Black Diaspora and African American Studies
All courses, faculty listings, and curricular and degree requirements described herein are subject to change or deletion without notice.
Courses
For course descriptions not found in the UC San Diego General Catalog 2023–24, please contact the department for more information.
Lower Division
AAS 10. Introduction to African American Studies (4)
This course will cover the experiences of peoples of African descent in the U.S. and broader African Diaspora from the vantage points of cultural production, political practice, socioeconomic conditions, and the overall struggle for social justice along intersecting lines of race, gender, and class. Topics reviewed include slavery (and slave rebellion), Reconstruction, Jim Crow apartheid, the Great Migration and Harlem Renaissance, and the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements.
AAS 11. Introduction to Black Diasporic Studies (4)
This course is focused on foundational readings, theories, research, and scholarship regarding the Black Diaspora. This course will provide students with foundational knowledge of the field, seminal works, and theoretical and conceptual frameworks that influence research and scholarship in this area of study.
AAS 14. Introduction to African Studies (4)
This course is focused on foundational readings, theories, research, and scholarship regarding African Studies. This course will provide students with foundational knowledge of the field, seminal works, and theoretical and conceptual frameworks that influence research and scholarship in this area of study.
AAS 15. Racism and Global Imperialism (4)
This course will provide a foundation in history, theory, and research on the political, institutional, and structural components of race and racism in a global context. This course will provide an overview of complexities embedded in attempts to understand historical origins and current reverberations of colonization, imperialism, and racism in the United States and other global communities.
AAS 87. First-year Student Seminar (1)
The First-year Student Seminar Program is designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small seminar setting. First-year student seminars are offered in all campus departments and undergraduate colleges, and topics vary from quarter to quarter. Enrollment is limited to 15-20 students. Enrollment priority will be given to first-year students. Seminars are open to sophomores, juniors and seniors on a space available basis. P/NP grades only. May be taken for credit four times.
Upper Division
AAS 170. Legacies of Research on Disenfranchised Communities (4)
Students will learn about the historic and current legacies of scientific research and the convergence(s) between science and society as a mechanism for colonization and imperialism.
AAS 171. Service Learning in Non-Profits (4)
Students will work with nonprofit organizations to support Black communities in San Diego while learning about nonprofit organizations.
AAS 172. Scholarly Practicum (4)
Students will work with a chosen UC San Diego or UC faculty member on the faculty member’s scholarship. The terms of the work will be agreed upon by the faculty member, the student, and the BDAAS director. At the end of the quarter, the student will submit a brief report on how they supported the faculty member and how the scholarship relates to their major.
AAS 179. Capstone for Black and African American Studies (4)
Students will meet collectively to work on individual scholarly projects with an instructor’s guidance and supervision. Students can only take the capstone course once they have completed their upper-division course work, or as they complete their courses while simultaneously taking the capstone course.
AAS/ANSC 185. #BlackLivesMatter (4)
(Cross-listed with ANSC 185.) This seminar traces the historical roots and growth of the Black Lives Matter social movement in the United States and comparative global contexts. Occupy Wall Street, protests against the prison industrial complex, black feminist, and LGBTQ intersectionality are explored in the context of millennial and postmillennial youth as the founders of this movement. Students may not receive credit for AAS 185 and ANSC 185.
AAS 190. Special Topics in African American Studies (1–4)
This course will explore specialized, relevant topics in the field of African American studies. Course topics will vary from quarter to quarter, so it may be repeated up to three times as long as the quarterly topics vary.
AAS 198. Directed Group Study in African American Studies (2 or 4)
Directed group study on a topic or in a field not included in the regular curriculum by special arrangement with a faculty member. P/NP grades only. May be taken for credit two times. Prerequisites: upper-division standing unless otherwise authorized. Completion of ninety units of undergraduate study, and completion and approval of the Special Studies form.
AAS 199. Independent Study in African American Studies (2 or 4)
Individual research and study on a particular subject related to African American studies by special arrangement with and under the direction of a faculty member. P/NP grades only. May be taken for credit two times. Prerequisites: upper-division standing. Enrollment via the faculty director of the Black Diaspora and African American Studies program only.