The Black Studies curriculum helps to unify an important area of intellectual investigation and enhances appreciation of particular disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences.

The Black Studies curriculum is supported by the following of The Claremont Colleges: Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, Pomona and Scripps.

Courses:

• Art and Art History
• History
• Interdisciplinary
• Literature
• Politics
• Psychology

Major Requirements:

Major requirements set by the department can be, with departmental approval, adjusted to respond to the individual students' interests and needs. Upon approval by departmental advisers, relevant courses taken outside of the IDBS course offering may be used to fulfill major requirements.

Requirements for the Black Studies major vary by College. There is not a Black Studies major at Claremont McKenna College; however, students at Claremont McKenna may construct their own major in consultation with Black Studies advisers and the College Registrar.

• For information on the major at Pitzer College
• For information on the major at Pomona College
• For information on the major at Scripps College

The major at Pitzer

Students concentrating in Black Studies must complete at least ten courses (including senior exercise). While six of these courses are expected to be at the upper division level, credit will be given where appropriate to courses numbered lower than 100. For a combined concentration at least seven courses are required. Some flexibility is allowed in the selection and distribution of courses; however, Introduction to Black Studies and the senior exercise are required of all concentrators.

Requirements for the Concentration

Nine courses plus a Senior Exercise (e.g., a project, thesis, or seminar) equaling ten course credits:

• ID 10CC. Introduction to Black Studies
• Two literature courses (African American, African, or Caribbean)
• Two history courses (African American, African)
• Two social science courses (political studies or psychology, and relevant courses in anthropology, economics, environmental studies or sociology)
• One Interdisciplinary course (e.g., American Studies 103, Caribbean Society and Culture 50CC, and relevant course in gender and feminist studies)
• One art course or relevant course in dance, music, philosophy, or religion
• One Senior Exercise in Black Studies

Combined Concentration--seven courses:

• ID10CC. Introduction to Black Studies
• Two literature courses (African American, African, or Caribbean)
• Two history courses (African American, African)
• One social science course (political studies or psychology, and relevant courses in anthropology, economics, environmental studies or sociology)
• One Interdisciplinary course (e.g., American Studies 103, Caribbean Society and Culture 50CC, and relevant course in gender and feminist studies) or one course in art or a relevant course in dance, music, philosophy, or religion.

Concentration requirements set by the department can be, with the approval of the IDBS advisor, adjusted to respond to individual students' interests and needs. Upon approval by departmental advisors, relevant courses taken outside of the IDBS course offering may be used to fulfill concentration requirements.

Advisors: H. Fairchild, A. Jackson.

The major at Pomona

Concentration requirements ensure that students are thoroughly exposed to the broad range of research and scholarship in the subject area. Concentrators must complete at least nine courses chosen from the following list, plus a senior exercise (project, thesis, or comprehensive examination). While six of these courses are expected to be at the upper division level, credit will be given where appropriate to courses numbered lower than 100. Some flexibility is allowed in the selection and distribution of courses; however, ID 10CC and the Senior Exercise are required of all concentrators.

1. ID 10CC, Introduction to Black Studies; one course.
2. Literature (African, African American or Caribbean); two courses.
3. History (African, African American, or Caribbean); two courses.
4. Social Science (e.g., Politics or Psychology); two courses.
5. Interdisciplinary (e.g., 50CC, Caribbean Society and Culture, or ID 60CC, Politics of Race); one course.
6. Art, Music, or Religion; one course.
7. Senior Exercise in Black Studies.

Upon approval by the department, substitutions in the concentration requirements can be adjusted to respond to an individual student's interests and needs.

Students concentrating in Black Studies are strongly encouraged to spend a semester or a year abroad, preferably in countries in Africa or the Caribbean.

191CC. Senior Thesis. Staff.

An independent research and writing project culminating in a substantial, original work. Directed by one faculty member chosen by the student. Each thesis is also read by one additional reader. Offered each semester.

192CC. Senior Project. Staff.

An independent reading, research, and participatory exercise on a topic agreed to by the student and the adviser. Normally, the project involves a set of short papers and/or culminates in a research paper of substantial length based upon participation in a project or program. Offered each semester.

193CC. Senior Comprehensive Examination. Staff.

Taken during the senior year, the comprehensive examination consists of two field examinations that test the depth of the student's understanding of Black Studies. The student chooses two areas in Black Studies (e.g., history and literature) in which to be examined. Offered each semester.

199CC. Independent Study: Reading and Research. Staff.

Permission of instructor required. Course or half- course. May be repeated. Each semster.

The major at Scripps

Students majoring in Black Studies must complete at least nine courses and a senior thesis. While six of these courses are expected to be at the upper-division level, credit will be given, where appropriate, to courses numbered lower than 100. Students majoring in Black Studies should consult with a member of the intercollegiate faculty to plan a program of courses.

Requirements for the Major

1. Prerequisite: Introduction to Black Studies
2. Core Requirements
   1. Two literature courses (African, African American, or Caribbean)
   2. Two history courses (African, African American, or Caribbean)
   3. Two social science courses (psychology, economics, politics, or sociology)
   4. One interdisciplinary course
   5. One course from music, art, dance, religion, or philosophy
3. Senior Thesis

Major requirements set by the department can be, with departmental approval, adjusted to respond to individual students' interests and needs. Upon approval by departmental advisers, relevant courses taken outside of the IDBS course offering can also be used to fulfill the major requirements.

Majors in Black Studies should show proficiency (third- semester level) in a language other than English: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, or an African language. Students majoring in Black Studies are strongly encouraged to spend a semester or a year abroad, preferably in countries in Africa or the Caribbean.

Requirements for the Minor

A minor in Black Studies consists of six upper-division courses chosen in consultation with a member of the Black Studies faculty.

Art and Art History

153CC. The Arts of Africa. Ms. Phyllis P. Jackson.

Introduction to African art and architecture. Explores the ethnic and cultural diversity of African artistic production. Topics include Saharan rock painting, ancient arts of Nubian, Nok, and Ethiopian civilizations; arts of the early states and kingdoms of the Djenne, Yoruba, Igbo-Ukwu, Edo, Akan, and Kongo people; Islamic arts of the Hausa. Emphasis on the social, political, and religious dynamics that foster art production at specific historical moments.

178CC. African American Art. Ms. Phyllis P. Jackson.

Survey of the visual arts produced by people of African descent in the United States from colonial times to the present. Examines the relationship between the aesthetic practices of Black artists and the social and political conditions of different historical eras. Emphasis on African American artists' changing relationship to the artistic and cultural traditions of Africa.

186JCC. Issues in African American Art. Ms. Phyllis P. Jackson.

A seminar examining works produced by artists of African descent in the United States, and the histories, theories, and criticism of their art. Focuses on the social, political, and cultural contexts of artistic practices, themes, and movements such as the Harlem Renaissance, WPA, Black aesthetics, feminism, Afrocentrism, and identity politics.

History

40CC. History of Africa to 1800. Mr. Lemelle.

History of Africa from the earliest times to the beginning of the 19th century. Attention given to the methodology and theoretical framework used by the Africanist, the development of early African civilizations, and current debates and trends in the historiography of Africa.

41CC. History of Africa since 1800. Mr. Lemelle.

History of Africa from the 19th century to recent times. Attention given to political and economic aspects of Africa's development process. Methodological and theoretical frameworks utilized by Africanists, as well as current debates and trends in African historiography.

100UCC. Pan-Africanism and Black Radical Traditions. Mr. Lemelle.

A seminar that examines the historical evolution of the Pan-African concept and its political, social, and economic implications for the world generally and for Black people in particular. Discussion of 20th-century writers of Pan- Africanism, especially Padmore, DuBois, Garvey, Nkrumah, Malcolm X, Toure (Carmichael), in terms of contemporary problems of African Americans.

111aCC. African American History, 1619-1860. Ms. Roberts.

History of African Americans from the epoch of the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the Civil War. The complexity and diversity of Black experience within the context of American social, economic, and political development.

111bCC. African American History, 1860 to Present. Ms. Roberts.

Examines African American experience from the Civil War to the present. Black political and socioeconomic thought. Reconstruction, the impact of urbanization, nationalism, the Harlem Renaissance, and the modern Civil Rights movement.

143CC. Slavery and Freedom in the New World. Mr. Lemelle.

Survey covering history of Africans and their descendants in the Americas from the epoch of the trans-Atlantic slave trade until the end of the 19th century. Divided into two general sections--the slave epoch, and emancipation (and aftermath).

149CC. Industrialization and Social Change in Southern Africa. Mr. Lemelle.

History of Southern Africa from the 17th century to the present. Emphasis on rapid industrialization and social change during the last two centuries. Examines the political, economic, and sociocultural ramifications of these changes on Southern African societies.

171CC. History of African American Women in the United States. Ms. Roberts.

Explores the demographic, social, political, economic, and intellectual forces that helped shape the experiences of African American women from the late 17th century to the present. Themes of comparison and contrast, and continuity and change among women of different classes and regions will constitute the major focus of the course.

176CC. "Is This America?": The Civil Rights Movement from 1954-1965. Ms. Roberts.

Beginning with the idea that local community activism established the foundation for the mass movement that followed, this course explores the origins, development, and impact of the modern African American struggle for civil rights. Mainly through primary readings and film, we will consider individual personalities, organizations, and litigation to understand the multidimensional characteristics of the mass mobilization against racism in the United States.

Interdisciplinary

10CC. Introduction to Black Studies. Mr. Fairchild.

An interdisciplinary exploration of key aspects of Black history, culture, and life in America and the Americas. Provides students with a fundamental, intellectual understanding of the global Black experience as it has been described and interpreted in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

50CC. Caribbean Society and Culture. Ms. Shelton.

The complexity and diversity of the Caribbean examined in terms of its socioeconomic reality, the lives of its people, and its artistic and intellectual products.

60CC. The Politics of Race. Staff.

Examines race as a condition of existence and as a category of analysis, centering on but not restricted to the African diaspora in the Western hemisphere. Works studied are in social sciences, arts, and humanities. Topics include ideology, capitalism, eugenics, power, gender, sexuality, nationalism, religion, representation, and media. Community service component.

150CC. Epistemologies of the Diaspora. Staff.

Looking briefly at migrants, refugees, fugitives, and slaves, this course examines the social relations of power and difference that constitute the push and pull factors causing people to move. Works and materials are drawn from the fields of political economy, history, art, literature, music, sociology, film, and anthropology. Focus on the Los Angeles urban complex: a borderland of "first" and "third" worlds. Fieldwork and community service components.

152CC. Black Women Feminism(s) and Social Change. Ms. P. Jackson.

Introduction to the theoretical and practical contributions of African American feminists who maintain that issues of race, gender, sexuality, and social class are central, rather than peripheral, to any history, analysis, assessment, or strategy for bringing about change in the United States.

Literature

7CC. Beginning Expository Writing, Critical Reading, and Basic Research. Ms. A. Jackson.

Analytical reading and detailed discussion of fictional and expository texts, primarily by African American writers; extensive expository writing based on the reading; basic library research related to the preparation of several short papers.

12CC. Introduction to African American Literature. Ms. A. Jackson.

Reading and analysis of selected works in short and long fiction, poetry, drama, autobiography, and the essay from the 19th century to the present, with primary focus on materials written since 1930. Lectures, class discussions, films and audiotapes, papers, essay examinations, and some library research.

132CC. Special Studies in African American Literature in the United States. Ms. A. Jackson.

Intensive study of a specific author, genre, theme, period, or movement among Black writers in the United States. With different content may be repeated for credit.

133CC. NOMMO: Survey of African American Poetry. Ms. A. Jackson.

The historical background, texts, and aesthetics of African American poetry, beginning with African oral tradition, through early spirituals and blues, to contemporary works. Adaptation and modification of Western principles of poetic criticism.

134CC. NOMMO: Survey of African American Fiction. Ms. A. Jackson.

A historical study of fiction by Black authors, beginning with Wilson's Our Nig and Brown's Clotel. Works of early writers, Harlem Renaissance authors, moderns, and contemporary authors.

135CC. NOMMO: Survey of African American Drama as Literature. Ms. A. Jackson.

A study of the historical background and the aesthetics of present-day Black drama, beginning with African ritual and dance, through a reading of selected works by early dramatists (e.g., Brown, Cotter, Grimke) and a discussion of Black minstrel companies and musical theatricals (e.g., Cook, Miller and Lyles, Blake and Sissle), to modern and contemporary works (e.g., Hansberry, Childress, Baraka, Ward, Milner, Kennedy, Bullins, Shange, and Wilson).

160CC. African and Caribbean Literature. Ms. Shelton.

Reading and analysis of works of fiction, poetry, and drama representing the most important trends in African and Caribbean literatures.

165CC. Writing Between Borders: Caribbean Writers in the U.S.A. and Canada. Ms. Shelton.

This course will examine works by women writers from the Caribbean who live in the U.S.A. and Canada. It will seek to uncover the complex nature of cross-cultural encounters. Students will explore the strategies used by these writers to define themselves both inside and outside the body politic of two societies. Special attention will be given to questions of identity, exile, history, memory and language. Authors to be considered include: Paule Marshall, Michelle Cliff, and Jamaica Kincaid.

Politics

43CC. Blacks in American Politics. Mr. Foster.

The role of Blacks in the American political process, with emphasis on strategies used by Blacks to gain political power and to influence decision making; politics related to Blacks in Southern and urban settings.

44CC. Race, Class, and Power. Mr. Foster.

A systematic analysis of the relationship between social stratification and race and the distribution of power and social status in American Society. Historical and contemporary analysis will be used to study ethnic and racial groups and their incorporation into American society.

Psychology

12CC. Introduction to African American Psychology. Mr. Fairchild.

Introduction to African American psychology, including perspectives, education, community, life- span development, gender, and related issues. Emphasizes the critical examination of current research and theory. Students are expected to contribute orally and in writing.

112CC. Interethnic Relations: From the Impersonal to the Personal. Mr. Gaines.

Explores interethnic relations at the individual and group levels, using Gordon Allport's The Nature of Prejudice as the primary conceptual source. Examines theoretical and empirical advances in the study of interethnic conflict and cooperation during the decades following the initial publication of The Nature of Prejudice in 1954.

127CC. Research in African American Psychology. Mr. Gaines.

Students evaluate concepts and conduct research in the field of Black (i.e., African American) psychology. Emphasis on cultural values (e.g., collectivism) and scholarly perspectives (e.g., Afrocentrism) associated with theoretical and empirical work in the field of Black Psychology.

188CC. Seminar in African American Psychology. Mr. Fairchild.

Critically examines contemporary research, theory and practice in African American psychology. Emphasizes the ideas of leading theorists; research on contemporary problems; and applications for personal and social change.