Courses

In this course, we will read books by acclaimed African American poets who h­ave won Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, and commendations from the Library of Congress. We will also examine book reviews, articles, and interviews that illuminate popular and critical responses to these authors and their work. The course is designed to teach students how different poems function—through close reading, and careful attention to poems’ formal properties. Hard work is required; love of the genre and confidence in one’s ability to understand it is not (as the former U.S. Poet Laureate, Natasha Trethewey, admitted recently in an interview “growing up, I didn't think I could understand poetry, I didn't think that it had any relevance to my life”).

This course is designed to give students four vantage points on contemporary spoken word: 1) as a diverse, layered, and multicultural young adult arts movement 2) as an art form with African American roots, including Black church, Black power and hip hop traditions 3) as an opportunity to practice using spoken word as a tool for social commentary and to communicate personal experience, and 4) as an opportunity to utilize the process of creativity for self-exploration and community building.

The focus of this course is on the writing of poetry, and students undertake an intensive study of both the techniques of poetry and the social and cultural context of specific poetic traditions. Students must "imitate" the poems they study, write critical papers comparing poetic traditions, and complete an original manuscript of new poems. In addition, they must produce an on-campus poetry reading and are required to teach for five to seven weeks at one of the assigned Poetry for the People venues. This course satisfies the Arts and Literature breadth requirement.

Examination of theoretical issues in urban anthropology and sociology pertaining to the United States as a multicultural society. Comparative analysis of the ecology and social structure of African American, Native American, Asian American, Mexican American and Afro-Caribbean urban communities with special emphasis on social class, ethnicity, and culture.

An examination of social and political thought of Africans traveling across the Diaspora, with particular focus on the 19th and 20th centuries.

This course introduces students to the basics of speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Swahili. Instruction is mixed English and Swahili. Emphasis is placed on developing student ability to create and to communicate with basic structures and vocabulary in culturally and socially appropriate context. Speaking and listening abilities are developed through oral exercises, class discussions, and recordings available from Berkeley Language Center. Reading and writing are developed through in-class exercises, independent reading projects, and compositions. This course not open to native or heritage speakers of Swahili.

This course reviews and expands students' knowledge of fundamental structures from Elementary Swahili 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 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 instructor's materials.

Continued training in expository and argumentative writing, with more emphasis on literary interpretation. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement.

Continued training in expository and argumentative writing, with more emphasis on literary interpretation. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement.