Courses - Spring 2027
AAAS
African American and Africana Studies
Open Seats as of
11/12/2026 at 10:30 PM
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.
AAAS100H
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.
Restricted to HONR students only.
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.
AAAS202H
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.
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.
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.
AAAS255
African-American History, 1865 - Present
Cross-listed with: HIST255.
Credit only granted for: HIST255, AASP255, AAAS255 or AASP298A.
An introductory course in the African-American experience in the United States from 1865 to the present. Topics include the aftermath of the Civil War on US race relations, the rise of segregation, northern migration, World War I and II, Civil Rights Movements, and the Black Power Movement.
AAAS265
Constructions of Manhood and Womanhood in the Black Community
Cross-listed with: WGSS265.
Credit only granted for: WMST265, AASP298B, AAAS265, WGSS265 or AASP265.
Formerly: WMST265.
Investigates the ways that African Americans are represented and constructed in public and private spheres and explores the social constructions and representations of Black manhood and womanhood from various disciplinary perspectives.
Cross-listed with WGSS265. Credit granted only for AAAS265 or WGSS265.
AAAS317
Black in Latin America and the Caribbean
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Credit only granted for: AASP317 or AAAS317.
Formerly: AASP317.
The goal of this course is to have an understanding of race, color, and blackness across the Americas. We will compare and contrast forms of racial categorization, discrimination, and ideologies, whether in the form of nation-building projects, addressing racial inequality, or sexuality and family formation. We will draw primarily on social science perspectives, including the work of sociologists and political scientists.
AAAS320
Poverty and African American Children
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with: SOCY320.
Credit only granted for: AASP320, AAAS320, AASP298P or SOCY320.
Formerly: AASP298P.
The United States has high levels of child poverty compared to other industrialized nations. Poverty rates are particularly high among African American children. This course focuses on how poverty and race intersect to influence the development of children and youth. Specific topics that we will consider include definitions of poverty, theories about the causes of poverty, racial disparities in child poverty, family functioning in the context of poverty, neighborhood influences, risk and protective processes, and social policies and programs designed to mitigate the impact of poverty.
Cross-listed with SOCY320. Credit granted only for AAAS320 or SOCY320.
AAAS351
Sinners: At the Intersections of Identity, Folklore, Faith, and the Blues
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
While Sinners operates as a supernatural thriller, its deeper themes center on artistic freedom, cultural memory, and the ownership of Black creative expression. Set in the 1930s Mississippi Delta, the film presents blues music as both a cultural archive and a form of resistance, illustrating how Black artistic traditions have preserved identity and community across generations. The film also interrogates the historical exploitation of Black creativity, inviting students to consider who controls cultural production, who benefits from it, and why ownership of stories remains a vital question. Using the film as a central text, students will examine topics including the historical development of race and racism, Black cultural production, the blues tradition, the Great Migration, Jim Crow segregation, religious traditions, memory, folklore, systems of power, representation in popular culture, and the relationship between history and horror. The course also considers how supernatural narratives can serve as metaphors for historical trauma, cultural appropriation, and collective resilience.
AAAS370
Spike Lee's Joints
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with: CINE353.
Credit only granted for: AASP370, AAAS370, or CINE353.
Formerly: AASP370.
In offering extended formal considerations of Spike Lee's cinematic oeuvre--in particular his uses of light, sound, and color--this course is interested in how various modes of critical inquiry can enable or broaden our cultural, political, or historical engagement with a film. We will pay special attention to the question of what it means to encapsulate a specific cultural moment, particularly in relation to differing demands of fictional and non-fictional representation, in sound and image. As well, we will attend to how Lee's aesthetic techniques, cultural politics, and wide-ranging critique of the American racial caste system helps us think about the role of film in ongoing struggles for racial justice.
AAAS386
Experiential Learning
Credits:
3 - 6
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F
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
AAAS398G
Selected Topics in the African Diaspora; Gender, Labor and Racial Identities in Diaspora Communities
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with AAAS398G. Credit will be only granted for AAAS398G, AASP398G, or AMST328K.
This course will expose students to a range of interdisciplinary perspectives, theories, and methodologies for exploring the intersectionality of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and racial identitiesin multiple post-emancipation and modern African/Black diaspora communities. The class readings and discussions will examine the interactions and linkages between and among various African diaspora/descendant and native-born African American/Black peoples, frommultiple vantage points, in different historical periods and movements in the U.S., Africa, the Caribbean, Latin American and Europe.
This course will expose students to a range of interdisciplinary perspectives, theories, and methodologies for exploring the intersectionality of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and racial identitiesin multiple post-emancipation and modern African/Black diaspora communities. The class readings and discussions will examine the interactions and linkages between and among various African diaspora/descendant and native-born African American/Black peoples, frommultiple vantage points, in different historical periods and movements in the U.S., Africa, the Caribbean, Latin American and Europe.
AAAS400
Directed Readings in African American and Africana Studies
Prerequisite: AAAS202 or AAAS100.
Credit only granted for: AASP400 or AAAS400.
Formerly: AASP400.
The readings will be directed by the faculty of African American Studies. Topics to be covered will be chosen to meet the needs and interests of individual students.
AAAS400H
Directed Readings in African American and Africana Studies
Prerequisite: AAAS202 or AAAS100.
Credit only granted for: AASP400 or AAAS400.
Formerly: AASP400.
The readings will be directed by the faculty of African American Studies. Topics to be covered will be chosen to meet the needs and interests of individual students.
AAAS411
Black Resistance Movements
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: AAAS100.
Credit only granted for: AASP411 or AAAS411.
Formerly: AASP411.
A comparative study of the Black resistance movements in Africa and America; analysis of their interrelationships as well as their impact on contemporary pan-Africanism.
Cross-listed with GVPT479T. Credit granted only for AAAS411 or GVPT479T.
AAAS417
Emotions and Culture in the African American Community
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Credit only granted for: AASP417, AASP498E, PSYC498O, or SOCY417.
Formerly: AASP498E and AASP417.
This course introduces students to the role of culture and racism in shaping the ways in which African Americans experience, express, understand, and control emotions on a behavioral, physiological, and psychological level. We will begin with exploration of historical influences such as the role of African culture on contemporary African American norms of expressivity and the role of antebellum slavery, the eugenics movement, and blackface on stimulating contemporary stereotypes about African American emotional temperament (e.g., stereotypes regarding aggressiveness, anger, and violence). We will conclude with discussions of the impact of discrimination on emotional and physiological reactivity and factors that promote emotional resiliency. Students will grapple with the contemptuous disconnect between the African American cultural tradition of free emotional expressivity and the survival strategy to control emotions in response to a society threatened by Black emotionality.
AAAS422
More Than an Athlete: Sports, Race, Politics, and Protest in the United States
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Credit only granted for: AAAS422 or AASP498R.
Formerly: AASP498R.
Sports are often viewed as an apolitical activity primarily meant for leisure and enjoyment, but there is more to sports than just entertainment. Throughout American history, sports--and the athletes who play them--have been central to political discourse and action (particularly the politics of race), not separate from it. Moreover, Black people have played a critically important role in the world of sport, using it as a tool both to achieve upward mobility and advocate for social justice. In this course, we will critically examine how and why sports have been central to the (Black) American experience. Starting with the earliest days of organized sports and ending in the present with sports activism in the Black Lives Matter era, we will consider how athletes have used sports to: combat racism and sexism by debunking racist and sexist stereotypes; advocate for social and political reforms using sports as a site for protest; and achieve upward mobility through collective bargaining and the commodification and commercialization of Black American culture. Throughout this investigation, we will examine the obstacles, opportunities, failures, and successes of sports in shaping American society and politics, homing in on key events, movements, and people, with a particular emphasis on Black athletes.
AAAS490
Seven Revolutions in Modern Africa (1945-)
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with: HIST490.
Credit only granted for: HIST428B, HIST490, or AAAS490.
Formerly: HIST428B.
Seven Revolutions samples theoretical, contemporaneously produced, and leading scholarly (secondary) texts about seven revolutionary situations faced by Africans from ca. 1952 through to the 21st century. In past years we have devoted weeks or double weeks to the Mau Mau (Kenya), Ethiopian derg, Zimbabwe's factions and structural racism, Guinea and women's subalternity, Patrice Lumumba's assassination, race vs. settler as a framework, Liberia's intersection with continental history in the 1980s, among other focuses.
AAAS498X
Special Topics in Black Culture; Psychology of the Black Experience
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with PSYC489Q. Credit will be only granted for AASP498X or PSYC489Q.
Flagship Institution of the University System of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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