|
[
Wesleyan Home Page
] [
WesMaps Home Page
] [
WesMaps Archive
]
[
Course Search
] [
Course Search by CID
]
|
|
This course examines the history of the African diaspora from about the seventeenth century to the present. We begin by reviewing definitions of diaspora, in general, and the African diaspora specifically. Second, we analyze the multi-directional nature of travel between Africa, Europe, and the Americas. African women and men (here, primarily West African) and their descendants have moved in an Atlantic world by force and by choice over the centuries. Finally, we examine the intellectual work of activists, writers, and ordinary women and men of African descent who have debated the politics, artistic expression, and identit(ies) of African diaspora communities. Women as social actors and ideas about gender, femininity, and masculinity are recurrent themes in the course. Reading assignments include a range of scholarly articles, novels, primary documents, electronic sources, and films. This course illustrates that an African diaspora did not form ¿naturally¿ as a result of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Socioeconomic forces, individuals, community activism, and intellectual critique created and altered the meaning of the African diaspora over time.
COURSE FORMAT: Lecture
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST Grading Mode: Graded
Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.
Last Updated on MAR-30-2006
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459