Black Studies

(Program Homepage)

Faculty: T. Beauboeuf, V. Dickerson, M. Dixon-Fyle, M. Forbes, L. Foy, K. Hall, M. Oware, S. Sahu, J. Schlotterbeck, R. Upton

A discipline that examines and critiques the experience of Africans and peoples of African descent, Black Studies emerged on college campuses in the midst of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the 1960s and has been a central force in reshaping higher learning in the United States. Representing a strong and continuous intellectual presence in the academy, Black Studies challenges all students to explore issues of identity and subject formation, of race and difference; to understand the collective experience of black people in today's world; to develop the ability to examine, analyze and interpret these experiences within the context of liberal learning. Involving black people throughout the world and over time, Black Studies is the only discipline that situates black people at the center of study and offers an intellectual tool without seeking intellectual hegemony.

Black Studies at DePauw is conceived as a multidisciplinary study of the collective experience of Africa and the African Diaspora. As an intellectual pursuit attuned to the ways in which nation, race, social class, ethnicity and gender inform relations, Black Studies describes, represents, critiques and interrogates the multiple and shifting historical, cultural, social and political meanings of blackness, focusing on the disaporan societies, cultures and people of the United States, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The goals of the program are to: 1) develop and strengthen critical writing and analytical skills, while challenging traditional ways of thinking about difference, 2) foster a critical consciousness about global relations and how blacks play a constitutive and performative role in these relations, 3) enable students to understand how a knowledge of the black experience will enhance their engagement with contemporary social, cultural and political issues, and prepare them for world citizenship and 4) give an inter-cultural dimension to students' growing store of knowledge.

A major and minor are offered in Black Studies.

Requirements for a major in Black Studies

Total courses required Ten
Core courses BLST 100, BLST 240, BLST 281, BLST 480
Other required courses In addition to the four core courses, majors must choose six electives with at least one course from each of the following three fields of study: African, African American, and Afro-Latin/Caribbean. Elective courses include: ANTH 271, ANTH 352, EDUC 300, ENG 263, HIST 105, HIST 109, HIST 110, HIST 256, HIST 257, HIST 275, HIST 355, HIST 356, HIST 367, POLS 320, POLS 323, POLS 352, REL 269, SOC 237, SOC 301, SOC 337, or other courses approved by the director.
# 300 and 400 level courses Four
Senior requirement The senior requirement consists of the completion of the Black Studies Senior Project (which counts as one of the upper-level courses).
Additional information
Recent changes in major

Requirements for a minor in Black Studies

Total courses required Five
Core courses BLST 100
Other courses Three of the five courses should be outside a student's major. At least one course from two of the three following geographic areas is required: African, African American, Afro-Latin/Caribbean.
# 300 and 400 level courses One
Recent changes in minor

Courses in Black Studies

BLST 100. Introduction to Black Studies  Group 4    1 course
Designed as the gateway to Black Studies, this course is an interdisciplinary exploration of the collective experience of blacks in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States. The course seeks to provide students an intellectual framework for engagement in a process of self-discovery and for achieving a more global understanding of the unique ways in which Africans and peoples of African descent have constituted our world. The course, which introduces important theoretical approaches and builds critical and analytical skills, provides an overview of the historical, socio-economic and cultural dynamics of black life.
 
BLST 240. Readings in Literatures of the Black Diaspora  Group 3    1 course
This course explores the literary expressions of Africans and peoples of African descent as they are found in the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States. Works by such writers as Achebe, Ngugi, Kincaid, Walcott, Guillen, Morejon, Reed and Morrison may be included. Cross-listed with ENG 155.
 
BLST 281. Africa and the Black Diaspora  Group 2    1 course
An exploration of the historical foundations and the development of black life in Africa and its later diffusion in the Black Diaspora. Its purview will range from pre-colonial dynamics to the more contemporary manifestations of global Black History in North America, Europe, the Caribbean, Central America, Latin America and Melanesia. Topics may include: African cultures before European contact, the slave trade and its impact on Africa and the Atlantic economy, the middle passage, internal migration in Africa and case studies of the creation of diasporic communities and cultures. Cross-listed with HIST 281.
 
BLST 290. Topics in Black Studies      1/2-1 course
This course explores some issue, theme or period related to Black Studies. May be repeated for credit with different topics.
 
BLST 390. Advanced Topics in Black Studies      1/2-1 course
An interdisciplinary study of some significant issue, theme or period relevant to Black Studies. May be repeated for credit with different topics.
 
BLST 480. Senior Project      1 course
Students work with the director of Black Studies or a faculty member who teaches in the program to complete a major project or paper that focuses on some aspect of the black experience.
 
BLST 490. Independent Study      1/2-1 course
An in-depth directed study under the guidance of a faculty member associated with the Black Studies program, using Black Studies' methodologies and scholarship.