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Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

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  • CAS AA 103: Introduction to African American Literature
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent) - What is the African American literary tradition? In this coursewe will read poetryslave narrativesessaysspeechestalesshort storiesand novels and consider how culturepoliticsand history shape African American literature. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic ExplorationGlobal Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. Effective Fall 2019this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic ExplorationGlobal Citizenship and Intercultural LiteracyCritical Thinking. Effective Fall 2022this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive CourseGlobal Citizenship and Intercultural LiteracyCritical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AA 112: Black Power in the Classroom: The History of Black Studies
    Centers Black experiencesculturesknowledge production and identity formation in the United States and in the African Diaspora across time and space. Examines and traces the genealogies of Black Studies as a discipline: its politicalideologicaland practical foundations on college campuses and in communities. Also explores earlier traditions and contemporary work in Black radical thought and activism that lay the groundwork for and build on the founding principles of Black Studies by mobilizing an intersectional and diasporic lens. Effective Fall 2020this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical ConsciousnessSocial Inquiry IResearch and Information Literacy.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AA 114: Kongo to Cuba: ArtExchangeand Self-Determination in Africa and Latin America
    This course introduces the arts of Africa and Latin America. It explores the rich diversity of each continent's artistic production and highlights the impact of their intertwining histories on visual expression in the wake of transcontinental exchange and globalization. Effective Fall 2022this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural LiteracyAesthetic ExplorationCritical Thinking.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Critical Thinking
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS AA 132: Write Back Soon: Blackness and the Prison
    This course interrogates the theme of black containment from slavery and Jim Crow toprincipallymass incarceration. Students explore the topic alongside the development of open letter writing skills. This form explores the persuasive impact of personal relationships and the politics of public vulnerabilities. Readings include letters to and from prisondocumentariespoetryshort storiesanthologiesmemoirscomicsvisual artand critical interventions. We also look at contemporary projects organizing for abolition and prisoner support. Effective Fall 2021this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in CommunityAesthetic ExplorationCritical Thinking.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Critical Thinking
    • The Individual in Community
  • CAS AA 207: Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
    Examines the fundamental theoretical and empirical approaches regarding race/ethnicity and the current state of race relations in the U.S. that explore both contemporary social problems. Effective Fall 2019this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical ConsciousnessThe Individual in CommunityResearch and Information Literacy.
    • Historical Consciousness
    • The Individual in Community
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS AA 215: Arts of Africa and Its Diaspora
    Exploration of a diversity of visual and performing arts from Africaincluding royal regaliamasqueradesand contemporary painting. Examines how the dispersal of Africansdue to the transatlantic slave trade and immigrationcontributed to the cultural richness of the Americas. Effective Fall 2019this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic ExplorationGlobal Citizenship and Intercultural LiteracyCritical Thinking.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Critical Thinking
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS AA 221: Catastrophe and Memory
    Examines the ways in which catastrophesboth natural and socialenter into cultural memory. Goal is to understand how events that seem to defy comprehension are represented in works of art and given a place in the memory of a culture. Effective Spring 2025this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic ExplorationHistorical ConsciousnessResearch and Information Literacy.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS AA 225: Topics in Religion and Music
    May be repeated for credit as topics change. Topic for Fall 2019: Religion and Hip Hop Culture. Considers an often overlooked element in the study of hip hop culturereligion. Specificallythe course offers students the opportunity to examine the variety of ways that religion finds expression in the dynamic cultural medium of hip hop.
  • CAS AA 234: African Americans in Global Perspective: Slavery and the Creation of Race
    A study of how chattel slavery in the Americas led to racialization as a primary tool in the creation of American society and New World capitalism. Effective Fall 2020this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical ReasoningGlobal Citizenship and Intercultural LiteracyCritical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS AA 237: Reconstructing the African Past
    Explores the richness and diversity of a continent where oral histories and environmental settings have shaped society as much as written records. Considers Africa's critical place in the world from ancient Egypt and Ghana to the Asante and Ethiopian empires. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Spring 2024this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural LiteracyHistorical Consciousness.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS AA 238: Modern Africa
    Provides an introduction to African history over the past 175 yearsincluding the end of slaverycolonial rule and anti-colonial revoltdecolonization and nationalismand the opportunities and challenges of life in postcolonial Africa. Effective Spring 2025this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural LiteracySocial Inquiry I.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AA 287: Slavery and the In-Between
    Examines the space between freedom and enslavement known as recaptivity. Course discussions focus on conceptions of freedom and their relationship to recaptive status. Reviews recaptivity contexts in both the historical and archaeological record. Also examines the theme of return. Effective Fall 2024 fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Critical ThinkingDigital/Multimedia ExpressionHistorical Consciousness.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS AA 294: Religion and Black Popular Music
    Students explore the interplay of religious themes and Black music through social and political theory. They analyze how these themes shape behavior and examine the cultural significance of notable worksfostering a deeper understanding of cultural influences and artistic expression. Effective Spring 2025this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic ExplorationSocial Inquiry I.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AA 296: Religion and Hip Hop
    Uses digital media studies to explore diverse religious expressions in hip hop culture. Through critical readingcommunity field tripsand hands-on technology usagestudents consider an often overlooked element in the study of hip hop culture: religion. Effective Fall 2020this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia ExpressionAesthetic ExplorationCreativity/Innovation.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • CAS AA 297: African American Women's History
    Survey of African American women's history from the slave trade to the presentinvestigating its critical role in shaping the meaning of racegenderand sexuality during slaveryJim Crowand the civil rights era. Also offered as CAS HI 297 and CAS WS 297. Effective Fall 2024this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia ExpressionHistorical ConsciousnessSocial Inquiry I.
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS AA 301: African Diaspora Archaeology
    Introduction to the archaeology of the African diasporathe global displacement of African people and their descendants. Reviews findingsmethodologyand theory around key burial contexts. Emphasis on shifting dialoguessuch as human remains stewardshipcommunity engagementand reburial. Effective Spring 2025this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas Critical ThinkingEthical ReasoningGlobal Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • CAS AA 304: Introduction to African American Women Writers
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (ex. WR 120) - This course studies the cultural contexts and the ongoing relevance of significant works by African American Women Writers. Works by JacobsButlerHarperHurstonBrooksKincaidMorrison and Marshall complemented by critical articles lay out this rich tradition. Effective Fall 2018this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic ExplorationGlobal Citizenship and Intercultural LiteracyCritical Thinking. Effective Fall 2022this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive CourseGlobal Citizenship and Intercultural LiteracyCritical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AA 305: Toni Morrison's American Times
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: one previous literature course or junior or senior standing. First-Yea r Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent). - Using historical and literary sources to make visible the interactions between the world of the novel and that of American historythe course examines how Morrison's Song of SolomonBelovedJazzand Love depict crucial times in American history. Effective Fall 2019this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic ExplorationGlobal Citizenship and Intercultural LiteracyCritical Thinking. Effective Fall 2022this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive CourseGlobal Citizenship and Intercultural LiteracyCritical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS AA 308: Race and Politics
    Combining research from historypolitical sciencesociologyand economicsthis course examines the role of race and ethnicity in shaping American politics and policy. Effective Fall 2019this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry IIEthical ReasoningCritical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Social Inquiry II
  • CAS AA 311: African American Religious History
    This course offers a historical survey of religions practiced by people of African descent living in North America. Students explore the diverse terrain of African American religiositywhich includes ChristianityJudaismIslamSpiritualismand African-derived religions.

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