Listed in: Black Studies, as BLST-201 | History, as HIST-267
Mary E. Hicks (Section 01)
(Offered as BLST 201 [D] and HIST 267 [LAp/AFp].) The formation of "the Black Atlantic" or "the African Diaspora" began with the earliest moments of European explorations of the West African coast in the fifteenth century and ended with the abolition of Brazilian slavery in 1888. This momentous historical event irrevocably reshaped the modern world. This class will trace the history of this transformation at two levels; first, we examine large scale historical processes including the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the development of plantation economies, and the birth of liberal democracy. With these sweeping stories as our backdrop, we will also explore the lives of individual Africans and African-Americans, the communities they built, and the cultures they created. We will consider the diversity of the Black Atlantic by examining the lives of a broad array of individuals, including black intellectuals, statesmen, soldiers, religious leaders, healers and rebels. Furthermore, we will pay special attention to trans-Atlantic historical formations common during this period, especially the contributions of Africans and their descendants to Atlantic cultures, societies, and ideas, ultimately understanding enslaved people as creative (rather than reactive) agents of history. So, our questions will be: What is the Black Atlantic? How can we understand both the commonalities and diversity of the experiences of Africans in the Diaspora? What kinds of communities, affinities and identities did Africans create after being uprooted by the slave trade? What methods do scholars use to understand this history? And finally, what is the modern legacy of the Black Atlantic? Class time will be divided between lecture, small and large group discussion.
Fall semester. Professor Hicks.
Section 01
Tu 11:30 AM - 12:50 PM NEWP 100
Th 11:30 AM - 12:50 PM NEWP 100
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landlords and Strangers: Ecology, Society and Tade in Western Africa, 1000-1630 | Westview Press, 1994 | Brooks, George E. | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution | The Belknap Press, 2005 | DuBois, Laurent | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself | Simon & Brown, 2015 | Equiano, Olaudah | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Caetana Says No: Women's Stories from a Brazilian Slave Society | Cambridge University Press, 2002 | Graham, Sandra Lauderdale | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean | Oxford University Press, 2007 | Klein, Herbert S. and Vinson, Ben III | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| The Kongolese Saint Anthony: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement | Cambridge University Press, 1998 | Thornton, John | Amherst Books | TBD |
These books are available locally at Amherst Books.