African American Studies 1 Iowa students and organizations. Scholarships are awarded by the Marie Nesbitt Foundation, the African American Studies African American Program, the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Iowa Black Alumni Association. Awards are offered that Studies recognize student efforts in community service, leadership, creative arts, graduate research, cultural appreciation, and Chair academic achievement. • Venise T. Berry Graduate Student Mentoring and Undergraduate major: African American studies (B.A.) Advising Undergraduate minor: African American studies Graduate degree: M.A. in African American world studies The African American Studies Program sponsors several Graduate certificate: African American studies intellectual and social gatherings for graduate students across Faculty: https://africanamericanstudies.uiowa.edu/people multiple disciplines. During these events, students connect Website: https://africanamericanstudies.uiowa.edu/ with others interested in African American studies and receive advice about becoming faculty members, being productive African American studies (AAS) examines the unique members of the academic profession, and career options experiences of African-descended people throughout the outside of academia. diaspora drawing on a rich tradition of civic engagement, scholarship, and teaching. The faculty introduce students to Iowa Black Alumni Association the foundations of African American studies and collaborate The Iowa Black Alumni Association (IBAA) promotes the with them to understand new intellectual perspectives. general mission of the University of Iowa. The group enhances Courses and research revolve around three core areas of the career connections of prospective, current, and former study: history, religion, and the diaspora; literature and Black University of Iowa students. It also recognizes these performing arts; and media, politics, and society. Within individuals for their service. these areas, students carefully consider the construction of race, ethnicity, and identity and the performance of class, gender, and sexuality. Students who take courses in African Programs American studies acquire a special skill set that enables them to critically interrogate their own culture and other cultures in Undergraduate Programs of the world around them. Study Cocurricular Activities Major Afro-American Cultural Center • Major in African American Studies (Bachelor of Arts) African American studies encourages students to use the Afro-American Cultural Center (Afro House). The center Minor serves as a museum housing educational artifacts. Offering • Minor in African American Studies enrichment for the University of Iowa and promoting diversity among all members of the Iowa City community, the center Graduate Programs of Study also provides a cultural hub for African American students. Major African American Studies Student Association • Master of Arts in African American World Studies The African American Studies Program is not accepting The African American Studies Student Association aims to graduate students at this time. promote knowledge about Black life in the United States by hosting speakers, publicizing artistic performances, Certificate and sponsoring relevant programs with various campus collaborators. The association is primarily designed for AAS • Certificate in African American Studies majors and minors; however, any University of Iowa student interested in African American studies is eligible to become a Courses member. Seminar and Lecture Series African American Studies Courses The African American Studies Seminar Series and the Darwin AFAM:1000 First-Year Seminar 1 s.h. Turner Lecture bring important scholars and creative artists Small discussion class; topics chosen by instructor. to the University of Iowa campus. Guests of the lecture and Requirements: first-year standing. seminar series have included Amiri Baraka, Trudier Harris, Ta- AFAM:1020 Introduction to African American Nehisi Coates, Michelle Wallace, Mary Patillo, J. Lorand Matory, Culture 3 s.h. Portia Maultsby, Paul Butler, Gabrielle Forman, and Valerie Examination of Black cultural experiences in the United States Smith. and the African diaspora; focus on literature, music, film, comics, anime, popular culture, and visual/performing arts. African American Studies Annual GE: Diversity and Inclusion. Same as AMST:1030. Awards Program Each spring, the African American Studies Program honors AAS majors and minors, along with exceptional University of 2 African American Studies AFAM:1030 Introduction to African American AFAM:2064 African American Families: Urban and Society 3 s.h. Suburban 3 s.h. Examination of Black social and historical institutions in the Racial inequality and experiences of African American families United States and the African diaspora; focus on education, in the United States during the 20th and 21st centuries; sports, political science, religion, health, criminal justice, historical context for contemporary research on African history, sociology, and other disciplines. GE: Diversity and American family; relative impact of structural and cultural Inclusion. factors on various aspects of African American family AFAM:1041 African American Religion and Popular life, declining marriage rates, family formation patterns; Culture 3 s.h. intersections of race and class in family life; research methods Examination of the role African American religions play in used to examine dynamics of African American family shaping 20th century and contemporary popular culture in life, including quantitative analysis, structured qualitative the United States; students explore recent histories of Black interviews, and ethnography. GE: Diversity and Inclusion. Christianity, American Islam, and African diaspora religions; Same as SOC:2064. gender and race; cultural production in hip hop, jazz, rhythm AFAM:2070 Black Television Culture 3 s.h. and blues, literature, poetry, film, sports, cuisine, visual art, Social and political impact of television dramas featuring and style. Same as RELS:1041. people of African descent in the West; examination of AFAM:1130 The History of African American Film 3 s.h. production, reception, representation, and industry as it History of African American cinema; examination of various relates to the African American images that are granted cycles of Black movie fare between 1912-1999. GE: Diversity tenure on television screens. GE: Diversity and Inclusion. and Inclusion. Same as COMM:2069. AFAM:1140 Introduction to African American Art 3 s.h. AFAM:2072 African American Popular Culture 3 s.h. Introduction to African American art in the United States; Examination of global popularity and impact of African exploration of major art events (i.e., Harlem Renaissance, American popular culture. Same as COMM:2072. Black Arts Movement); study of specific African American AFAM:2076 Race, Ethnicity, and Media 3 s.h. artists and their work; influence of race on artistic expression. Introduction to debates about media portrayals of race and Same as ARTS:1140. ethnicity; focus primarily on entertainment media; use of AFAM:1240 The Art of Listening to Jazz 3 s.h. general analytic perspectives (stereotype analysis, aesthetic What is jazz and its importance; guided introduction to jazz analysis, history) applied to real-world examples; address one music, anatomy of jazz music, cultural context; development or more racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Same as of skills to become an informed listener; process of performing COMM:2076. jazz music, its connection with Black culture; focused AFAM:2079 Race and Ethnicity in Sport 3 s.h. listening/analysis of prominent jazz artists' work from past Structural and ideological barriers to racial and ethnic equality and present, including intersection between jazz and hip hop; in sport, with focus on African American sport experiences; formal music experience or training not required. GE: Literary, historical and contemporary issues, media representations. Visual, and Performing Arts. Same as MUS:1740. Same as SPST:2079. AFAM:1241 The Soundtrack of Black America 3 s.h. AFAM:2130 African American Film Seminar 3 s.h. Linkage of African American culture and music; Black musical Major historical and cultural movements in Black cinema; innovations that shaped mainstream American musical tastes independent and early Hollywood films, animation, over the last century; exploration of relationship between blaxploitation, the Black renaissance, Black auteurs (e.g., Black music and culture; examples of blues, jazz, gospel, hip Spike Lee, Julie Dash), hip hop cinema, womanist films, 21st- hop; artists including Bessie Smith (blues), Mahalia Jackson century developments in film (e.g., theatre to film adaptions (gospel), Miles Davis (jazz), Nas and Talib Kweli (hip hop). GE: of Tyler Perry), new media's effect on film and cinema; Diversity and Inclusion. Same as MUS:1741. particular attention given to gender, sexualities, region, AFAM:1250 Introduction to African American ethnicity, and class. Same as AMST:2130. Religions 3 s.h. AFAM:2266 Civil War and Emancipation 3 s.h. GE: Values and Culture. Same as RELS:1350. 160 years later, what can we learn about American history AFAM:1275 Black Chicago: The Past, Present, and from studying a war that both killed and liberated an Future of an American Community 3 s.h. unprecedented number of people? Why did it take a war Students explore the history of Chicago's Black communities; to end slavery? How