Courses - Fall 2025
AAAS
African American and Africana Studies
AAAS100
Introduction to African American and Africana Studies
Credit only granted for: AASP100 or AAAS100.
Formerly: AASP100.
Significant aspects of the history of African Americans with particular emphasis on the evolution and development of black communities from slavery to the present. Interdisciplinary introduction to social, political, legal and economic roots of contemporary problems faced by blacks in the United States with applications to the lives of other racial and ethnic minorities in the Americas and in other societies.
AAAS101
Public Policy and the Black Community
Credit only granted for: AASP101 or AAAS101.
Formerly: AASP101.
The impact of public policies on the Black community and the role of the policy process in affecting the social, economic and political well-being of minorities. Particular attention given to the post-1960 to present era.
AAAS187
The New Jim Crow: African-Americans, Mass Incarceration and the Prison Industrial Complex
Recommended: AASP100.
Credit only granted for: AASP187 or AAAS187.
Formerly: AASP187.
Students will examine the birth of the racial caste system following the abolition of slavery, the parallels between the racial hierarchy of the Jim Crow system and contemporary mass incarceration, and the rise of the prison industrial complex as a multi-billon business which thrives on the oppression of low-income populations and poor communities of color.
AAAS200
African Civilization
Credit only granted for: AASP200 or AAAS200.
Formerly: AASP200.
A survey of African civilizations from 4500 B.C. to present. Analysis of traditional social systems. Discussion of the impact of European colonization on these civilizations. Analysis of the influence of traditional African social systems on modern African institutions as well as discussion of contemporary processes of Africanization.
AAAS202
Credit only granted for: AASP202 or AAAS202.
Formerly: AASP202.
The course examines important aspects of African American life and thought which are reflected in African American literature, drama, music and art. Beginning with the cultural heritage of slavery, the course surveys the changing modes of Black creative expression from the 19th-century to the present.
AAAS210
Intro to Research Design and Analysis in African American and Africana Studies
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Credit only granted for: AASP210 or AAAS210.
Formerly: AASP210.
Introduces students to quantitative and qualitative research methods used in social science with a focus on Black populations and African American Studies Research. Uses practical exercises, such as class surveys and mock focus groups, to examine fundamental concepts of the research process from conceptualization of research questions to interpretation of data and research articles. The course is designed for undergraduate students with little or no background knowledge in social science research methods.
AAAS211
Get Out: The Sunken Place of Race Relations in the Post-Racial Era
Credit only granted for: AASP211 or AAAS211.
Formerly: AASP211.
Prevailing thought suggests that we live in an era that is post-racial, particularly after the election of Barack Obama. Media often serves to drive our assessment of where our nation stands on issues like race, gender and sexuality. This course uses the film Get Out to delve into the production, evolution and significance of race in present day America. The course will engage multiple forms of media to investigate life in "Post-Racial" America, including but not limited to the role of stereotypes, interracial relationships, police-community relations, etc.
AAAS230
Social (In)Justice and African-American Health and Well-Being
Credit only granted for: AASP230 or AAAS230.
Formerly: AASP230.
African Americans suffer worse outcomes than non-Hispanic whites on nearly every health measure and outcomes that link to overall well-being like depressive symptoms or homicides. Health disparities are experienced by other underrepresented minority groups, but because of the unique historic and current experiences of African Americans, the determinants and solutions to African American health disparities are unique. The premise of this course is that African American health disparities are due to social injustices perpetuated on the institutional level that have permeated the lived experiences of African Americans leading to racial disparities in health and well-being. As such, the solutions on the both policy, and community, level must have a social justice approach.
AAAS234
Cross-listed with: ENGL234.
Credit only granted for: ENGL234, AAAS234 or AASP298L.
An exploration of the stories black authors tell about themselves, their communities, and the nation as informed by time and place, gender, sexuality, and class. African American perspective themes such as art, childhood, sexuality, marriage, alienation and mortality, as well as representations of slavery, Reconstruction, racial violence and the Nadir, legalized racism and segregation, black patriotism and black ex-patriots, the optimism of integration, and the prospects of a post-racial America.
AAAS254
African-American History to 1865
Cross-listed with: HIST254.
Credit only granted for: HIST254, AAAS254 or AASP298C.
Survey of the principal developments in the history and culture of the peoples of African descent in colonial North America and the United States to 1865. Examines the African past, the Atlantic slave trade, variation in slavery, the growth of free black communities, the transformations of families and cultural forms, and patterns of resistance.
AAAS263
Introduction to Black Women's Studies
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with: WGSS263.
Credit only granted for: WMST263, AASP298I, WGSS263, AAAS263 or AASP263.
Formerly: WMST263.
Interdisciplinary exploration of Black women, culture and society in the United States. Drawn primarily from the social sciences and history with complementary material from literature and the arts.
AAAS301
Applied Policy Analysis and the Black Community
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: AAAS101.
Recommended: Completion of one semester of statistics is recommended.
Credit only granted for: AASP301 or AAAS301.
Formerly: AASP301.
Development and application of the tools needed for examining the effectiveness of alternative policy options confronting minority communities. Review policy research methods used in forming and evaluating policies. Examination of the policy process.
AAAS310
African Slave Trade
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: AAAS202 or AAAS100; or permission of BSOS-African American and Africana Studies department.
Credit only granted for: AASP310 or AAAS310.
Formerly: AASP310.
The relationship of the slave trade of Africans to the development of British capitalism and its industrial revolution; and to the economic and social development of the Americas.
AAAS386
Experiential Learning
Credits:
3 - 6
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Restriction: Permission of BSOS-African American and Africana Studies department; and junior standing or higher.
Credit only granted for: AASP386 or AAAS386.
Formerly: AASP386.
Updating course code to align with department name change
AAAS397
Senior Thesis
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Restriction: Permission of BSOS-African American and Africana Studies department.
Credit only granted for: AASP397 or AAAS397.
Formerly: AASP397.
Directed research in African American Studies resulting in the completion and defense of a senior thesis.
AAAS398B
Selected Topics in the African Diaspora; Black Immigrants: Challenges and Impacts
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
AAAS398J
Selected Topics in the African Diaspora; Black Women in Twentieth Century America
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
AAAS398Q
Selected Topics in the African Diaspora; Black Baltimore in the Post Racial U.S: African American Urban Culture in the Age of Obama
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
AAAS398U
Selected Topics in the African Diaspora; Angela Davis
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with AMST328B and WGSS379U. Credit only granted for AAAS398U, AASP398U, AMST328B, ENGL368F, or WGSS379U.
This course explores the meaning and significance of Angela Davis work for thinking through issues of race, nation, class, gender, carceral culture, and transnational solidarity. Her life and work is set between theorizing histories of race, racism, class, and gender and political organizing and public intellectual work. We will examine all of these aspects by reading her work from its beginning and up through contemporary commentary on incarceration, Palestine, and related issues. The centerpiece of this course will be her study of African-American music in its Black feminist iteration, Blues Legacies and Black Feminism.
This course explores the meaning and significance of Angela Davis work for thinking through issues of race, nation, class, gender, carceral culture, and transnational solidarity. Her life and work is set between theorizing histories of race, racism, class, and gender and political organizing and public intellectual work. We will examine all of these aspects by reading her work from its beginning and up through contemporary commentary on incarceration, Palestine, and related issues. The centerpiece of this course will be her study of African-American music in its Black feminist iteration, Blues Legacies and Black Feminism.
AAAS399
Research in African-American and Africana Studies
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Flagship Institution of the University System of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
/
Phone:
301.405.1000
Copyright
© 2025 University of Maryland
/
Privacy /
Web Accessibility
Contact us
with comments, questions and feedback
/