2006-08 Course Descriptions - Catalog - University of Oklahoma

The Uni ver sity of Oklahoma 2006-2008 Gen eral Cat a logAfrican and African-American Studies (AFAM)4113 African Civilizations. Prerequisite: any course that focuses on Africanor African-American content, or English 1213. Examines major ancient andrecent African civilizations. Includes study of state formation, kinship,government, iconography, ritual, habitat and dance, music, and art. (Irreg.)4123 African Politics. Prerequisite: Junior standing and any 2000-levelAfrican and African-American Studies course. The course examines Africanpolitics as it relates to civil-military relations, military coups d’etat andpolitical liberalization and democratization. The overriding objective of thecourse is to familiarize students with the problems and transformation ofAfrican political systems. (Irreg.)4133 Contemporary Visual Art of Africa. Prerequisite: junior standingand any 2000-level African and African-American Studies (AFAM) class.This course explores current visual arts developments in Africa. The coursetraces the historical evolution, influences and status of contemporaryAfrican art, with special reference to established visual artists who eitherwork within or outside of Africa. (Sp)4143 Africa’s Role in the Contemporary World. Prerequisite: Juniorstanding and any 2000-level African and African-American Studies class.This course will resent Africa’s contemporary reality – the positive as well asthe negative—by examining major current issues after surveying Africa’shistory, geography, societies, and culture. Themes covered will include:political developments, regional conflicts, human rights and women’sissues, economic development and poverty, refugees and migration, andthe environment. The course will also examine Africa’s role in US globalpolicy priorities, including the war against terrorism. (Irreg.)4153 African Youth Cultures. Prerequisite: Junior standing and any2000-level African and African-American Studies class. This courseexamines African youth cultures and sub cultures as they enter andtransform political, social, cultural, and economic spaces. It also explorestheir relationship with adult, mainstream societies. We will investigateAfrican youth’s identity project—how and why they articulate and mobilizean individual and group identity. Some issues of exploration will be thefollowing: What is youth culture and subculture? How do westernconcepts of individualism apply to an African context? (Irreg.)4213 African Dance. Prerequisite: any course that focuses on African orAfrican American content, or English 1213. Examines various essentialdance movements from the African Diaspora. Theory and praxis meet inan effort to better understand the culture and language of dance amongstAfrican people. (Irreg.)4223 African Dance II. Prerequisite: any course that focuses on African orAfrican American content, or English 1213. The course is designed todeepen understanding of African dance through a combination of praxis,theory, and choreography. In this course the Umfundalai technique istaught at an accelerated pace. Students are challenged to performadvanced combinations of this dance technique. Students conductresearch on African dance and African dance aesthetics. Theoreticalapplications of African aesthetics to African dance are made. Studentsexplore aesthetic theory, relevant historical information and traditionalAfrican cultural philosophy through choreography. (Irreg.)4233 Blacks & the Movies: Hollywood & Black Independent Film.Prerequisite: any course that focuses on African or African Americancontent, or English 1213. Historical overview of the development ofAfrican American cinema. Examines how film has been used to culturallydefine the parameters of black cultural identity and how black culturalproducers promoted alternate constructions of black identity. (Irreg.)4313 Harlem Renaissance. Prerequisite: any course that focuses onAfrican or African American content, or English 1213. Examines the artisticand literary strivings of African Americans produced during the periodbetween the post-World War I era and the Great Depression. Examineswork of individual artists and literary figures. Also examines the impact ofAfrican and African American aesthetics on the development of AmericanModernism. (Irreg.)4323 Afro-Caribbean Prose. Prerequisite: Junior standing and any2000-level African and African-American Studies class. The course willexamine the theme of black identity by exploring writers from theDominican republic, Puerto Rico, New York, and from Cuba, who humanizethe image of blacks by illustrating different aspects and dimensions if thepsyche in Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands. Selected texts will beexamined to explore how they illustrate representations of silenced voices,address the absence of authentic characterization of blacks, andconscientiously and progressively concentrate on a new racial reality. (Sp)4413 Issues in the African American Family. Prerequisite: any course thatfocuses on African or African American content, or English 1213. Thepurpose of the class is to explore the inter- and intra-structural componentsof the African American family using an applied social systems andecological approach. Great emphasis will be placed on historical andconcurrent social, religious, political and economic factors that influencethe psyche of both the family and in a broader sense a culture rooted inthe Afrocentric paradigm. (Irreg.)4423 African American Health Issues. Prerequisite: any course thatfocuses upon African or African American content, or English 1213.Examines health problems, health status, and health behavior of AfricanAmerican men and women. A life course perspective is emphasized frombirth to later life. It is assumed that being African American predisposespersons to health problems that increase the risk of disease or thatinfluence health based on the diversity of cultural beliefs, values, andpractices. Access to health services will be addressed. (Irreg.)4433 Women of the Diaspora. Prerequisite: any course that focuses onAfrican or African American content, or English 1213. A comparative studyof the complex roles of women of African descent in cross-culturalperspective. Examines the issue in the socio-cultural contexts of SouthAfrica, United States, and the Caribbean. Topics include gender relations,impact of urbanization, class status, and Diasporan women as cultureworkers. (Irreg.)4453 Black/White Relations in America. Prerequisite: any course thatfocuses on African and African American content, or English 1213.Examines race relations in general and black/white relations in particular;creative race relations problem-solving and decision-making strategies; andself-awareness as it affects race relations. (Irreg.)4613 African American Music Traditions. Prerequisite: any course thatfocuses on African or African American content, or English 1213. ExaminesAfrican cultural retentions in African American music. Emphasis is placedupon traditional African rhythms, attitudes, themes, and sounds. Investigateshow these devices inform African American musical traditions. (Irreg.)4623 Hip Hop Culture and Contemporary America. Prerequisite: anycourse that focuses on African or African American content, or English1213. Historical inquiry into behavioral and sociopolitical trends of hip hopculture. Attempts to codify and recognize dominant cultural attitudes,concepts and paradigms as global phenomenon shaping understanding ofcontemporary African American character, identity, and culture. (Irreg.)4633 African American Religious Traditions. Prerequisite: any course thatfocuses on African or African American content, or English 1213. Ananthropological and historical inquiry into the nature of the religiousexperience of Africans enslaved and involuntarily brought to the UnitedStates. Emphasis is placed upon the identification and understanding of thecentral cultural and religious practices and products form black peoples’experiences of the holy. (Irreg.)4643 Contemporary Black Feminism. Prerequisite: Junior standing andany 2000-level African and African-American Studies class. This courseanalyses the way race, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status havehistorically dominated, intersected and/or competed within the lives ofAfrican-American women. This course examines the way African-Americanwomen have drawn upon these internal struggles to serve as voices ofpower and agents of social change. Readings in this course will highlightthe life experiences, work, and contributions of both early and contemporaryAfrican-American feminists, particularly their efforts toward advocating forblack women’s liberation, womanism, and black feminist agendas. (Irreg.)4713 Afrocentric Thinking and the Civil Rights Movement. Prerequisite:any course that focuses on African or African American content, or English1213. Examines afrocentric thinking and identifies key afrocentric patternsand strategies within the civil rights movement. Students will analyzeAfrican American leadership and how leaders brought afrocentric thinkingto the forefront. (Irreg.)4723 Leadership in the African American Community. Prerequisite: anycourse that focuses on African or African American content, or English1213. Comprehensive analysis of leadership skills and development fromafrocentric perspective applied historically for social change; how thesestrategies are enacted for empowerment within contemporary society.(Irreg.)4733 Civil Rights Law: Employment and Education. Prerequisite: anycourse the focuses on African or African American content, or English1213. Analyzes civil rights law in employment and education. Focuses onlaws that address discrimination, equal employment opportunity, equalCourse Descriptions 8