General Catalog - African American & African Studies (AAS)

AAS 010 — African-American Culture & Society (4 units)

Course Description: Critical examination of the historical, political, social, and economic factors that have affected the development and status of African-American people in contemporary society.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 012 — Introduction to African Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to African Studies which will focus on the various disciplinary perspectives through which African society and culture are generally studied. A survey of methods, resources and conceptual tools for the study of Africa.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 015 — Introduction to African American Humanities (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the humanist tradition developed by writers, philosophers, and artists of African descent in the West. Attention also given to African sources, as well as European, Caribbean, Latin-American, and North American variations on this tradition.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
Enrollment Restriction(s): Limited to 165 students.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD).

AAS 016 — Verbal & Performance Arts in Africa (4 units)

Course Description: African verbal arts; oral texts from different African cultures. Types of critical response to oral texts, role of oral artists, context and esthetics of oral performance in Africa.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Visual Literacy (VL); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 017 — Women in African Societies (4 units)

Course Description: Gender relations in traditional and contemporary African society. Involvement of African women in politics, religion, the economy, the arts. African responses to feminist theory. Images of women in African literature.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 018 — Introduction to Caribbean Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the contemporary culture, peoples, politics, and societies of the Caribbean. Topics include movements of people, goods and ideas across the Atlantic world and creative productions within the Caribbean.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 050 — Black Popular Culture (4 units)

Course Description: Survey of the African American images in popular culture (film, television, comedy, sports and music).

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s), Term Paper.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Visual Literacy (VL); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 051 — History of Afro American Dance (4 units)

Course Description: Evolution of African-American dance, tracing its history and development from West and Central Africa to the United States. Investigates the social and cultural relevance of African American dance and its artistic merits through contributions from its choreographers and performers.

Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Visual Literacy (VL).

AAS 052 — African Traditional Religion (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to traditional religions of the sub-Saharan African peoples: emphasis on myths, rituals and symbols in West, East, Central and South African indigenous religions. Examines themes: sacred kingship, divination system, women, prophecy, conversion and adaptation to Islam and Christianity.

Learning Activities: Lecture 2 hour(s), Discussion 2 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 053 — Black California (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the experiences and contributions of people of African descent in California from the early 18th century to the present.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD).

AAS 080 — Introduction to Black Politics (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the analysis of Afro-American politics, using conceptual frameworks from political science and other social sciences.

Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.

AAS 099 — Special Study for Undergraduates (1-5 units)

Course Description: Special study for undergraduates.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Variable.
Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

AAS 100 — Survey of Ethnicity in the US (4 units)

Course Description: Sociological and historical analysis of the experience, culture, and relations of and between groups considered racial and/or ethnic minorities in the United States.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing or consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
Enrollment Restriction(s): Limited enrollment.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD).

AAS 101 — Introduction to Research in the Afro-American Community (4 units)

Course Description: Introductory survey of Afro-American Studies methods and techniques; problems and methodology in Afro-American Studies.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 010; or consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.

AAS 103 — The Black Human Rights Tradition (4 units)

Course Description: Key figures and frameworks in the Black human rights tradition. Significance of Black intellectuals and activists in social movements toward an expanded human rights tradition. Analysis and application of Black studies methods to contemporary social issues.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Cross Listing: HMR 137.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 107A — African Descent Communities & Culture in the Caribbean & Latin America (4 units)

Course Description: Origin and development of African descent communities and cultures in the Caribbean, and Latin America. Similarities and differences among African descent communities and cultures in terms of religious practices, music, and national identity.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: World Cultures (WC).

AAS 107B — African Descent Communities & Culture in North America (4 units)

Course Description: Study of the origin and development of African descent communities and cultures in the U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD).

AAS 107C — African Descent Communities & Culture in Asia (4 units)

Course Description: Study of the origin and development of African Descent communities and cultures in Asia.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 107D — African Descent Communities & Cultures in Europe (4 units)

Course Description: Study of the origin and development of African Descent communities and cultures in Europe.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 110 — West African Social Organization (4 units)

Course Description: Ecology, population, social and political organization, and culture of West Africa in the precolonial, colonial, and post-colonial periods.

Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 111 — Cultural Politics in Contemporary Africa (4 units)

Course Description: Themes and style of new cultural forms in Africa as displayed in art, music, film and writing, especially in regard to blending of indigenous and foreign influences. Social and political forces shaping contemporary cultural expression.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 012; or upper division standing.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 115 — Kingdoms in Contemporary African Politics (4 units)

Course Description: Kingdoms and monarchies in sub-Saharan Africa and their role in contemporary politics through the comparative political economy approach.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 012 recommended.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 116 — Presidential Politics in Africa (4 units)

Course Description: Political leadership in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on historical, institutional, and biographical influences and outcomes through political economy approaches.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hour(s); Term paper.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 123 — Black Female Experience in Contemporary Society (4 units)

Course Description: Black female social, intellectual, and psychological development. Black women's contributions in history, literature, and social science; life experiences of Black women and philosophical underpinnings of the feminist movement.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing or consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD).

AAS 130 — Education in the African-American Community (4 units)

Course Description: Examination of the history of the education of African Americans in the United States. Examination and critique of contemporary theories concerning the schooling of African Americans. (Former AAS 140.)

Learning Activities: Lecture 2 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s), Fieldwork 3 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD).

AAS 133 — The Black Family In America (4 units)

Course Description: Analysis of social science research to examine relationship between black (African-descent) family structures, patterns of functioning, and political, economic, and social conditions in the U.S.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing or consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD).

AAS 136 — Black Women & Food (4 units)

Course Description: Black women’s relationships with food. Historical and contemporary representations, self-representations, and misrepresentations in popular culture. Images of African American women in their roles as providers, producers, preparers and consumers of food in both domestic and public arenas from the periods of Black people’s enslavement up through the 21st century.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH).
This course version is effective from, and including: Fall Quarter 2024.

AAS 138 — AIDS, Race, Gender & Sexuality in Black Communities (4 units)

Course Description: Critical examination of how the intersections of gender, religion, race, sexuality, and socioeconomic status have perpetuated the marginalization of African Americans in public health. Focus on vulnerabilities to HIV/AIDS in Black communities.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD).
This course version is effective from, and including: Fall Quarter 2024.

AAS 141 — Psychology of the African American Experience (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the psychological issues faced by African Americans. Description of any disparities in mental health care experienced by African American and Diaspora populations in the United States. Analysis of issues from European/Western and Afrocentric frame of reference. Emphasis on Optimal Theory, a psychological theory based on an Afrocentric world view.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 010; or consent of instructor; upper division status.

Learning Activities: Discussion 1 hour(s), Lecture 3 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.

AAS 145A — Black Social & Political Thought (4 units)

Course Description: Exploration and analysis of Black social and political thought in the Americas.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 010 or AAS 080; or consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS).

AAS 145B — Black Intellectuals (4 units)

Course Description: Exposition and critical analysis of selected theoretical writings of Black intellectuals, and especially political and social thinkers, in the Americas.

Prerequisite(s): (AAS 010, AAS 080, AAS 145A); or consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 150A — Afro-American Visual Arts Tradition: A Historical & Cultural Study (4 units)

Course Description: Afro-American visual arts tradition, folk and formal, in historical and cultural context, from 1600 through Reconstruction.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing.

Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.

AAS 150B — Afro-American Visual Arts Tradition: A Historical & Cultural Study (4 units)

Course Description: Afro-American visual arts tradition, folk and formal, in historical and cultural context, from Reconstruction to the present.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing.

Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.

AAS 151 — Afro-American Vernacular Music & Verbal Arts (4 units)

Course Description: Socio-political dimensions of Afro-American musical forms like spiritual, work song, minstrelsy blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, gospel, soul and contemporary pop, and related verbal arts like preaching, toasting, rapping.

Learning Activities: Lecture 2 hour(s), Discussion 2 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.

AAS 152 — Major Voices in Black World Literature (4 units)

Course Description: Recurrence of cultural tropes in the works of major black world authors and formation of an African-oriented canon. Principal activities include critical reading and discovery of literature as a cultural resource.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 010 or AAS 012 or AAS 018; upper division standing.

Learning Activities: Lecture 2 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s), Term Paper.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 153 — African Literature (4 units)

Course Description: Colonial and post-colonial sub-Saharan African literature and the African oral traditions from which it emerged. Genres and themes of African literature from the 19th century to the present.

Prerequisite(s): Completion of Entry Level Writing Requirement (ELWR).

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
Cross Listing: COM 154.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 155A — African-American Dance & Culture in the United States, Brazil & the Caribbean (4 units)

Course Description: Comparative study of the African American dance forms in the U.S.A., Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad. Examination of ritual, folk, and popular dance forms and the socio/historical factors that have influenced these forms.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Cross Listing: DRA 155A.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Visual Literacy (VL); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 156 — Language & Identity in Africa & the African Diaspora (4 units)

Course Description: Relationship between language and identity in literature from Africa and the African Diaspora. Use of pidgins, Creoles, translation from African languages and impact of language policies.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 012; or upper division standing.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 157 — Literature & Society in South Africa (4 units)

Course Description: Political and social developments in 20th-century South Africa as illustrated by a range of South African writing. Response of different writers to race relations, impact of government policy on types and context of writing.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 160 — African-American Folklore (4 units)

Course Description: Theory and history of African American folklore and folklife, including music, material culture, oral narrative, proverbs, and humor. African and Caribbean cultural influences on New World folk genres will be probed.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 010.

Learning Activities: Lecture 2 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s), Fieldwork 3 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.

AAS 162 — Islam in Africa & the Americas (4 units)

Course Description: Comparative and historical survey of Islam in the regional and cultural settings of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas.

Prerequisite(s): RST 060 or AAS 012 or AAS 110.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 163 — African Religions in the Americas (4 units)

Course Description: Comparative study of African religious heritage in the Americas: Jamaica, Trinidad, Cuba, U.S.A., Haiti, and Brazil. Emphasis on the origins and development of Candomble, Santeria, Shango, Vodun, and Rastafarianism in the New World.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 010; AAS 015; or consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 165 — Afro-Christianity & the Black Church (4 units)

Course Description: Examination of the historical role of Christian belief and practice as well as the institution of the Black Church in the experience of African Americans, from slavery to the present.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 010; AAS 015; or consent of instructor; upper division standing.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD).

AAS 168 — Black Documentary: History & Practice (4 units)

Course Description: Study of Black documentary history and understanding of the use of the documentary form for political purposes. Discussion of documentary theory. Each student, singly or in a team, will create and carefully edit a documentary project.

Prerequisite(s): FMS 001; AAS 170; and consent of instructor; AAS 050 recommended.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Laboratory 5 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Visual Literacy (VL); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 169 — History of African American Television (4 units)

Course Description: History of the representation of African Americans in television; how the representations reflect social and political forces in American society. Role of African Americans in actively shaping their representation.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 050 recommended.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Visual Literacy (VL); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 170 — African-American Film & Video (4 units)

This version has ended; see updated course, below.
Course Description: Comparative approach in the study of fictional film and video dealing with the African American experience drawing on film and cultural studies to examine and discuss selected works.

Prerequisite(s): FMS 001; AAS 050 recommended.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Film Viewing 3 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Visual Literacy (VL); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 170 — African-American Film & Video (4 units)
Course Description: Comparative approach in the study of fictional film and video dealing with the African American experience drawing on film and cultural studies to examine and discuss selected works.
Prerequisite(s): AAS 050 recommended.
Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Film Viewing 3 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Visual Literacy (VL); Writing Experience (WE).
This course version is effective from, and including: Winter Quarter 2025.

AAS 171 — Black African & Black European Film & Video (4 units)

Course Description: Comparative approach in the study of dramatic films and videos that treat black life in Africa and Europe. Critical attention focused on the imaginative construction of ethnicity, race, nationality, gender, and sexuality in each particular work.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 015 or AAS 050 or ENL 160 or ENL 162; or consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hour(s), Film Viewing 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Visual Literacy (VL); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 172 — Diaspora & New Black Identities (4 units)

Course Description: Critical analysis about what it means to be Black/African American in the United States today. Topics include old and new diasporas, immigration, national origin, language, religion, class, education, politics, identity and cultural heritage.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 175A — Black Documentary: History & Theory (4 units)

Course Description: Black documentary history and documentary theory. Use of black documentary for political purposes.

Prerequisite(s): FMS 001; AAS 170; AAS 050 recommended.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Film Viewing 3 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Visual Literacy (VL); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 175B — Black Documentary Practicum (4 units)

Course Description: Creation of documentary projects, with students working in production crews.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 175A; and consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Lecture 2 hour(s), Laboratory 6 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD).

AAS 176 — The Politics of Resources (4 units)

Course Description: Examination of the ways in which the processes of the extraction, purification and use of natural resources and the complex regimes of valuation and commodification they (re)produce lead to cooperation and conflict in contemporary Africa and beyond.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 012 or AAS 110.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Enrollment Restriction(s): Limited enrollment.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 177 — Politics of Life in Africa (4 units)

Course Description: Existing (in)capacities in the structures of state and society in Africa for people to live well. Topics include institutions and practices that define state and civil society encounters in Africa; democracy, ethnicity, economic crisis, religion, citizenship, etc.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 178 — African Modernity & Globalization (4 units)

Course Description: Exploration of modernity and globalization and their dimensions and impacts in/on Africa. Examination of modern necessities and constrains in Africa in relation to (neo)colonialism, transnational encounters, technology, gender, risk, ritual, identity, culture, etc.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 012; or consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
Enrollment Restriction(s): Limited to 80 students.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 180 — Race & Ethnicity in Latin America (4 units)

Course Description: Social and political effects of racial and ethnic categorization in Latin America, including issues of economic production, citizenship, national belonging, and access to resources. Emphasis is on peoples of African, Indigenous, and Asian descent.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 181 — Hip Hop in Urban America (4 units)

Course Description: History, aesthetics, urban context, and economics of hip-hop in the US, and its globalization. Hip-hop's four artistic elements-rap, deejaying, breakdance, and aerosol art-allow the examination of issues of race, ethnicity, and gender in youth culture and American society.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing or consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
Enrollment Restriction(s): Must have Junior or Senior level standing.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Visual Literacy (VL).

AAS 182 — Hip Hop Culture & Globalization (4 units)

Course Description: Investigation of hip-hop youth cultures outside the United States using globalization and Cultural Studies theories. Analysis of international hip-hop sites in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and the Middle East through reading, discussion, and visiting virtual sites.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 181 preferable, not required.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); World Cultures (WC).

AAS 183A — Policing, Prison, & Protest in Local Perspective (4 units)

Course Description: Study of the history and current state of policing, prisons and protest movements in the U.S. through Black Studies framework and methods.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD).

AAS 183B — Policing, Prison, & Protest in Global Perspective (4 units)

Course Description: Study of the history and current workings of police, prisons, and protest movements globally through Black Studies frameworks and methods.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 185 — Topics in African American Film (4 units)

Course Description: Intensive study of special topics in African American film.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 170; AAS 050 recommended.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Film Viewing 3 hour(s).
Repeat Credit: May be repeated 1 time(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Visual Literacy (VL); Writing Experience (WE).

AAS 190 — Topics in African & African-Diaspora Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Intensive treatment of a special topic or problem in African or African Diaspora Studies.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing in African American African Studies (AAS) courses or consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hour(s), Term Paper 1 hour(s).
Repeat Credit: May be repeated 1 time(s) when topic differs.
Grade Mode: Letter.

AAS 192 — Internship in African-American & African Studies (1-8 units)

Course Description: Supervised internship in community, government, or private institutions, in all subject areas offered by the African American & African Studies Program.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor; completion of 12 units of upper division study in African American African Studies (AAS) courses; upper division standing.

Learning Activities: Internship 3-24 hour(s).
Enrollment Restriction(s): Restricted to African American & African Studies majors and minors.
Repeat Credit: May be repeated 12 unit(s).
Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

AAS 194HA — Special Study for Honors Students (4 units)

Course Description: Directed reading, research and writing culminating in preparation of a senior honors thesis under the direction of faculty advisor.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Independent Study, Term Paper.
Enrollment Restriction(s): Restricted to majors in African American & African Studies with upper division standing and a GPA of 3.500 in the major.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS).

AAS 194HB — Special Study for Honors Students (4 units)

Course Description: Directed reading, research and writing culminating in preparation of a senior honors thesis under the direction of faculty advisor.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 194HA; consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Independent Study, Term Paper
Enrollment Restriction(s): Restricted to majors in African American & African Studies with upper division standing and a GPA of 3.500 in the major.
Grade Mode: Letter.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS).

AAS 197T — Tutoring in Afro-American Studies (1-5 units)

Course Description: Leading of small voluntary discussion groups affiliated with one of the department's regular courses.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of major committee; upper division standing with major in African American African Studies.

Learning Activities: Tutorial 1-5 hour(s).
Repeat Credit: May be repeated 6 unit(s).
Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

AAS 198 — Directed Group Study (1-5 units)

Course Description: Directed group study.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Variable.
Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

AAS 199 — Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates (1-5 units)

Course Description: Special study for advanced undergraduates.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

Learning Activities: Variable.
Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

AAS 201 — Critical Foundations in African American Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to history of African American Studies. Topics include: research agendas, policy implications, debates, crises, and institutional frameworks.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing.

Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Letter.

AAS 202 — Critical Foundations in African Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the history and current organization of African Studies as area of intellectual investigation. Offers an opportunity to review research agenda and policy implications, debates, crises, and institutional frameworks surrounding the production of knowledge about Africa.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing.

Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
Grade Mode: Letter.

AAS 203 — Critical Foundations in African Diaspora Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Integrative conceptual framework includes History, Geography, Political Economy, Culture, Aesthetics as tools to investigate the African Diaspora. Engage African Diaspora theories within student's research projects understanding issues developing from the movement of Africans to the rest of the world.

Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
Grade Mode: Letter.

AAS 204 — Methodologies in African American & African Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Relationship between theory and methodology, with emphasis on identifying relevant methodological approaches and constructing theoretically informed research projects for studying the experience of people of African descent whether on the African continent or in the rest of the world.

Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
Grade Mode: Letter.

AAS 290 — Special Topics in African/African Diaspora/African American Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Intensive study in special thematic topics in Africa, African Diaspora, and African American Studies. Course materials to be selected by the instructor.

Prerequisite(s): AAS 201 or AAS 202 or AAS 203 or AAS 204; or consent of Instructor.

Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Extensive Writing.
Enrollment Restriction(s): Restricted to graduate students.
Grade Mode: Letter.

AAS 298A — Directed Group Study in African American & African Diaspora Studies (1-5 units)

Course Description: Group study.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing.

Learning Activities: Variable 3-15 hour(s).
Repeat Credit: May be repeated 3 time(s) with consent of instructor.
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only.

AAS 298B — Directed Group Study in African Studies (1-5 units)

Course Description: Directed group study in African Studies.

Learning Activities: Variable 3-15 hour(s).
Repeat Credit: May be repeated 3 time(s) with consent of instructor.
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only.

AAS 299 — Directed Research (1-12 units)

Course Description: Directed research.

Learning Activities: Variable 3-36 hour(s).
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only.

AAS 396 — Teaching Assistant Training Practicum (1-4 units)

Course Description: Teaching assistant training practicum.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor; graduate standing.

Learning Activities: Variable.
Repeat Credit: May be repeated.
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only.