first opera by a Black woman that chronicles the Negro experience across a centuries-long history from the transatlantic slave trade to the Harlem Renaissance.This course invites students to comprehensively explore the contexts in which “Tom Tom” resides through ethnomusicological and dramaturgical research methods.We will interpret the score and libretto with significant attention to Graham’s construction of Africana vernacular music, literary and performance traditions within an emergent American classical music scene, and her implementation of ritual and Pan-Africanist ideologies.Activities will include comparative readings between music, theatre, and cultural studies, stylistic and textual analysis, research papers, class presentations, and discussion.Particular emphasis will be given to developing individual research projects.
Prerequisites & Notes: Consent of the instructor required.
ETHN 305: At least one course in MHST or ETHN at the 200 level, with MHST 290/91 especially advantageous.
AAST/THEA 305: Preference will be given to students who've taken AAST/THEA 264, 268, 278, or THEA 309.
This course is cross-listed with ETHN 305, THEA 305
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AAST 315 - Acting III: Black and Brown Playwrights FC ARHU CD
4 credits
In this class, we will work on and explore scenes written by African-American and Latino playwrights such as Lynn Knottage, August Wilson, Suzanne Lori-Parks, Jose Rivera, Ntozake Shange, Nilo Cruz, and Alice Childress. While staging scenes, students will develop their method of acting, as well as discuss the issue of cultural awareness on the actor’s process– specifically, what role race and culture play in the shaping of character and relationship. Student assignments include reading plays, writing in a journal, as well as performing scenes.
Prerequisites & Notes: THEA 200
This course is cross-listed with THEA 315
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AAST 321 - Seminar: Black Feminist Thought: A Historical Perspective FC SSCI CD WINT
4 credits
This seminar course will explore and analyze the evolution of intellectual discourse among African-American women from slavery to the present. Particular attention will be given to the interplay of ideas about race and gender and the social and economic position of black women at various time periods. Sources will include autobiographies, novels, historical documents, sociological studies and modern feminist social critiques.
Prerequisites & Notes: AAST 101 or 285 or consent of instructor.
This course is cross-listed with GSFS 321
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AAST 323 - Folkloric Foundations FC ARHU CD
4 credits
This course is an introduction to the fundamental philosophies of folkloric foundations in art, music, dance, and history. We will explore and examine prominent elements within Second Line Culture, Ring Shout, Boot Dance, Dunham Technique, and Lindy Hop. These art forms will provide meaningful insight and reflection on how individuals of African Descent were able to utilize their creativity, energy, art and music as a means to cope with systematic racism, oppression, and discrimination.
This class will be taught from a Pan-African world view in the context of social, cultural, occupational, religious, and political functions within each genre. Field trips required.
Does this course require off campus field trips? Yes
This course is cross-listed with DANC 323
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AAST 337 - African Capitalists and African Development: Seminar FC SSCI CD
4 credits
The World Bank, backed by the West, has been leading efforts to stimulate capitalism and development in Africa. African capitalists have been conceived as the linchpin of this project, but their ability to spearhead economic growth has been disappointing. This course examines why this is the case, highlighting the political and institutional barriers to the rise of African capitalists, and their implications for development.
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AAST 341 - Critical Race Theory in Education FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This is a discussion-based seminar that will explore the cultural and racial politics of schooling in the United States. Through the examination of foundational and contemporary scholarship that offer critical perspectives on race and manifestations of racism in the American school system, students will learn about how the implementation of Critical Race Theory in education can impact student experience, learning outcomes, and perhaps serve as a framework to address systemic racism in United States. Discussions around implementation will include curriculum, student support, diversity, equity, and inclusion (D.E.I.) work, faculty hiring and retention, and codes of conduct. The course will begin with a review of Critical Race Theory, as well as current controversies and politicization, some prior knowledge of Critical Race Theory will be expected.
Prerequisites & Notes: AAST 101, at least one education-focused course, and instructor consent
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AAST 346 - Contemporary African American Literature: 1960-Present FC ARHU CD
4 credits
This course examines African American Literature from 1937 to the present. Beginning with the literature of social realism (Ann Petry and Richard Wright) we will cover almost 100 years of African American Literature, including some of the major critical discourses (Modernism, Protest, and the Black Arts Movement) that have guided its development over the past century. Other authors discussed include Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Gayl Jones, and Toni Cade Bambara.
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AAST 347 - Culture, History, and Identity: Caribbean Literature and the Politics of Survival FC ARHU CD WINT
4 credits
This course serves as introduction to Caribbean Literature. Students will examine a wide range of texts that exemplify the beginning and evolution of a literary tradition that is located on a continuum of African Diasporic Literatures. Our discussion will engage the historical, political, and cultural contexts out of which Caribbean Literature has emerged, particularly struggles against colonialism, neocolonialism, sexism, and global capitalism. Some authors discussed are Michelle Cliff, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, and Nalo Hopkinson.
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AAST 348 - The Evolution of Black Queer Performance and Storytelling: 1920’s-Now FC ARHU CD
4 credits
With shows such as “Legendary”, films like “Moonlight”, and the rise of Black queer hip-hop performers such as Lil Nas X, recent times have shown us that Black Queer narratives are broad and multifaceted. This course will explore the art and artists that have led us to our current wave of Black Queer performance and storytelling. This course will analyze the ways in which Black Queer performance has historically pushed against political, social, and systemic barriers of oppression. It will excavate the ways in which even non-queer Black performers have benefited from Queer performance as well as understanding what it means to live at the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality.
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AAST 350 - Intermediate Seminar: Research and Practice in Africana Studies FC SSCI CD WINT
4 credits
Students enrolled in AAST 350 Africana Studies Methodologies will engage in focused study and analysis of Africana Studies methodologies and interdisciplinary approaches to the field as foundation for the advanced research pursued in the Senior Seminar. Students will explore interdisciplinarity in an Africana Studies context, what disciplines inform African American Studies methodologies, and examine the circumstances that led to the establishment of Black/African American/Africana Studies Departments and Programs in the United States.
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AAST 357 - Empire and Resistance in the Caribbean (Haiti, Jamaica, Grenada, & Trinidad) FC SSCI CD WINT
4 credits
The course examines U.S. & European colonialism and imperialism in the Americas. Students will analyze these occurrences in the Caribbean region specifically (Cuba, Haiti, Trinidad, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, etc.) Additionally, we investigate how Caribbean citizens at home and in their respective Diasporas, act against and ally with, colonialist projects and Empire. Our analysis will incorporate theories and praxis related to race, gender, class, violence, memory, and power, etc.
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AAST 361 - Framing Blackness II: African Americans and Cinema in the Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries FC ARHU CD
4 credits
This course will continue the inquiry in AAST 261, but will intensively focus on more recent films with Black subjectivity in both dominant and independent cinema. We will consider the legacy of both ‘Blaxplolitation’ and the radical film movement of the early 1970’s on artists of the 1980’s and 90’s. Short papers will be required every week with lengthier assignments at mid-term and finals.
Prerequisites & Notes: Students must be able to attend all morning classes and evening screenings.
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AAST 363 - Capoeira Angola III FC ARHU CD
4 credits
Students will refine previous skills and focus on developing individual creativity and confidence while continuing to build balance, rhythm, and strength. Students will be expected to achieve and demonstrate a high level of proficiency in all aspects of Capoeira Angola including singing songs, creating unique combinations, and playing all instruments with special attention given to the Berimbau. Students will engage in readings that explore contemporary issues and struggles within Capoeira Angola. Throughout the semester students will engage in special events and performances that present Capoeira Angola to the campus community.
Prerequisites & Notes: AAST 161. May be repeated for credit.
This course is cross-listed with DANC 363
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AAST 368 - Black Arts Workshop II: African Diasporan Culture in Perfomance from Blues to Hip Hop FC ARHU CD
4 credits
This course continues the inquiry begun in AAST/THEA 268 focusing on the Western Hemispheric inheritance from traditional African cultures. This course will focus on performance in sacred and secular cultures of the African diaspora in the mid-to-late 20th century. The class will hone performance skills through in-class exercises and assignments, and intellectual and critical skills through reading, discussions, presentations, journals and critical papers examining aesthetic and cultural performance theories. The course will culminate in a final performance.
This course is cross-listed with THEA 368
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AAST 370 - Djapo Dance @ Oberlin FC ARHU CD
4 credits
Djapo is a Wolof word meaning together. This course is designed to bring individuals together to preserve traditional West African Dance and other African Diasporic forms by acknowledging the spirituality, philosophy, and diversity of African Culture and its global presence. Djapo Dance will function as a semi-professional company that will serve the Oberlin campus and greater Lorain County and the surrounding community through on and off campus performance venues. Djapo Dance is an off-spring to Dance Diaspora, which was formed to provide the Africana student community with the opportunity to develop their art and cultural performance skills using an interdisciplinary model.
Prerequisites & Notes: DANC/AAST 190 or 191. Faculty Directed Student, Community Performance Project - Costume Fee of $50 . Registration is open to the community
This course is cross-listed with DANC 370
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AAST 372 - The Word and The Beat HC ARHU CD
2 credits
A first module class in which students will produce and perform original work.Preference may be given to students who have taken previous courses in Black Culture and Performance, but newcomers are welcomed as well.Students will be consented, not auditioned.This class may count toward the Performance requirement in the Theater Major and/or Fine Arts requirement in the Africana Studies major.
This course is cross-listed with THEA 372
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AAST 378 - Sociology of the African American Community FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course shifts through many of the perspectives and empirical research relating to the condition of the African-American community. This will be aided by our exploration into various cultural, religious, historical, educational, economic, and political indicators of these conditions. We will also critically examine the nature and applicability of various sociological and ‘alternative’ theoretical paradigms and discuss the implications of our finding for social policy.
Prerequisites & Notes: One course in Sociology or African-American Studies or consent of the instructor.
This course is cross-listed with SOCI 378
Community Based Learning
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AAST 450 - Senior Seminar FC SSCI CD WADV
4 credits
This course will cover aspects of philosophy, history, methodology and research methods in the discipline.
Prerequisites & Notes: AAST 350. Juniors who are majors will be accepted only with consent of instructor or department chair. This is a required course for all Africana Studies majors during the senior year.
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AAST 501F - Senior Honors - Full FC SSCI
4 credits
Senior Honors - Full
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AAST 501H - Senior Honors - Half HC SSCI
2 credits
Senior Honors - Half
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AAST 502F - Senior Honors - Full FC SSCI
4 credits
Senior Honors - Full
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AAST 502H - Senior Honors - Half HC SSCI
2 credits
Senior Honors - Half
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AAST 995F - Private Reading - Full FC SSCI
4 credits
Private readings are offered as either a half or full academic course and require the faculty member’s approval. Students who wish to pursue a topic not covered in the regular curriculum may register for a private reading. This one-to-one tutorial is normally at the advanced level in a specific field and is arranged with a member of the faculty who has agreed to supervise the student. Unlike other courses, a student cannot register for a private reading via PRESTO. To register for a private reading, obtain a card from the Registrar’s Office, complete the required information, obtain the faculty member’s approval for the reading, and return the card to the Registrar’s Office.
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AAST 995H - Private Reading - Half HC SSCI
2 credits
Private readings are offered as either a half or full academic course and require the faculty member’s approval. Students who wish to pursue a topic not covered in the regular curriculum may register for a private reading. This one-to-one tutorial is normally at the advanced level in a specific field and is arranged with a member of the faculty who has agreed to supervise the student. Unlike other courses, a student cannot register for a private reading via PRESTO. To register for a private reading, obtain a card from the Registrar’s Office, complete the required information, obtain the faculty member’s approval for the reading, and return the card to the Registrar’s Office.
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ANTH 101 - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology FC SSCI CD
4 credits
An introduction to cultural anthropology through an examination of basic concepts, methods, and theories that anthropologists employ in order to understand the unity and diversity of human thought and action cross-culturally. Language and culture, kinship and the family, politics and conflict, religion and belief, and the impact of social change and globalization on traditional institutions are some of the topics to be considered in a range of ethnographic contexts.
This course is appropriate for new students.
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ANTH 102 - Human Origins FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course focuses on paleoanthropology and is an introduction to the evolutionary development of humans. We will examine biological relationships between humans and other primates, primate behavior and classification, and the fossil evidence for human evolution. Emphasis will be placed on the methods used in the study of prehistoric human biological and cultural development.
This course is appropriate for new students.
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ANTH 202 - Fundamentals of Linguistics FC SSCI CD QFR
4 credits
This course introduces the scientific study of language by systematically exploring similarities and differences across human languages. Using actual data from real languages, students will learn basic methodologies of analysis and important results from subfields of linguistics including phonetics (possible human speech sounds), phonology (language-specific systemic organization of speech sounds), morphology (word-formation processes), syntax (sentence structures), semantics (meaning), language change, and sociolinguistics. Additional topics may include sign languages, language acquisition, and/or animal communication.
This course is appropriate for new students.
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ANTH 203 - Introduction to Archaeology FC SSCI CD QFR
4 credits
An introduction to the subfield of anthropology concerned with past human cultures. A basic objective is to acquaint students with both the methods and techniques that archeologists employ in the study and reconstruction of prehistoric societies. Examples will be drawn from a variety of archeological situations ranging from simple hunting and gathering societies to complex chiefdoms and states. Matters of contemporary debate in the area of archeology and the public will also be considered.
This course is appropriate for new students.
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ANTH 204 - Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course is an introduction to the subfield of linguistic anthropology. Topics include surveys of theories of language and culture and theories of linguistic diversity (including contributions of such seminal figures as Boas, Sapir, and Whorf), ethnographic methods (including conceptions of speech communities, practices of observing, interviewing, and recording, and discussion of ethics), methods of transcription, and contemporary approaches to understanding language and meaning and language as social action.
Prerequisites & Notes: The course is intended as a prerequisite for more advanced courses in Linguistic Anthropology and in related areas. No prior coursework in language and culture is required.
This course is appropriate for new students.
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ANTH 210 - Indigenous Peoples of Latin America FC SSCI CD
4 credits
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to modern historical, ethnohistorical and anthropological approaches to the indigenous populations of Latin America. The course will focus on the ongoing process of conflict and accommodation that has characterized the relationship between the native peoples of the New World and those of the Old World. We will study indigenous social movements dealing with issues such as land claims, natural resources, economic development, cultural recognition and human rights
Prerequisites & Notes: ANTH 101. This course may also count for the major in HISP, LATS.
Sustainability
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ANTH 211 - Learning with Indigenous Material Culture FC SSCI CD
4 credits
Oberlin College is home to a small but important collection of 19th century cultural objects made by indigenous peoples across Arctic North America. The collection was originally obtained by Smithsonian naturalists, but today provides an avenue for both indigenous knowledge repatriation and object-centered learning within a liberal arts context. This course combines hands-on study of the Arctic Collection with consultation with an indigenous knowledge bearer. Themes to be explored along the way include co-curation, indigenous ‘maker movements’ and knowledge repatriation, physical repatriation and the law, and digital approaches to democratizing access to physical collections.Required course for Reimagining Maker Culture(s): from fabrication to curation: StudiOC learning community.
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ANTH 212 - Ecological Perspectives on Small-Scale Societies FC SSCI CD
4 credits
Popular conceptions regard forager societies as primitive and naive or as prescient conservationists. In this course we will use an ecological framework to explore diversity in forager cultures, and the complex relationships that exist between small-scale societies and their environments. We will also consider the relevance of contemporary foragers to the study of the prehistoric past, and the futures of these groups as they are increasingly drawn into the global economic market.
Sustainability
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ANTH 217 - Music and the Environment in Northeast Asia FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course introduces students to a survey of musical practices connected to the environment across Mongolia, Japan, Northern China, Korea, and eastern Siberia. The goals of this course are to give students a broad knowledge of musical cultures in the region as well as an understanding of the ways people engage with the environment musically. We will take a multi-media approach, combining relevant literature with critical listening examples.
Prerequisites & Notes: Cross referenced with EAS and ENVS
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ANTH 227 - Medical Anthropology FC SSCI CD WINT
4 credits
This course will cultivate an anthropological understanding of the intersections between disease, health, society, the body, culture, and global political economy. Drawing on accounts from across the globe, our topics will include: comparative study of health systems; cross-cultural definitions and understandings of disease, illness, and health; bodies, medicine, and the media; maladies from chronic pain to AIDS to cholera; topics in disability studies and fat studies; health, ethics, and morality; health inequalities; and global health.
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ANTH 231 - Environmental Anthropology FC SSCI CD WINT
4 credits
This course focuses on environmental anthropology, a concentration of cultural anthropology. Topics include the entanglement of Nature and Culture, histories of colonialism and environmental racism, spiritual ecology, social aspects of climate change, human/non-human kinship, and global ecological futures. Students will also gain training in the application of anthropology frameworks to contemporary environmental issues, ethnographic methods, and social science writing.
Prerequisites & Notes: Prerequisites: Preferred but not required ANTH 101-Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Sustainability
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ANTH 241 - Digital Worlds: Anthropology of the Internet FC SSCI CD
4 credits
The ubiquity of computer networks and digital technologies has transformed the way that human beings interact. In this class, we will survey the various ways in which Anthropologists have studied human behavior on the internet using ethnographic and qualitative research methods. We will survey a variety of topics ranging from the “everyday life” of the internet (virality, gaming, dating, and commerce) to more contentious matters (misinformation, security, privacy, and addiction). We will also study the ways in which Anthropology and Qualitative Methods are used in “tech,” such as in the areas of UX Research and Trust and Safety Policy.
This course is appropriate for new students.
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ANTH 257 - Graphic Anthropology FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course explores past contributions of and future possibilities for sketching and drawing as anthropological methods. How can sketches complement field notes? How might graphic ethnographies complement scholarly books and articles? How do anthropologists across the ‘four-fields’ engage graphic methods in different ways? What ethical issues might accompany the increasing use of graphic methods? While students do not need any special background in or skill with drawing, participation in this course will involve active experimentation with graphic means of observing, participating in, and analyzing interactions, and of circulating anthropological insights. Either this course or CRWR 255: Graphic Narrative required for the ‘Graphic Accounts: Telling Through Pictures’ learning community.
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ANTH 263 - Metaphors of blood: Cultural constructions of Race, Kinship, and Genetics FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course will introduce students to anthropological approaches to the ways in which people conceive of their relatedness to one another historically and cross-culturally. Although in the West we often think of biological relationships as objective and self-evident, people in all places (including the West) imbue these relationships with meanings that are drawn in broader cultural and religious contexts. For example, it is common to talk about family relationships using the metaphor of blood. The recent advancements of genetic science do not replace pre-existing notions of relatedness but rather they are both embedded in them and interact with them in emergent ways. “This course is part of the “It’s in our DNA”: The Power, Promise and Perils of Genetic Technology StudioOC learning community.”
Does this course require off campus field trips? Yes
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ANTH 263OC - Metaphors of blood: Cultural constructions of Race, Kinship, and Genetics FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course will introduce students to anthropological approaches to the ways in which people conceive of their relatedness to one another historically and cross-culturally. Although in the West we often think of biological relationships as objective and self-evident, people in all places (including the West) imbue these relationships with meanings that are drawn in broader cultural and religious contexts. For example, it is common to talk about family relationships using the metaphor of blood. The recent advancements of genetic science do not replace pre-existing notions of relatedness but rather they are both embedded in them and interact with them in emergent ways. “This course is part of the “It’s in our DNA”: The Power, Promise and Perils of Genetic Technology StudioOC learning community.”
Does this course require off campus field trips? Yes
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ANTH 270 - Anthropology of Religion FC SSCI CD
4 credits
This course covers current approaches to topics in the anthropology of religion. This includes: myth, ritual, practice and belief, sacrifice, ideology, phenomenology and ethics. Students will be introduced to key concepts that inform contemporary understandings of religion as shaping public life, personal experience, and understandings of history. Finally, students will be asked to take a critical eye to the category of “religion” itself and its role in anthropological analysis. Other topics include: Religion and secularism; shamanism; witchcraft, magic and sorcery; “world” religions; animism and human/nonhuman relations; the supernatural; science and rationality; lifeworlds and the ontological turn; and ways of knowing.
Prerequisites & Notes: ANTH 101 preferred but not required
Does this course require off campus field trips? Yes
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ANTH 278 - Human Rights, Universalism and Cultural Relativism FC SSCI CD WINT
4 credits
Through an examination of the ways in which people in different societies identify and define ethical and social standards, this course will examine the concept of universal human rights. This course will consider the tension between universal claims and cultural relativism. We will also document and analyze the development of international efforts to apply universal rights.
Prerequisites & Notes: This course may also count for the major in (consult the program or department major requirements): LATS.
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