Courses

This course will examine the origins of the African slave trade, and explore political, economic, demographic and cultural factors shaping African American life and culture prior to 1865.

People of mixed racial origins are one of the fastest growing populations in California and across the United States. This course provides an overview of their contemporary circumstances and describes some sources and methods available for studying these populations (including those of mixed Asian, Black, Chicano, Native American or white ancestry). We will review some of the main themes in writings about people of mixed racial origins; and we will examine various sources for identifying mixed race populations, including census, biographies, literature and films. This course will equip students with basic research skills that can be utilized for other projects in African American Studies, Ethnic Studies, History, Sociology, Anthropology and Cultural Studies. This seminar is designed for freshman students interested in thinking about people of mixed race origins in the United States.

We will closely read seven of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison's novels, as well as a short story and some of her essays, considering the works in relation to: her interest in creating what she calls "village literature" and in writing literature that does "trope work" that intervenes in American representations of blackness and racial identity; her contributions to the renaissance of black women's writing (and African American literature in general) in the 1980s and 1990s.

This course assesses the role of information technology in the digitalization of society by focusing on the deployment of e-government, e-commerce, e-learning, the digital city, telecommuting, virtual communities, internet time, the virtual office, and the geography of cyber space. The course will also discuss the role of information technology in the governance and economic development of society.

Emphasis on social history and comparative analysis of race, class, and gender relations in American society. Examines both similarities and differences, and highlights gender politics.

Supervised field work in off-campus organizations. Regular individual meetings with faculty sponsor and written reports required. Independent study form available in department office.

Individual study or research program to be worked out with sponsoring faculty before approval by department chair. Regular meetings arranged with faculty sponsor.

This course will acquaint new students, specifically freshman and transfer students, with the understanding of the intellectual and academic university experience. The course develops critical inquiry and creative assessment skills through analyses of text, film and writing assignments at the university level. The goals of the course: to introduce newly admitted and returning Blacks/African Americans to venues designed to encourage their achievement; introduce incoming freshman to critical and creative thinking through analytical skill development; to link students with key faculty, staff and students who may serve as an academic support network; and to provide history and context with respect to the experiential. Course open to everyone.

Berkeley Connect is a mentoring program, offered through various academic departments, that helps students build intellectual community. Over the course of a semester, enrolled students participate in regular small-group discussions facilitated by a graduate student mentor (following a faculty-directed curriculum), meet with their graduate student mentor for one-on-one academic advising, attend lectures and panel discussions featuring department faculty and alumni, and go on field trips to campus resources. Students are not required to be declared majors in order to participate.

Berkeley Connect is a mentoring program, offered through various academic departments, that helps students build intellectual community. Over the course of a semester, enrolled students participate in regular small-group discussions facilitated by a graduate student mentor (following a faculty-directed curriculum), meet with their graduate student mentor for one-on-one academic advising, attend lectures and panel discussions featuring department faculty and alumni, and go on field trips to campus resources. Students are not required to be declared majors in order to participate.