Fall 2020 Undergraduate Course

TuTh 12:30-1:45pm -- Minor Hall 125

This introductory course surveys the histories of people of African descent in Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean from approximately the Middle Ages to the 1880s. Emphases include the Atlantic slave trade and its complex relationship to Africa; the economic systems, cultures, and communities of Africans and African-Americans in the New World, in slavery and in freedom; the rise of anti-slavery movements; and the socio-economic systems that replaced slavery in the late 19th century.

Fulfills: 1010

Professor Lisa Shutt
Tu 3:30-6:00pm -- New Cabell Hall 032

This course, taught as a lower-level seminar, will address the role the media has played in creating images and understandings of 'Blackness' in the United States, particularly where it converges with popular ideologies about gender.

Fulfills: Race and Politics in the US; Humanities

Professor Lisa Shutt
We 2:00-4:30 -- New Cabell Hall 315

This course, taught as a lower-level seminar, will address the role the media has played in creating images and understandings of 'Blackness' in the United States, particularly where it converges with popular ideologies about gender.

Fulfills: Race and Politics in the US; Humanities

Professor Sabrina Pendergrass
TuTh 9:30-10:45am  -- New Cabell Hall 068

In this course, we will examine the social organization of African American communities. Some of the intellectual framing for the issues we will study come from writings by the pioneering sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois. We will discuss African Americans’ social status and experiences at the intersections of class, color, gender, and sexuality. We also will study institutions within the community, and we will consider social issues that African Americans will face in the future.

Professor Robert Vinson
TuTh 11:00am-12:15pm -- New Cabell Hall 032

The 20th century was marked by European colonialism in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, as well as Jim Crow segregationist regimes in the US.  Tracing the transnational flows of people, cultures, institutions and ideologies across the black world, this course includes discussion of the Pan-Africanism of W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey, internationalist black women like Claudia Jones and Eslanda Robeson, African, Asian and Caribbean decolonization movements, the centrality of women and gender in the US Civil Rights and Black Power eras, and the global solidarities that ended South African apartheid. In doing so, this course illuminates global visions of black self-determination and transnational solidarities among people of color that continue to inform contemporary movements for political, socio-economic and social justice.  

Fulfills: Africa Course Requirement

Professor Tony Perry
TuTh 9:30-10:45am -- Web-Based Course

Although Black Americans account for only 13% of the U.S. population, they make up roughly 25% of those who have died from Covid-19. This statistic is only the latest in the long history of racialized disparities in American public health. This course is dedicated to examining the social, institutional, and environmental determinants of health and illness in the U. S. We will also consider the relationship between race and disease in Africa, the Caribbean, and across the Black diaspora. We will give particular attention to the factors producing the racial fault lines and inequalities the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed, placing them in long historical context. As an interdisciplinary course, this class will also feature guest lecturers from a variety of disciplines, schools, and institutions. Together they will help us understand, not only the historic relationship between race and disease, but also the specific impact of Covid-19 on black life and health worldwide.

Professor Njelle Hamilton
Tu 3:30-6:00pm -- The Rotunda Room 150
(ENGL 2599)

When most people think of reggae music, they think of lazing out on a Caribbean beach with a marijuana spliff and nodding to the music of Bob Marley. But what is the history of the music of which Marley is the most visible ambassador? How did the music of a small Caribbean island become a worldwide phenomenon, with the song “One Love” and the album Exodus named among the top songs and albums of the 20th century? This course traces the history of reggae music and its influence on Jamaican literature. Framed by readings on Jamaican history, Marcus Garvey’s teachings, and Rastafari philosophy, at the heart of the course is an intensive study of Marley’s lyrics and the literary devices, musical structures, and social contexts of reggae. Armed with these tools, we will apply the ‘reggae aesthetic’ to Jamaican poetry, fiction and film, including The Harder They Come and the Booker Prize novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings. Assignments such as album reviews, ‘diss’ tracks, and critical essays will allow you to engage topical and controversial issues such as: misogyny and homophobia in reggae and dancehall; the place of religion and spirituality (and yes, marijuana) in reggae; reggae’s critique of oppression and racial injustice; cultural appropriation and the global marketplace; and the connections between reggae, dancehall, hip-hop, EDM, and reggaetón.

Fulfills: Humanities

Professor Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton
TuTh 12:30-1:45pm -- New Cabell Hall 411

This course examines women's religious activities, traditions and spirituality in a number of different African contexts. Drawing on ethnographic, historical, literary, and religious studies scholarship, we will explore a variety of themes and debates that have emerged in the study of gender and religion in Africa. Topics will include gendered images of sacred power; the construction of gender through ritual; sexuality and fertility; and women.

Fulfills: Africa; Humanities

Professor Talitha LeFlouria
We 3:30-6:00pm -- New Cabell Hall 111

Fulfills: Race and Politics in the US; Social Science or History

Professor Talitha LeFlouria
Th 3:30-6:00pm -- New Cabell Hall 111

Fulfills: Race and Politics in the US; Social Science or History

Professor Tony Perry
TuTh 9:30-10:45am -- New Cabell Hall 315

Fulfills: Social Science or History

From the period of enslavement onwards, black people have had a unique relationship to the environment. Despite there existing a rich written and artistic record of black people in North America engaging the environment, these perspectives have been largely under-explored in contemporary studies of American environmental thought. Thus, drawing on a range of sources including slave narratives, oral history, music, fiction, film, poetry, and visual art, this class will explore black perspectives on the environment across American history to the present. In doing so, we will study how black people's relationship to the environment has changed over time and how this relationship might inform contemporary environmental problems concerning and beyond matters of justice.

Professor Ashon Crawley
Mo 3:30-6:00pm -- Gibson Hall 141

Fulfills: Humanities

Professor Ashon Crawley
We 3:30-6:00pm -- New Cabell 187

Fulfills: Humanities

Professor Kimberly Fields
We 3:30-6:00pm -- New Cabell Hall 027

This course explores the relationships between 'race', socio-economic status, interest group politics and environmental policy. We will address and contend with debates surrounding the claims that racialized and poor communities disproportionately shoulder society's negative environmental burdens.  Particular regard will be paid to the political and decision-making processes through which environmental issues are channeled, evaluated and  addressed. Through selected case studies, we will examine a number of topics and questions. Some key topics to be considered include: theories of racism and justice, the conceptual history and definitions of environmental racism, the historical development and goals of the environmental justice movement, the social, political, economic and environmental advantages and drawbacks of current systems of production and consumption, stakeholder responses to environmental inequities, the impact of environmental justice policies on environmental inequities as well as their impact on subsequent political behavior, pollution in developing nations and, indigenous peoples.  Additionally, the possible causes for patterns of injustice will be examined. Recent proposals to address the problem of environmental racism and injustice will be discussed and analyzed.

Fulfills: Social Science or History; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Kimberly Fields
We 6:30-9:00pm -- New Cabell 107

Fulfills: Social Science or History; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Kevin Gaines

TuTh 11:00am -12:15pm

Professor Lisa Shutt
Th 2:00-4:30pm -- Dell 2 101

Fulfills: Africa; Humanities

Professor Sabrina Pendergrass
Th 2:00-3:15pm -- New Cabell Hall 207

Fulfills: Social Science or History; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Andrew Kahrl
MoWe 10:00-10:50am -- Minor Hall 125

Fulfills: Social Science or History; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Kevin Gaines
MoWe 2:00-3:15pm -- New Cabell Hall 036

Fulfills: 4000-level seminar

Professor Marlene Daut
Tu 2:00-4:30

The Caribbean is often located in the popular imaginary as a tropical paradise of palm trees replete with resorts designed for tourist consumption. Modern Caribbean Studies helps to refocus understandings of the West Indies beyond this stereotype by highlighting it as a place with myriad and complex histories, cultures, and forms of thinking. The Caribbean, for example, is comprised of a distinctly heterogeneous population, which is the result of contact between Europeans, indigenous Americans, Africans, and Asians. Colonialism, slavery, indentured servitude, and other forms of forced migration and unfree labor were largely responsible for producing the diverse societies we continue to see in the greater Caribbean region today. This introductory course on Caribbean Studies will comparatively situate the geographical and sociocultural aspects of the Caribbean beginning with an overview of the region’s history. The course encourages students to understand the modern Caribbean through a variety of topics, such as gender and sexuality; migration and diaspora; the legacies of slavery and colonialism; globalization and inequality; race and racism; and tourism. The course will also introduces a variety of artistic, intellectual, and religious traditions found in the Caribbean today, including the musical styles of calypso, konpa, zouk, reggae, merengue, and salsa. Literature, film, philosophy, social movements, and politics may also be primary features of the course

Professor Anne Rotich
MoWeFr 10:00-10:50am -- Brooks Hall 103

Swahili is the most widely-spoken language in eastern Africa.  SWAH 1010 provides a foundation for listening, speaking and writing basic Swahili grammatical structures and vocabulary. By the end of this course you will be able to construct simple Swahili sentences, identify with various cultural aspects and customs of Swahili speakers, and have a basic level of oral proficiency. We will have fun learning the language as we engage in dialogues, group activities and perform some cultural skits.

Professor Anne Rotich
MoWeFr 11:00-11:50am -- Brooks Hall 103

Swahili is the most widely-spoken language in eastern Africa.  SWAH 1010 provides a foundation for listening, speaking and writing basic Swahili grammatical structures and vocabulary. By the end of this course you will be able to construct simple Swahili sentences, identify with various cultural aspects and customs of Swahili speakers, and have a basic level of oral proficiency. We will have fun learning the language as we engage in dialogues, group activities and perform some cultural skits.

Professor Anne Rotich
MoWeFr 12:00-12:50pm -- Brooks Hall 103

This second year Swahili course is intended to equip you with more language skills in speaking, reading, writing, listening and cultures. It’s an opportunity for you to enhance your language skills. At the end of this course you will have increased your Swahili vocabulary, speak Swahili with more ease and less errors, understand and interact with Swahili speakers. You will be able to write and analyze texts and essays in Swahili on different topics and appreciate more the cultures of the Swahili people. You will also be able to express yourself, your everyday activities, discuss politics or current events in Swahili. To achieve this we will utilize multi-media resources, the internet, literary texts, magazines, and news broadcast stations to enhance your learning.

Professor Kirt von Daacke

MoWe 2:00-3:15pm

This course examines the history of slavery and its legacy at UVA and in the central Virginia region. The course aims to recover the experiences of enslaved individuals and their roles in building and maintaining the university, and to contextualize those experiences within Southern history.

Fulfills: Social Science or History; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Theresa Davis

TuTh 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Presents a comprehensive study of 'Black Theatre' as the African-American contribution to the theatre. Explores the historical, cultural, and socio-political underpinnings of this theatre as an artistic form in American and world culture. Students gain a broader understanding of the relationship and contributions of this theatre to theatre arts, business, education, lore, and humanity. A practical theatrical experience is a part of the course offering. Prerequisite: Instructor permission

Fulfills: Humanities

Professor Lisa Woolfork

TuTh 8:00am - 9:15am

Topics in African-American writing in the US from its beginning in vernacular culture to the present day; topics vary from year to year. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/courses.

Fulfills: Humanities

Professor K. Ian Grandison + Marlon Ross

TuTh 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Fulfills: Humanities; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Tamika Carey

TuTh 2:00pm - 3:15pm

This course examines the distinct communication and argumentative strategies African Americans have created and modified in pursuit of full humanity since the enslavement era as a specific rhetorical tradition. Students will learn rhetorical theory from such scholars as Geneva Smitherman, Molefi Asante, Keith Gilyard, Elaine Richardson, Jacqueline Jones Royster, Adam Banks, and more and they will use these frameworks to investigate and assess the techniques within speeches, essays, book-length primary sources, and critical works by such figures as David Walker, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Carter G. Woodson, Malcolm X, Fannie Lou Hamer, Gil Scott Heron, Audre Lorde, the Crunk Feminist Collective, and others. Through this work, we will determine how African Americans use rhetoric as a techne, or art, to meet their needs and how rhetoric can provide an analytical tool to critique and evaluate arguments. Assignments may include: short essays, an oral presentation, a hybrid exam, and a multi-part digital project.

Fulfills: Humanities

Professor Marlon Ross

TuTh 11:00am - 12:15pm

Intensive study of African-American writers and cultural figures in a diversity of genres. Includes artists from across the African diaspora in comparative American perspective. For more details on this class, please visit the department website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/courses.

Fulfills: Humanities

Professor K. Ian Grandison

Tu 5:30pm - 8:00pm

Fulfills: 4000-level seminar; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Lisa Woolfork

TuTh 9:30am - 10:45am

This course for advanced undergraduates and master's-level graduate students surveys African-American literature today. Assignments include works by Evreett, Edward Jones, Tayari Jones, Evans, Ward, Rabateau, and Morrison

Fulfills: Humanities

Professor Nicolas Lombart

TuTh 3:30pm - 4:45pm

The slave narrative is originally a type of literary genre involving the (written) autobiographical accounts of enslaved Africans in Great Britain and its colonies (the later United States, Canada, and Caribbean nations), from the end of 18th century to the early 1920s. The genre is still vivid through the “neo-slave narrative”, a modern fictional work set in the slavery era by contemporary authors (Toni Morrison, Edward P. Jones, Marie-Elena Jones, etc.). This course will examine how Francophone writers deal with this Anglophone literary tradition to “think” the postcolonial situation and “shape” the postcolonial subject from the slave perspective in the Francophone contemporary World (Antilles, Haïti,

Mauritius). We will more particularly study: Maryse Condé, Moi, Tituba, sorcière… Noire de Salem (1988) [Guadeloupe]; Patrick Chamoiseau, L’esclave vieil homme et le molosse (1999) [Martinique]; Evelyne Trouillot, Rosalie l’infâme (2003) [Haïti]; and Natacha Appanah, Les rochers de poudre d’or (2006) [Île Maurice].
Requirements include: 1) regular reading and active participation in class discussion, 2) an oral presentation on a particular aspect of the Francophone contemporary slave narrative, 3) a series of short commentaries from the four novels, 4) and a final paper. Prerequisites: FREN 3032. Course conducted in French.

Fulfills: Humanities

Professor Kandioura Drame

TuTh 12:30pm - 1:45pm

Surveys the literary tradition in French, emphasizing post-World War II poets, novelists, and playwrights. Examines the role of cultural reviews in the development of this literary tradition. Prerequisite: FREN 3032 and at least one FREN course numbered 3041 to 3043 (or instructor permission).

Fulfills: Humanities

Professor James LaFleur

Th 3:30pm - 6:00pm

Introduces the study of history intended for first- or second-year students. Seminars involve reading, discussing, and writing about different historical topics and periods, and emphasize the enhancement of critical and communication skills. Several seminars are offered each term. Not more than two Introductory Seminars may be counted toward the major in history.

Fulfills: Social Science or History; Africa

Professor John Mason

TuTh 9:30am - 10:45am

Studies the history of Africa generally south of the Zambezi River. Emphasizes African institutions, creation of ethnic and racial identities, industrialization, and rural poverty, from the early formation of historical communities to recent times.

Fulfills: Social Science or History; Africa

Professor James LeFleur

TuTh 2:00pm - 3:15pm

History of West Africans in the wider context of the global past, from West Africans' first attempts to make a living in ancient environments through the slave trades (domestic, trans-Saharan, and Atlantic), colonial overrule by outsiders, political independence, and ever-increasing globalization.

Fulfills: Social Science or History; Africa

Professor Justene Hill Edwards

TuTh 9:30am - 10:45am

Fulfills: Social Science or History; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Claudrena Harold

TuTh 11:00am - 12:15pm

This survey traces the history of African American popular music from the late 1950s to the current era. It examines the major sonic innovations in the genres of soul, funk, and hip-hop over the course of the semester, students will examine how musical expression has provided black women and men with an outlet for individual expression, community building, sexual pleasure, political organizing, economic uplift, and interracial interaction

Fulfills: Social Science or History; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Kevin Gaines

TuTh 11:00am - 12:15pm

This course examines the history and legacy of the African American struggle for civil rights in twentieth century America. It provides students with a broad overview of the civil rights movement -- the key issues, significant people and organizations, and pivotal events -- as well as a deeper understanding of its scope, influence, legacy, and lessons for today

Fulfills: Social Science or History; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Justene Hill Edwards

Th 2:00pm - 4:30pm

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

Fulfills: 4000-level seminar; Social Science or History; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Scott DeVeaux

MoWe 4:00pm - 4:50pm

Survey of jazz music from before 1900 through the stylistic changes and trends of the twentieth century; important instrumental performers, composers, arrangers, and vocalists. No previous knowledge of music required.

Fulfills: Humanities

Professor Melvin Wilson

Th 2:00pm - 4:30pm

Examines the current state of research on minority families, focusing on the black family. Emphasizes comparing 'deficit' and 'strength' research paradigms. Prerequisite: PSYC 3006 and at least one course from each of the following groups: PSYC 2100, 2150 or 2300, and PSYC 2400, 2700 or 2600, and students in the Afro-American and African studies or studies in women and gender programs.

Fulfills: Social Science or History

Professor Oludamini Ogunnaike

Tu 3:30pm - 6:00pm

Not only is Nigeria home to uniquely dynamic, diverse, and globally influential religious traditions, but these traditions have profoundly shaped the history, culture, and politics of the nation-state of Nigeria and its diaspora. This course examines the historical development of religious traditions in Nigeria and their interactions.

Fulfills: Humanities; Africa

Professor Julie Jenkins

Tu 3:30pm - 6:00pm

Fulfills: humanities; Africa

Professor Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton

Mo 3:30pm - 6:00pm

An exploration of religious concepts, practices and issues as addressed in African literature and film. We will examine how various African authors and filmmakers weave aspects of Muslim, Christian and/or traditional religious cultures into the stories they tell. Course materials will be drawn from novels, memoirs, short stories, creation myths, poetry, feature-length movies, documentaries and short films.

Fulfills: Humanities; Africa

Professor Oludamini Ogunnaike

Tu 3:30pm - 6:00pm

Not only is Nigeria home to uniquely dynamic, diverse, and globally influential religious traditions, but these traditions have profoundly shaped the history, culture, and politics of the nation-state of Nigeria and its diaspora. This course examines the historical development of religious traditions in Nigeria and their interactions

Fulfills: Humanities; Africa

Professor Kai Parker

MoWe 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Fulfills: Humanities; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Ashon Crawley

Mo 3:30pm - 6:00pm

Is thought always already racialized, gendered, sexed? This Introduction to Black and Womanist Thought course argues that thought does not have to submit itself to modern regimes of knowledge production, that there are alternative ways to think and practice and be in the world with one another. An introduction to major thinkers in both religious thought and traditions with attention to theology, philosophy, and history.

Fulfills: Humanities

Professor Ashon Crawley

We 3:30pm - 6:00pm

Fulfills: Humanities

Professor Kai Parker

We 3:30pm - 6:00pm

Fulfills: Humanities; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Charles Marsh

We 3:30pm - 6:00pm

The seminar considers the American Civil Rights Movement in religious and theological perspective. While interdisciplinary in scope, the seminar will explore the movement's religious influences and theological sources and ask how differing images of God and doctrinal commitments shaped particular ways of interpreting and engaging the social order.

Fulfills: Humanities; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Rose Buckelew

MoWe 1:00pm - 1:50pm

Introduces the study of race and ethnic relations, including the social and economic conditions promoting prejudice, racism, discrimination, and segregation.  Examines contemporary American conditions, and historical and international materials.

Fulfills: Social Science or History; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Rose Buckelew

TuTh 12:30pm - 1:45pm

Racism, the disparagement and victimization of individuals and groups because of a belief that their ancestry renders them intrinsically different and inferior, is a problem in many societies. In this course we will examine the problem of racism by investigating the workings of these sociological processes theoretically, historically, and contemporaneously.

Fulfills: Social Science or History; Race and Politics in the US

Professor Lanice Avery

Th 4:00pm - 6:30pm

This course critically examines key ideas, issues, and debates in contemporary Black feminist thought. With a particular focus on Black feminist understandings of intersectionality and womanism, the course examines how Black feminist thinkers interrogate specific concepts including Black womanhood, sexual mythologies and vulnerabilities, class distinctions, colorism, leadership, crime and punishment, and popular culture.

Fulfills: Social Science or History