Listed in: Black Studies, as BLST-111
Formerly listed as: BLST-11
Khary O. Polk (Section 01)
[R] This interdisciplinary introduction to Black Studies combines the teaching of foundational texts in the field with instruction in reading and writing. The first half of the course employs How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren as a guide to the careful reading of books focusing on the slave trade and its effects in Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States. Important readings in this part of the course include Black Odyssey by Nathan Huggins, Racism: A Short History by George Frederickson, and The Black Jacobins by C. L. R. James. The second half of the course addresses important themes from the turn of the twentieth century to the present. Beginning with The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois, it proceeds through a range of seminal texts, including The Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon and The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. This part of the course utilizes Revising Prose by Richard Lanham to extend the lesson in reading from the first half of the semester into an exploration of precision and style in writing. Computer exercises based on Revising Prose and three short essays--one on a single book, another comparing two books, and the last on a major theme in the course--provide the main opportunity to apply and reinforce skills in reading and writing learned throughout the semester. After taking this course, students at all levels of preparation should emerge not only with a good foundation for advancement in Black Studies but also with a useful set of guidelines for further achievement in the humanities and the social sciences.
Each section limited to 20 students. Fall semester: Professor de Moral. Spring semester: Professor Polk.
If Overenrolled: Preference given to majors and first year students
Section 01
Tu 11:30 AM - 12:50 PM COOP 101
Th 11:30 AM - 12:50 PM COOP 101
This is preliminary information about books for this course. Please contact your instructor or the Academic Coordinator for the department, before attempting to purchase these books.
ISBN | Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Comment | Book Store | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
How to Read a Book | Simon and Schuster, 1972 | Mortimer J. Adler and Charles van Doren | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
Revising Prose | Pearson Longman, 2007 | Richard A. Lanham | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
Black Odyssey: the African-American Ordeal in Slavery | Vintage Books, 1990 | Nathan Irvin Huggins | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
Racism: A Short History | Princeton University Press, 2002 | George M. Frederickson | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800 | Cambridge University Press, 1998 | John Thornton | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
The Black Jacobins | Vintage Books, 1989, 1963 | C.L.R. James | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
The Wretched of the Earth | Grove Press, 1963 | Frantz Fanon | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities | Russell Sage Foundation 2001 | Mary C. Waters | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
Middle passages: African American journeys to Africa, 1787-2005 | Penguin Books, 2007 | James T. Campbell and David Levering Lewis | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
The souls of Black folk | Bedford Books, 1997 | W.E.B. Du Bois | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
The Fire Next Time | Vintage International, 1993 | James Baldwin | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
Kindred | Beacon Press | Octavia Butler | Amherst Books | TBD |
These books are available locally at Amherst Books.