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Courses

For a full course listing, please click here visit the academic catalog.


African Studies courses offered in Fall 2024: 

AFST 121 A: African American Literature (M2)
LaRue; Tue, Thu 1:30 p.m. - 2:40 p.m. 

AFST 222 A: African Art (M5)
Hybrid, Mon, Wed 10:30 a.m. - 11:40 a.m. 

AFST 263 A: Civil Rights & Moral Life (U2)
Denton-Borhaug; Wed, Fri 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

AFST 362 A: Narrative and Film 
LaRue; Online Asynchronous

100-Level Course

AFST 121 A: African American Literature
Introduction to the African American literary tradition, which might include the genres of poetry, non-fiction, fiction, and drama. The course will explore how categories of race, gender, sexuality, class, and ethnicity shape this literature and reflect its peoples' relationship(s) with the American nation. Prerequisites: Fulfillment of F1 requirement. (M2). 

200-Level Courses 

AFST 222 A: African Art
Students will develop an aesthetic and cultural overview of African art, from prehistory to the present day. Sculpture is the primary medium studied in the course, but textiles, painting, artisanal works and architecture are also included. Students will consider how religion and cultural influences affect the development of regional and national styles. The influence of the African diaspora on art in Europe, Latin America, and the United States will be considered. Students will acquire the critical vocabulary required to analyze and interpret African art, and apply it to both discussion and writing. (M5)  

AFST 263 A: Civil Rights & Moral Life
Many forces and ideas shaped the civil rights movement. Through both a historical and a theological/philosophical lens, students will examine those forces and ideas and will consider how the power and depth of the movement continues to challenge us with its continued relevance today. The course includes in-close examinations of key events in the movement, suche as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Nashville sit-ins, in order to view the movement from the vantage of people involved in the movement. (U2) Open to juniors and seniors only. 

300-Level Courses

AFST 362 A: Narrative and Film
Through close analyses of contemporary imaginative films, this course examines the relationship between narrative and cinema. Addressing the medium's relationship with more traditional narrative forms (e.g., novels, short stories, etc.) and these forms' contributions to the constructions of categories of race, gender, sexuality, class, and (inter)nationally, we will explore the questions, "How do films narrate? and "What do they narrate?" By the end of the course, we should have a more complex understanding of how narratives are constructed, how the medium of film challenge us to reimagine the shape and limits of what a text might be, and what the narratives offered tell us about the state of our societies and/or cultures. Prereq: None.