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Introduction to African American History: Emancipation to Civil Rights Movement (212-2-22)

Instructors

Brett V. Gadsden
Harris Hall 209

Meeting Info

University Hall 121: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

The course offers a general introduction to the history of African Americans in the United States from emancipation through the late twentieth century. Students will explore the myriad ways in which African Americans responded to the problems of racial segregation, exclusion, and discrimination in the post-Emancipation period. Students are expected to confront a problem poignantly outlined by the writer James Baldwin when he noted that for African Americans, "It comes as a great shock to discover the country which is your birthplace and to which you owe your life and your identity has not in its whole system of reality evolved any place for you." Thus, we will pay special attention in lectures and discussions to the historical agency of the actors at the center of the course, the relationship between the structural forces that framed subjects' lives, and the myriad ways in which they made sense of their circumstances that then informed the sum of the decisions they made.

Learning Objectives

Understand how historians interpret the past and develop historiographical literacy; Through critical engagement with works representative of the state of the field, students will learn to organize and express their thoughts clearly and coherently both in writing and orally.

Evaluation Method

essays, class participation

Class Notes

Concentration: Americas

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area
U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity

Associated Classes

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-339: Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM

DIS - University Hall 112: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM

DIS - Harris Hall L05: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM