Department

Africana Studies Program

De Anna Reese, Coordinator
Science I  Building, Room 182
559.278.2832
FAX: 559.278.7268
www.fresnostate.edu/aais

Degrees and Programs Offered

BA in Africana Studies, B.A.
MN in Africana Studies, Minor

The Africana Studies program (AFRS) at California State University, Fresno offers an interdisciplinary curriculum that illuminates the connectedness of the human experience and provides culturally-appropriate knowledge and skills. This helps students understand the experiences of African peoples all over the world and other ethnic groups in the United States. The program also involves its faculty and students in research, experiential learning, career counseling, computer technology, curriculum development, conference participation, and extended day, evening, and weekend courses.

The program offers interdisciplinary courses leading to the Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies as well as minors in Africana Studies and Ethnic Studies. Students with a B.A. in Africana Studies can pursue a master's or doctoral degree in the humanities, social sciences, or health sciences. Students can also seek other professional degrees in such areas as business, human resources, teacher education, and law. The program teaches appreciation for the heritage of African peoples and their contributions to the shaping of the fabric of American life and history.

Africana Studies emphasizes the study of the history and culture of African Americans as they relate to the experiences of Africans on the continent and other peoples of African descent in the Diaspora. The major in Africana Studies provides an epistemological basis for understanding issues that pertain to the experiences of African peoples and other minority ethnic groups in the American society. The curriculum promotes an awareness of the African heritage of African Americans and others throughout the Americas. Opportunities are provided for students to engage in study abroad and service-learning in Africa and the Caribbean to stimulate intellectual interest in, and linkage to, contemporary Africa and the African Diaspora while enhancing global understanding of the varied social realities of the human experience.

Courses

Africana Studies

AFRS 1. Ethnic Experience

Prerequisites: G.E. Foundation A2. Examines the experiences of various ethnic minorities in the U.S., addresses the issue of race as it affects ethnic formation, analyzes public policy and ethnic experience, discusses the comparable idealogies of race and gender, and evaluates culture and ethnic experience. G.E. Breadth D3.

Units: 3
GE Area: D3

AFRS 10. Introduction to Africana Studies

Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation A2. A survey course designed to introduce students to the vast array of scholarship defining the African American experience as they relate to the experiences of Africans on the continent and other peoples of African descent in the Diaspora. (Formerly AFAM 10).

Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall
GE Area: D3

AFRS 15. Slavery and the American Experience

Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation A2. A survey course examining the role of slavery in the economic, political and social development of the United States from the founding of the colonies through the revolutionary period to the civil war and beyond.

Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Spring
GE Area: D3

AFRS 20. Critical Thinking About Race

This course uses critical thinking skills to discuss, analyze, and critique centuries-old ideas on race/ethnicity and the social policies that were enacted to promote prejudice and discrimination against minorities with a special focus on peoples of African decent and American Indians.

Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
GE Area: A3

AFRS 21. Gospel Choir

(Same as Music 102GC) Performance of a variety of inspirational songs reflecting the African American cultural experience. Participation through rehearsals, activities, programs, and field trips.

Units: 1, Repeatable up to 99 units
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

AFRS 24. African American Music

The origin and evolution of African American music from the perspective of social and cultural history. Emphasis on slave songs, gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues, and soul music.

Units: 3

AFRS 27. Africana Cultures and Images

Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation A2. Introduction to the historical and contemporary experiences of African Americans and other peoples of African descent. Examines historical and social arrangements implicated in the experiences and the images these arrangements construct both in the United States and around the world. G.E. Breadth D3. (Formerly AFAM 27)

Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
GE Area: D3

AFRS 35. Art and Music of Africa

Comprehensive study of African artistry and music.

Units: 3

AFRS 36. Contemporary African Societies

Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation A2. Analysis of the cultural and political structure of African socities; understanding the impact of colonialism in Africa; realizing the relationship of African Americans to Africa. (Formerly AFAM 36)

Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall
GE Area: D3

AFRS 38. Sociology of the Black Experience

Basic principles sociology and their application to the black experience. This introductory course utilizes the sociological approach to seek an understanding of the various experiences of black people in society. Involves participant observation, interviewing, and field trips. (Formerly AFAM 38).

Units: 3

AFRS 55T. Topics in African American Studies

Selected topics at the introductory level in African American Studies.

Units: 1-3, Repeatable up to 9 units

AFRS 55T. The African Experience in Latin America

This course will analyze the history of how Africans in Latin America became "Afro-Latinos" in language, culture, and social consciousness while still retaining their African heritage. In understanding this heritage, the course will explore the influence of African retentions on New World Iberian societies.

Units: 3, Repeatable up to 9 units

AFRS 55T. Hip Hop Culture

Over the decades, rap music has blossomed into a corporate owned, media produced, multibillion dollar enterprise that exploits and normalizes the most negative representations of stereotypical "blackness" and patriarchy, while justifying its own hyper-masculine rhetoric and sexual exploitation of women. Despite this, underground Hip-Hop culture has become an international form of cultural expression and resistance rooted in a long history of African Diaspora aesthetic production and political struggle. Thus, Hip-Hop is both a form of cultural and political resistance and an exploitive capitalistic venture. This course will examine the ways in which Hip-Hop can be both a positive force for change and a negative exploitive force, while paying tribute to the spaces it provides for the youth to communicate new ideas and new ways of defining reality. We will explore break dancing, beat boxing, graffiti art, entrepreneurship, lyrical rap styles and subject matter, production styles, and significant movements within mainstream and underground Hip Hop culture.

Units: 3

AFRS 56. The African American Family

Deals with the origin, development, and adaptations the African American family has created to sustain itself as a viable institution. Emphasis is on problems encountered and created by the American society and how the African American family handles these adversities.

Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall

AFRS 60. Introduction to African American Theatre

Study and practice in performance of African American drama and oral interpretation projects. Class will include poetry reading; dance performances; dramatic interpretations; comedic sketches. Previous experience not required.

Units: 3

AFRS 102A. African Dance

Focuses on the history of African dance in the United States, uses of dance among Africans/African Americans. Activities include dance techniques; imagery/visualization, dance exercises; simple constructive rest techniques; African dance step techniques preparatory for advance class. (2 lecture, 2 activity hours)

Units: 3

AFRS 104W. Writing About American Inequality

Prerequisite: satisfactory completion (C or better) of the ENGL 5B or ENGL 10 graduation requirement. Analysis of poverty, social class, and inequality in America. Students receive feedback in preparing papers on poverty and inequality. Emphasis on research techniques, evaluation and documentation of evidence, and style and mechanics of writing. Meets the upper-division writing skills requirement for graduation. (Formerly ETHS 104W)

Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

AFRS 121. Gospel Choir

(Same as Music 102GC) Performance of a variety of inspirational songs reflecting the African American cultural experience. Participation through rehearsals, activities, programs, and field trips.

Units: 1, Repeatable up to 99 units

AFRS 129. African American Literary Classics

Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation and Breadth Area C. Discussion and written analyses of significant poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction by African American writers representing a variety of views and perspectives. Historical and social contexts of literary works. G.E. Integration IC.

Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
GE Area: IC

AFRS 130T. The African American Experience: Black Men and the Search for Self-Liberation

This course focuses on the history, political activity, cultural practices, and approaches to masculinity in Black communities. How have Black men crafted their masculintiy in a society hostile to it? How have they negotiated institutional systems of oppression that often seek Black men out? How do Black boys negotiate subtle forms of institutionlization and ostracization? How do Black males of all ages interpret relationships with Black women, especially since Black women's response have become popularly entertained in mainstream society and Black men have seemed silent--especially in regard to access to mainstream media? The class will focus on readings, films, discussions, guests lecturers, and the Internet that pertain to Black men's experience.

Units: 3

AFRS 130T. Topics in Ethnic Studies

In-depth research and writing on the past and contemporary situation of America's major ethnic minorities.

Units: 1-3, Repeatable up to 6 units

AFRS 135. The African American Community

Analysis of the various lifestyles and cultural patterns of African American communities. Emphasis on unique cultural features of the family, religion, foods, music, art, and folkways. (Formerly AFAM 135)

Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall

AFRS 137. African American Women

(AFRS 137 same as WS 137.) An overview of the accomplishments of African American women in the United States; their contributions to American culture; African influence; African American women as defined by a dominant soceity vs. legitimate definition designed to encourage a positive self-concept.

Units: 3

AFRS 140. The African American Church

History of the formation and development of African American religious institutions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) in the African American community; their effect on the African American personality.

Units: 3

AFRS 144. Race Relations

Prerequsites: G.E. Foundation and Breadth Area D. Analysis of the moral and intellectual issues surrounding the attitudes of whites toward blacks and other racial groups in the United States and elsewhere. Explores the functions of race relations and the social life that developed among non-white groups themselves. (Formerly AFAM 144)

Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Spring
GE Area: ID

AFRS 145. Life and Times of Martin Luther King Jr.

Explores Dr. King's leadership in the nonviolent movement for racial equality and human dignity, from the Montgomery Bus Boycott to King's assassination (1955-68). Emphasis on philosophy, ideology. Format: lectures, films, slides, recorded speeches, and discussion.

Units: 3

AFRS 146. Law and the Minority Community

Critical analysis of the foundation and changing structure of law and legal institutions as perceived by minority communities, with emphasis on equal employment and education, criminal justice, and political power.

Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Spring

AFRS 148. Issues in the African American Community

Prerequisite: AFRS 10 or permission of instructor. In-depth, comprehensive, critical analysis of the current social and economic structure of the African American community. Examination of the effects of institutional racism on current social policy.

Units: 3

AFRS 150. South Africa

Prerequisites: G.E. Foundationand Breadth Aread D. An introductory analysis of the social, racial, political, and economic problems of people of South Africa, both past and present. G.E. Multicultural/International MI.

Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Spring
GE Area: M/I

AFRS 164. African Cultural Perspectives

This course explores the realities of the African cultural experiences through readings and films by Africans. The goal is to study the historical, political, economic, religious, and socio-cultural conditions of the continent in the pre-colonial, colonial, and postcolonial periods.

Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall
GE Area: M/I

AFRS 165. African-American Theatre

(DRAMA 187 same as AAIS 165.) Performance, scene development, and dramatic styles consistent with the African American experience. Exploration of cross-cultural aesthetics as they inform creative development. Development of self-written or published scenes and plays. (Formerly AFAM 165)

Units: 3, Repeatable up to 6 units

AFRS 178. History of African Americans

(HIST 178 same as AFRS 178.)

Units: 3

AFRS 189. Fieldwork in Community Relations

Supervised field observation, participation, and documentation in the operation of minority communities.

Units: 3, Repeatable up to 6 units
Course Typically Offered: Spring

AFRS 190. Independent Study

See Academic Placement -- Independent Study. Approved for RP grading.

Units: 1-3, Repeatable up to 6 units
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

AFRS 191. History of Allensworth

An examination of the historical development of the African American town of Allensworth from its status as a town to its existence as a state historic park. Students will be exposed to various academic disciplines through lectures and a field trip to the park.

Units: 1
Course Typically Offered: Spring

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Requirements

Africana Studies, Minor Requirements

Lower-division requirements (6 units)
AFRS 10, 27, 36

Upper-division requirements (6 units)
AFRS 137, 144

Approved Africana Studies electives (6 units)

Total (18 units)

Note: For students interested in the general dimensions of the Africana experience, the following courses are recommended:

AFRS 10, 27, 36, 38, 135, 137, 140, 145, 150, 154

For students interested in the following careers, the following courses are recommended:

Education: AFRS 38, 110, 130T, 135

Performing Arts: AFRS 21, 24, 27, 35, 121, 130T, 144, 189

Business: AFRS 38, 130T, 135, 189, 190

Preprofessional (nursing, criminology, prelaw, etc.): AFRS 56, 130T, 135, 142, 144, 146, 189, 190

Writing: AFRS 104W, 127, 190

Social Sciences: AFRS 27, 38, 135, 140, 178, 189

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Faculty

The AFRS program is made up of faculty with backgrounds and expertise in Africana studies, business, English, history, education, and sociology. Professors have published in prestigious national and international peer reviewed academic journals and are recipients of numerous awards for teaching, research, and community service.