Courses Archive

123. Social and Political Thought in the Diaspora. (3) Three hours of lecture per week. An examination of social and political thought of Africans traveling across the Diaspora, with particular focus on the 19th and 20th centuries.

4B. Africa: History and Culture. (4) Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Emphasis on social, political, and economic change in 20th century Africa; with further emphasis upon the roles of modernization, urbanization, and the emergence of contemporary African states.

5A. African American Life and Culture in the United States. (4) Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. A study of the genesis, development, and scope of African American culture, approached through an examination of selected art forms, historical themes, and intellectual currents.

131. Caribbean Societies and Cultures. (3) Three hours of lecture per week. Comparative study of Spanish, Dutch, English, and French-speaking Caribbean societies. Analysis of Caribbean social structure including the development of the plantation system, urban dynamics, ethnic politics, family structures, and ecology of African Caribbean religions.

7B. Elementary Wolof. (4) Four hours of recitation and one hour of laboratory per week. Prerequisites: C7A. Formerly C7B/Linguistics C7B. This course introduces students to speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Wolof. Instruction is mixed English and Wolof. Emphasis is placed on developing student ability to create and to communicate with basic Wolof structures and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context. Speaking and listening abilities are developed through oral exercises, class discussions, and recordings available from the Berkeley Language Center. Reading and writing are developed through in-class exercises, independent reading projects, and compositions. For students with no college level Wolof completed with passing grade; this course is not open to native heritage speakers of Wolof.

138. Black Nationalism. (4) Four hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: 5B. Examines the concept of black nationalism and its historical and intellectual development. Special attention will be given to the role of African American religion and the attempt to develop black socialism.

8B. Intermediate Wolof. (4) Four hours of recitation and one hour of laboratory per week. Prerequisites: C8A. Formerly C8B/Linguistics C8B. This course reviews and expands students' knowledge of fundamental structures from Elementary Wolof, and appropriate cultural contexts of these structures in oral and written communication. More grammar and vocabulary in a culturally and socially appropriate context is developed. Speaking ability is expanded through oral exercises, individual reports, class discussions, and recordings available at the Berkeley Language Center. Writing and reading are expanded through compositions, written exercises, and independent reading projects with texts available through Berkeley's African Library Collection and supplemented by the instructor's materials.

152F. Neo-Slave Narratives. (3) Three hours of lecture per week. This course explores African American fiction written during the 1970s and 1980s that attempt to re-present the ur-text of African American literature--and/or to represent for contemporary readers the lives of African slaves in the United States. In what ways do these authors imagine the experience and effects of slavery from their vantage point a century after emancipation, and with the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements shaping the context of their writing?

Course may be repeated for credit. Individual conferences. Must be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisites: 201A-201B. Individual study, in consultation with group faculty, to prepare students for the doctoral oral examinations. A student will be permitted to accumulate a maximum of 8 units toward examination preparation. Units earned in this course may not be used to meet academic residence or unit requirements for the master's or doctoral degree.