SOC 357 - African American Communities (3 credits)

(Prereq: SOC 101 or SOC 102, junior standing, or permission of the instructor) This course is a sociological approach to understanding African American communities, both in historic and contemporary eras. We seek to understand how structure and agency and/or oppression and resistance have given rise and shape to various facets of African American and Black communities. We pay attention to how people of African descent have worked to protect their communities, to raise their standards of living and opportunities, and have actively fought racism. The readings are a range of first person narratives, social commentary and sociological perspectives on issues such as family, faith, popular culture, and politics. Through this course you will come to understand the evolution from enslaved African, to Negro, to Black, to African American, and to the contemporary questions of who is Black and what is Blackness. Offered as needed.