Am Stud 530

READINGS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES

INSTRUCTOR: Professor Robin D. G. Kelley

Office: Kaprielian Hall, 4th Floor

CONTACT:

Office Hours: Mondays 1:00 – 3:00, Wed., 5:00 – 6:00, or by appt.

TIME: Wednesdays 2:00-4:50

PLACE: VKC 104

In this course we will survey some key (some might say ‘canonical’) texts in African American Studies, alongside more recent works in the field of African American Studies, paying particular attention to various approaches, topics, or genres in the field. The selected readings begin to map the history of the field itself, incorporating texts that were produced out of the political conditions and critical questions that shaped the formation of modern African American studies. We will also explore the contributions made by scholars writing at the "cutting edge" of African American Studies—scholars who represent newer trends—in order to analyze the methods they have employed and the theoretical underpinnings of their work. It is impossible to be exhaustive in one semester, so I’ve selected readings that, for the most part, are grounded in histories of social movements, race, gender, sexuality, and the politics of culture. The course should serve to point students in the direction of further reading and study.

REQUIREMENTS

(1) You are expected to attend all class sessions and be prepared to participate in the discussions. Each student will also be required to lead one week's discussion. [See “Basic Guidelines for Leading Discussion” below]

(2) Maintain a blog on the week’s reading – notes that you will find useful and reflect your critical engagement with the assigned book. The blog will be posted on Blackboard, which has it’s own blog application.

(3) Produce a syllabus for an undergraduate lecture course focusing on some aspect of African-American Studies (with annotated lecture topics),

The required books for this course are available for purchase at the USC Bookstore.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:

Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with the Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and can be contacted at (213) 740-0776.

REQUIRED READING

W.E.B. DuBois, Black Reconstruction in America: An Essay Toward a History of the Part Which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America, 1860-1880 (New York: Free Press, 1992, orig. 1935)

Cedric Robinson, Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000)

Glenda Gilmore, Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950 (WW Norton, 2009)

Barbara Ransby, Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision (UNC Press, 2005)

Toni Cade Bambara, The Black Woman: An Anthology (Washington Square Press, 2005)

E. Patrick Johnson and Mae Henderson, ed., Queer Black Studies: An Anthology (Duke University Press, 2005)

Michele Mitchell, Righteous Propagation: African Americans and the Politics of Racial Destiny after Reconstruction (University of North Carolina Press, 2004)

Davarian Baldwin, Chicago’s New Negroes: Modernity, the Great Migration, and Black Urban Life (UNC Press 2007)

Daniel Widener, Black Arts West: Culture and Struggle in Postwar Los Angeles (Duke University Press, 2010)

Richard Iton, In Search of the Black Fantastic: Politics and Popular Culture in the Post-Civil Rights Era (Oxford University Press, 2008)

Davd Roediger, How Race Survived U.S. History: From Settlement and Slavery to the Obama Phenomenon (Verso Books, 2010)

WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS

AUGUST 25 -- INTRODUCTIONS

SEPTEMBER 1 –DuBois, Black Reconstruction, Intro., chapters 1 – 8

SEPTEMBER 8 - DuBois, Black Reconstruction, chapters 9 - 17

SEPTEMBER 15 –Robinson, Black Marxism

SEPTEMBER 22 – Gilmore, Defying Dixie

SEPTEMBER 29 – Ransby, Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement

OCTOBER 6 – Bambara, The Black Woman

OCTOBER 13 -- Johnson and Henderson, ed., Queer Black Studies

EVENT: On Monday, October 18, from 4:00 – 6:00 in Doheny 240, former Black Panther Billy X Jennings will be speaking about the movement and his experiences.

OCTOBER 20 – Mitchell, Righteous Propagation

OCTOBER 27– NO CLASS

NOVEMBER 3 -- Baldwin, Chicago’s New Negroes

NOVEMBER 10 – Widener, Black Arts West

NOVEMBER 17 - Iton, In Search of the Black Fantastic

NOVEMBER 24 – NO CLASS

DECEMBER 1 -- Roediger, How Race Survived U.S. History

BASIC GUIDELINES FOR LEADING DISCUSSION

These points are intended as helpful suggestions to prepare you to lead discussion among your graduate peers. Do not hesitate to use your own ideas or to contact me before your turn if you have any questions or concerns. Your major responsibility is to lead the discussion involving the required book that is assigned; however, feel free to venture beyond that if you think it is appropriate.

In Preparation

  • Read the week’s readings as early as possible in order to have plenty of time to contact the professor and/or your peers with questions and ideas.
  • Be sure to take notes during your readings of the main points of each of the assigned texts, but particularly of the assigned book.
  • From questions during your reading of points that you think are unclear and of crucial issues that you want to be sure and discuss.

Framing a Discussion

  • Know where you want to start, but also where you want to end up. Be willing to be flexible in your guidance, but be sure to cover those points you think are crucial.
  • Give a brief synopsis of the main points of the book.
  • Have a ready list of questions for your peers to answer, in an order that makes sense intellectually. If you have a set of points or issues (as opposed to questions), you may end up talking more than your peers.
  • Remember that if everyone is talking (a good sign!), two hours will go by quickly. Be sure you allow enough time to cover major points. Don’t leave everything important for the end!

Suggestions for Questions

  • Let students begin by giving their general impression of the book. This can often serve to launch discussions into unexpected, but productive areas.
  • What evidence does the author use to make his/her point? Is it convincing?
  • Move in the general direction of questions that reach across the whole text, jumping off from specific questions about particular points in one chapter/section.
  • Have questions that refer back to a previous week’s readings and/or points raised in the required articles.

In the Classroom

  • Don’t be afraid to follow up a comment with a relevant question to that specific speaker.
  • On the other hand, be careful not to stop an exciting discussion that has not yet run its course by asking a diverting question.
  • Give each separate chapter or section its due time, but gauge your peers’ interest and disinterest in certain sections and shift accordingly.
  • Feel free to incorporate the assigned articles or supplementary readings at appropriate times in the discussion if this makes sense to you. I will adjust my half of the discussion to accommodate what you have already covered.
  • Feel free to hand the discussion over to me at any time. I will undoubtedly have other issues that I will want to raise and will do so in the second half of each session.