Political Research Seminar (395-0-28)
Topic
Black Political Thought
Instructors
Alvin Bernard Tillery
Meeting Info
Parkes Hall 213: Tues, Thurs 10:00AM - 11:20AM
Overview of class
This course traces the evolution of the concepts of race, gender, class, and nation through the writings of African American intellectuals. It begins with a theoretical overview of these constructs. It then moves on to the following questions: Have African Americans historically seen race, gender, class, and nation differently than their white counterparts? How has the existence of America's system of racial classification and exclusion shaped African American ideas about these constructs? How do African American intellectuals see racial equality? Do African American intellectuals believe that a "post-racial" society is possible?
Learning Objectives
This course introduces students to the key debates and canonical texts in the history of Black Political Thought. The course explores the following core questions: How have Black intellectuals conceptualized key concepts in western political philosophy (gender, race, class, rights, etc.)? How have Black thinkers dealt with the traumas of slavery, Jim Crow, and retrenchment in the post-civil rights era? How important has internationalism been to the develop of ideas about equality and freedom within canonical African American writings?
Evaluation Method
*Regular Class Attendance and Participation: 20% of your grade.
*4 Reflection Papers (2-page reflection papers): 30% of your grade.
*Term Paper: 50% of your grade.
Class Materials (Required)
(1.) David Walker, Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World (Black Classic Press Reprint, 1993);
(2.) W.E.B. Du Bois, Souls of Black Folk (New York: Random House, 1990);
(3.) John Staufer and Henry Louis Gates, The Portable Frederick Douglass (New York: Penguin: Random House, 2016);
(4.) Mia Bay and Henry Louis Gates, The Light of Truth: Writings of an Anti-Lynching Crusader (New York: Penguin, 2014);
(5.) Kevin K. Gaines, Uplifting the Race (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1998);
(6.) Martin Luther King, Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. (New York: Haper Collins);
(7.) Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (New York: Routledge, 2000);
(8.) Derrick Bell, Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism (New York: Basic Books, 2018).
Class Attributes
Advanced Expression