AFRAM-MIN - African and African American Studies (Minor)

These two courses form the core of the major and minor and will contain an overview of the field of Black Studies broadly defined from various viewpoints, concepts, and methodologies. Combining humanistic and social scientific approaches to the study of African, African American, and Global Black life, culture and philosophy, these courses will also feature lectures by AAAS affiliates and leading scholars and public figures from beyond the University. By reading key African, African American, and Black thinkers from the era of Trans-Atlantic slavery to the present, these courses will introduce students to the historical formation of African, African American, and Global Black identities, intellectual cultures, and political struggles in the United States, Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, and beyond. Taking advantage of the University’s strengths in STEM and its location in Silicon Valley, these courses will also include an opportunity for critical reflection on issues pertaining to race and technology.

Foundations in African American Studies I & II: These two classes are at the heart of the African American Studies track. Students will be introduced to specific themes in the culture, politics, and history of African America, including slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, Black aesthetics, philosophy, and the range of Black expressions on social media, among other things. Students will be introduced to key thinkers and trends in Black thought, including W.E.B. DuBois, Cornel West, Toni Morrison, Angela Davis, and many others.

Foundations in African Studies I & II: These two classes are at the heart of the African Studies major track. Featuring a diverse cast of instructors – several high-profile African figures as guest lecturers; a wish list might include people such as former South African President, Thabo Mbeki; a core group of faculty teachers and mentors - these classes will provide students with an exciting introduction to the diverse and highly relevant field of modern African Studies. By reading key African, African American, and Black thinkers from the era of Trans-Atlantic slavery to the present day and focusing on both the past and the future of the continent, we will explore contested histories of knowledge production in and of Africa, situate Africa as a historic and present key global player, and prioritize African contributions to the study of the continent. Our approach will be explicitly interdisciplinary: We will explore the contributions to African Studies of humanities and social science disciplines (e.g. History and Anthropology) as well as of literature, visual arts, and performance. Themes covered will also include African Studies and STEM, including environmental and climate studies. We will seek funding for enhanced student engagement for all enrolled majors, including Summer travel study projects to the continent linked to the course and one-on-one research and mentoring opportunities with faculty in Stanford and beyond. 

Foundations in Global Black Diaspora Studies I & II: Taking a plural and comparative hemispheric approach to understanding relations among historical and contemporary constructions of diasporas in the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, and the United States as well as Black experiences across different cultures and contexts, these courses sequence serves as a foundation work in AAAS. Through examinations of hemispheric and other Black histories, literatures, cultural practices, and philosophies, and societies, students will reconsider borders imposed upon geographies, the dynamics of migration and settlement, the reality of metissage and Third Culture Kids, languages, and demographics, as well as how, out of necessity, Afro-descendant populations have forged lives beyond these various contexts. Topics include comparative colonialisms and imperialisms, modernity and empire, migration and diaspora, feminist and queer movements, and political struggle and revolution.