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Academic Year 2004/2005


The Rising Tide of Color: 19th and 20th Century Black Nationalism and Internationalism
HIST 385 FA

Crosslistings:
AMST 384
AFAM 384

Looking at the period from the mid-19th century through the 1970s, we will examine the ways in which ¿the rest of the world¿ figured into black American intellectual programs for combating discrimination at home, and we will explore the attempts made by black civil rights advocates to capitalize on forums around the world to press for political change. Throughout the course, we will consider the ways in which African American ideas about the rest of the world were shaped by their own backgrounds and experiences as ¿Americans¿ or, conversely, by their perceptions of themselves as part of a global coalition of oppressed peoples. We will ask to what degree they were successful at challenging racism and paternalism¿and to what degree they reified it¿in their various approaches to the international scene. How did black activists and intellectuals import and engage with ideologies of anti-imperialism, anti-fascism, Communism, and pacifism to further their own domestic agenda of equal rights for all? What effect did the harnessing of these international doctrines have on their home-grown political philosophies, encouraging or hindering their ability to realize their goal of civil rights? And how were African American interventions in international political arenas received by those with whom they sought to forge alliances?

MAJOR READINGS

Mary Dudziak, COLD WAR CIVIL RIGHTS: RACE AND THE IMAGE OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000)
Robin D.G. Kelley, HAMMER AND HOE: ALABAME COMMUNISTS DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990)
Alain Locke, ed., THE NEW NEGRO (New York: Atheneum, 1968 [1925])
Manning Marable, ed. DISPATCHES FROM THE EBONY TOWER: INTELLECTUALS CONFRONT THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000)
Ula Yvette Taylor, THE VEILED GARVEY: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AMY JACQUES GARVEY (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002)
Timothy B. Tyson, RADIO FREE DIXIE: ROBERT F. WILLIAMS AND THE ROOTS OF BLACK POWER (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999)
Penny Von Eschen, RACE AGAINST EMPIRE: BLACK AMERICANS AND ANTICOLONIALISM, 1937-1957 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997)
Ida B. Wells, CRUSADE FOR JUSTICE: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF IDA B. WELLS (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1 991

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Section presentation, 1 Short (5 page) Paper, Final Research Paper (20 pages)

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): Nelson,Claire Nee   
Times: ...W... 07:00PM-09:50PM;     Location: FISK314;
Reserved Seats:    (Total Limit: 15)
SR. major: 5   Jr. major: 7
SR. non-major: 0   Jr. non-major: 3   SO: 0   FR: 0

Special Attributes:
Curricular Renewal:    Focused Inquiry Course
Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-21-2005


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